The Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association is the recipient of the 2025 Voluntary Bar Association Pro Bono Award, which will be presented by Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz in a Jan. 16 ceremony streamed live by the Supreme Court of Florida. The award recognizes a Florida voluntary bar that has demonstrated a significant contribution in the delivery of legal services to individuals or groups on a pro bono basis.
Founded in 1982, the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association (JWLA) provides support and networking for its members in Northeast Florida. JWLA’s mission is to “actively promote gender equality and the leadership roles of its members in the legal profession, judiciary, and community at large.”
Among its contributions to the community, JWLA advocates and encourages its members to be involved in pro bono work through Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA) and other local legal aid organizations. In October 2023, JWLA’s luncheon, “Breaking Barriers in Our Community: Pro Bono Roundtable,” emphasized the importance of pro bono work and explored the benefits of pro bono service through legal aid organizations. At all JWLA’s monthly luncheons, pro bono opportunities are promoted on each dining table.
Since 2018, JWLA has sponsored a paid summer internship program through JALA. Known as the Kathy Para Student Internship Fund at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, JWLA seeks to promote access to justice, provide substantive legal experience for JWLA’s student membership, and foster a lifelong dedication to pro bono work.
In 2023, JWLA members helped staff a legal aid “Lunch and Learn” series at the Northeast Florida Women Veterans Center. JWLA members have also staffed several wills and advance directive clinics at this center, as well as at various senior citizen centers throughout Jacksonville.
For the 2024-2025 membership year, JWLA is planning at least two JWLA-sponsored volunteer opportunities. It also seeks to make volunteer opportunities more readily available to its members by including a pro bono opportunities page on the JWLA website. At the end of each membership year, JWLA recognizes one member by presenting them with the JWLA Woman Lawyer of the Year award.
This year’s awards ceremony, which also honors Individual, Circuit, Law Firm, Young Lawyers Division, Distinguished Judicial Service, and Distinguished Federal Judicial Service pro bono efforts, takes place at the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday, Jan. 16, at 3:30 p.m. Watch it live on Facebook, WFSU: Gavel to Gavel and the Florida Channel.
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