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Blackwell, Self to receive Medal of Honor award

The Florida Bar Foundation has selected Bruce B. Blackwell as the lawyer recipient and Kathleen Self as the non-lawyer recipient of its 2011 Medal of Honor Awards, the Foundation’s highest honor.

Blackwell, a partner in the Orlando law firm of King, Blackwell, Downs & Zehnder, is a past Foundation president and currently serves as a trustee of The Florida Bar Foundation Endowment Trust. He also is a past president of the Orange County Bar Association, past member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors, and current president of The Florida Supreme Court Historical Society.

A pioneer in the development of Florida’s Teen Courts, Self established the Teen Court of Sarasota in 1989 and serves as its executive director, having essentially volunteered her services in the start-up years. This highly successful intervention and diversion program has been widely emulated.

The awards will be presented June 23 at the Foundation’s annual dinner, held in conjunction with The Florida Bar Annual Convention at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. Save the date if you would like to attend, and look for in-depth profiles of the award recipients in the next issue of the Foundation's print newsletter Speaking of Justice.
 

IPF helps exonerate Derrick Williams

The Innocence Project of Florida, a Florida Bar Foundation Improvements in the Administration of Justice grantee, announced April 4 the exoneration of Derrick Williams, who spent the last 18 years in prison after having been convicted of a 1993 rape in Palmetto, Fla. Williams is the 13th exoneree in Florida whose sentence has been vacated through the use of DNA testing with the help of the Innocence Project of Florida.

Wiliams' wrongful conviction was primarily the result of eyewitness misidentification and limited science at the time of this trial, according to the Innocence Project. 

Since the Innocence Project's inception in 2003, the Foundation has provided $1.5 million in funding to the project that works to exonerate wrongfully convicted prisoners primarily through DNA evidence.

In this photo: After his release, Derrick Williams uses a cell phone to call his brother in Alabama.  

Thank you to our newest Fellows!

The Florida Bar Foundation would like to send a special "thank you" to its 38 supporters in Palm Beach County who recently became Foundation Fellows and made a commitment to support the Foundation's mission to provide greater access to justice.

Thanks also to the members of the Palm Beach County Fellows Campaign steering committee for inviting their colleagues to join them as Foundation Fellows:

Adrian Alvarez         Greg Coleman             Theo Kypreos
Sia Baker-Barnes  Scott Hawkins               David Prather
Bob Bertisch           Jane Kreusler-Walsh  Skip Smith
Jessica Callow      Donna Krusbe              Jay White

Find out how you can become a Foundation Fellow.
 

Sometimes, kids need lawyers, too.

You can help children in need of legal help. Please give generously to the Lawyers Challenge for Children on your 2011-12 Florida Bar Fee Statement, or give online now.

Just select Lawyers Challenge for Children as the type of donation, and 100 percent of your gift will go directly to helping children in need.

The Foundation's priorities for its Children's Legal Services grant initiative include representation of foster care children and access to special education, as well as medical, developmental and mental health services that are required under law.

Please help us maintain the funding of special annual grants to statewide and local legal aid organizations that together address the legal needs of nearly 3,000 children each year.
 

Foundation awards more than $4 million in grants

During its March 18 board meeting in Tampa, The Florida Bar Foundation awarded more than $4.2 million in grants for its Legal Assistance to the Poor, Law Student Assistance and Improvements in the Administration of Justice grant programs.
 

Online guide to planned giving now available

Charitable gift planning is an effective way to support the Foundation's mission. To that end, the Foundation's Web site now features a planned giving section that takes some of the mystery out of gift planning. 

The planned giving section includes:

• information on charitable gift annuities, bequests and estate planning 
   
• a gift calculator through which you can explore the philanthropic and tax benefits associated with particular gift vehicles
   
• profiles of some of the Foundation's planned giving donors

With smart planning, you may actually increase the size of your estate and/or lessen the tax burden on your heirs – all while helping the Foundation advance its mission.
Find out more about making a planned gift to the Foundation.