Legal Aid was established in 1939 as a Committee of the Dade County Bar Association ("DCBA") to provide legal services to impoverished residents in need who could not otherwise afford them. Inhis 1940-1941 Annual Report, DCBA President W.L. Gray, Jr., noted that "the Legal Aid Committee was the hardest assignment of all bar committees." He reported that “the Committee was not endowed and had no funds but had efficiently handled all of the meritorious claims coming to Legal Aid from the underprivileged.” He recommended that the new Legal Aid Committee prepare a proposed budget to present to the Dade Community Chest to establish sufficient funds to pay a reasonable salary and hire an attorney.
In 1942, at its General Membership Luncheon meeting, DCBA members were asked to “support the Community Chest in every manner possible, particularly in view of the fact that the Community Chest was adding Legal Aid to its list of dependents.” By 1943, Legal Aid was affiliated with the Dade County Community Chest, had an annual budget of $1,200 and handled over 2,000 cases annually providing legal advice, brief services and extended representation to low-income residents of the County in areas including Domestic Relations, Returning Veterans' Needs, Consumer and Landlord/Tenant Matters.
In 1943-1944, Legal Aid expanded its priorities to include: Financial (Small Claims, Wage Payment, Wage Claims), Domestic (Family Cases Involving Children, Custody Disputes, Paternities, Child Support and Alimony), and Guardianship (Children Able to Care for their Aging, Indigent Parents). By 1949, Legal Aid had handled thousands of cases, providing desperately needed civil legal services to the indigent in the community.
In 1949, the County established the Legal Aid Society with support by Special Act of the Legislature which provided funding for Legal Aid from filing fees from all cases filed in any lawsuit in any Court of Record in Dade County Circuit Court. With a budget of $15,000 from the County from funding from the filing fees from cases filed in the county court, Legal Aid hired Robert M. Haverfield as its first full-time attorney. The Legal Aid Bill soon increased the amount of funding from filing fees for Legal Aid for every case filed in Dade County Court and, in 1952, Quentin T. Eldred became the second full-time Legal Aid attorney. The number of cases quickly doubled and Legal Aid was instrumental in collecting $87,000 in child support for clients. In 1954, Legal Aid handled 3,247 clients, and hired an assistant Legal Aid attorney for the heavy caseload.
By 1958, with additional financial support from the County, Legal Aid's revenue reached almost $38,000, and later increased to $42,000. Irene Redstone was hired to work on the increasing caseload, eventually succeeding Eldred in 1971 upon his retirement, becoming Legal Aid's first executive director. "I wear many hats," said Redstone, "at Legal Aid we handle family cases, we seek support for children, and arrange adoptions. It is a big responsibility representing our clients, our cases differ widely."
By 1978, the need for legal services intensified and in 1979, the DCBA formed a committee to organize its Public Interest Law Bank (PILB) to inculcate in members the principles of duty and service to the public. The Bar recruited hundreds of private attorneys to handle cases and to work on special projects for Legal Aid. In 1979, the Dade County Bar and Legal Aid's efforts were recognized by the ABA with receipt of the highest honors for best new pro bono program in the country. In 1981, PILB was re-named the Volunteer Lawyers Project (VL), and continued to encourage members to accept pro bono cases for Legal Aid until 1991.
In July of 1981, the Florida Supreme Court approved implementation of Florida's IOTA Program, the first in the US to fund the provision of Legal Aid programs across the state. In 1982, following the creation of Florida's IOTA Program, Legal Aid received funding from The Florida Bar Foundation to expand civil legal services to low- income residents and has received funding from the foundation ever since changing hundreds of thousands of lives of low-income residents utilizing experienced staff attorneys.
In 1986, Sharon Langer, a family attorney, succeeded Redstone as executive director of Legal Aid and the DCBA Office of Public Service. As the needs of the poverty community increased, Langer developed and formalized invaluable partnerships to increase services and funding sources for Legal Aid.
In 1991, Legal Aid and the Eleventh Judicial Circuit created a comprehensive pro bono project designed to expand much needed civil legal services to the poor of the county. The new program, originally called "Dade County Comprehensive Pro Bono Project," was implemented by then Chief Judge Wetherington in partnership with Legal Aid, under the direction of Sharon Langer, who hired Karen Josefsberg to serve as Coordinator of the Court's new program. Langer and Josefsberg quickly expanded the Court pro bono project, championing the need for greater attorney participation across the Eleventh Judicial Circuit and developing the 100% Law Firm Project.
The newly formed Circuit Pro Bono Project was created prior to the Florida Supreme Court's mandate that each circuit devise a formalized Pro Bono Plan. In anticipation of this ruling, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Chief Judge created a Circuit Pro Bono Committee and appointed Judge Eugene J. Fierro as its Administrator, Langer as Director, and Josefsberg as Coordinator. The Eleventh Judicial Circuit's Pro Bono Plan was the first Plan created in Florida and filed with the Florida Supreme Court prior to its requirement that each circuit devise a plan.
To meet the increased demand of individuals seeking divorces, Legal Aid developed monthly Pro Se Divorce Clinics for simple divorces and created the Self Help Divorce Packet for litigants. Due to the overwhelming success of the clinics and packet, additional forms were generated by Legal Aid for Name Change, Visitation and Paternity. Later, Legal Aid and the Eleventh Judicial Circuit collaborated to establish the Court Self-Help Program, a full time center staffed initially by Legal Aid to assist Self-Represented Litigants in Family Court by providing these forms and guidelines to proceed with their case on their own. The program is now offered in two locations - the Family Courthouse and South Dade Justice Center.
In 1992, the Circuit's Comprehensive Pro Bono Plan was re-named Put Something Back Pro Bono Project ("PSB"), a Joint Pro Bono Program of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit and Dade Legal Aid, and quickly became the largest provider of pro bono services in the state garnering statewide and national recognition. In 1993, following Hurricane Andrew, Langer and Josefsberg-Ladis received funding from the Knight Foundation and hired Bruce Levine and additional staff to handle Hurricane Relief Efforts. "The demand for legal services has never been greater," said Sharon Langer in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. "Due to the myriad challenges facing those impacted by the storm, we are here to help provide much needed access to a variety of civil legal services to those in need." The project worked beneath tents and eventually set up offices at One Stop Centers in the South helping clients complete FEMA forms, file insurance claims and file actions against unscrupulous contractors. Following its successful disaster relief efforts, Legal Aid applied for additional grants, increasing revenues and expanding staff and services.
In creating innovative programs such as "Put Something Back Pro Bono Project" and "The Family Law Self Help Program," Legal Aid was instrumental in designing projects in partnership with the Courts to assist greater numbers of low-income pro se litigants in furtherance of the administration of justice. Over the decades, the programs have grown, strengthened and impacted countless lives.
To join our life-changing efforts by becoming a sponsor or accepting a pro bono case email PSB@dadelegalaid.org and to Learn More Click Here.
Robert M. Haverfield, Esq.
Quentin T. Eldred, Esq.
Irene A. Redstone, Esq.
Sharon L. Langer, Esq.
Karen Josefsberg Ladis, Esq.