Karen Josefsberg Ladis, Esq.
Executive Director
Karen Josefsberg Ladis joined the agency in 1991 as the pro bono coordinator and in 2014 became the executive director. A graduate of the University of Miami Law School, 1990, and an active member of the UM Law Alumni Association, she worked in private practice and accepted numerous pro bono cases. She also served on the Bulletin Committee and Young Lawyers Section of the Dade County Bar Association. Ms. Ladis is a member of the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association, the Florida Civil Legal Aid Association, and numerous pro bono committees. She previously served on the ABA Pro Bono Standing Committee, the Public Service Committee of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation Attorneys Division, the Young Leadership Council, and on The Florida Bar Board of Governors as a liaison. She has served Ex-Officio, on the Board of Directors of the Dade County Bar Association, and is involved in a variety of bar committees. In 1998, Ladis received The Florida Bar YLD Pro Bono Public Service Award, in 2006, she received the DCBA inaugural Robert L. Shevin Public Service Award, and in 2012, she received the inaugural Eleventh Judicial Circuit Family Division Above & Beyond Award, and was awarded it again in 2015. In 2017, she received the DCBA Lifetime Achievement Award and from 2018 – 2025 has been recognized as a Legal Elite Government & Non Profit Attorney. In 2019, she was awarded the Bar's Women of Distinction Award, the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Program’s Outstanding GAL Award for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, and the University of Miami Law Alumni Association Henry Latimer Leadership & Professionalism Award. In October 2021, she received the Miami Dade Bar Johnnie Ridgely President's Award and in 2024 received The Circle of Excellence Award for Government/Non-Profit Attorney. In 2025, she was presented the Arts Business Council Arts-Legal Award and was also inducted into the Court Care Hall of Fame.