OCBATeaching Tips

OCBA Offers Multiple Options for Members to Serve the Community

You may be familiar with all the OCBA does to serve its members, but you may not be aware of all the OCBA does to provide legal resources to Central Floridians. The OCBA offers several programs that provide access to justice and also provide members with an opportunity to serve the community.

The Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) program offers an exceptional opportunity for attorneys, both established and new, to enhance their practice and serve their community. This program is renowned for its success, referring over 8,000 clients annually to LRIS panel members and establishing itself as one of the most extensive and productive referral programs in Florida. Our referral intake specialists screen thousands of calls each month and determine if a referral to a participating attorney is appropriate or if the individual would be better served by an outside resource. The Modest Means Program is a part of this service and offers pre-screening for financial eligibility for prospective clients. Attorneys participating with Modest Means agree to lower their fees on a sliding scale for qualifying clients. LRIS and Modest Means attorneys have the opportunity to participate in virtual Ask a Lawyer events hosted in conjunction with the Orange County Public Library System and Orange County Clerk of Courts.

Attorneys participating in both of these programs pay a percentage of all attorney fees collected from referral clients to the OCBA and provide a free consultation of up to 30 minutes to each referred client.

The Citizen’s Dispute and Family Mediation Program is a free mediation service available to all residents of Orange County. This program is not based on financial eligibility and participation is voluntary. It is a great resource for those looking to avoid the cost of filing a lawsuit, or for disputes that do not necessarily have a cause of action. Orange County residents have been using this program for over 40 years to resolve a variety of civil disputes and family-related issues. Mediators sign up to participate with this program pro bono through the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association.

The Residential Foreclosure Mediation Program is a court-ordered mediation program for all homestead foreclosures filed in Orange County pursuant to Administrative Order 2012-06-03. This program facilitates the document exchange and schedules mediations on behalf of the parties. Most of the homeowners who participate in this program are pro se. The OCBA offers a monthly free information seminar to all eligible homeowners, led by a housing attorney from the Legal Aid Society. The attorney explains the foreclosure process, possible settlement options, and answers questions.

The Orange County and Seminole County Clerk’s Self Help Centers are another valuable resource for legal assistance and a great opportunity for attorneys to get involved and serve the community. This program allows pro se litigants with issues related to family law, landlord/tenant, small claims, and probate (Seminole County only) to receive procedural information from OCBA attorneys. Attorneys are paid a nominal fee for each shift worked. The OCBA is committed to providing valuable services to the community through affordable attorney consultations, mediation programs and free information seminars. Our dedication to serving the community is a cornerstone of the organization’s mission. More information on these programs can be found on the OCBA’s website.

Candice Maull is the Director of Public Programs for the Orange County Bar Association. She has been a member of our staff since 2010.

President’sMessage continued from page 3

One of my favorite quotes in the book is, “Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.” Where are you on this continuum and how do you get to where you want to be? If you are intrigued and want to learn more, I highly recommend this book and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thank you for allowing me to be your President this year and please feel free to reach out to me if you need anything.

Amber Davis, Esq., is a managing partner at Wolter Van Dyke Davis, PLLC, focusing primarily on trademark law and IP litigation. She has been an OCBA member since 2007.

ProfessionalismCommittee continued from page 6 will never be cured by the sedative of gradualism.” For his views, Judge Waring and his wife were shunned in their hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, causing Judge Waring to retire from the court and relocate his family to New York.

These two examples of moral courage in the law provide inspiration and hope that we can strive toward a more perfect union and that, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. In short, moral courage is essential to the notion of professionalism. It demands that you put your obligation to the justice system and the wider community ahead of your personal interests and the noise of public outcry so that the system might not only survive but flourish long after our individual race has been run. Hopefully, when our hour upon the stage is through, may there be for all of us at least one moment when the eulogist can say: remember what he did for the least among us. That is a life well lived and one that would honor James Glazebrook. Thank you for the honor of this award.