BRADY RECEIVES 2022 TOBIAS SIMON AWARD

Raymond F. Brady received the 2022 Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award Jan. 20 at The Florida Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court’s highest recognition of a private lawyer for pro bono service, the award was presented by Chief Justice Charles T. Canady.

Brady has been a pro bono volunteer with Three Rivers Legal Services since the early 1990s and has always been a strong advocate for the poor, in particular people without housing.

In January 2015, he pulled together members of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association, Three Rivers Legal Services and Southern Legal Counsel, as well as students from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, to work on an Ask-A-Lawyer project to help Gainesville’s homeless population.

Because of Brady’s efforts, more than 30 attorneys (and about 150 law students), have volunteered to provide more than 1,000 hours of pro bono service to approximately 400 clients. Brady still not only recruits the volunteer attorneys, but he also helps organize Ask-A-Lawyer events and volunteers at each one. He also helped organize a 2021 Virtual Driver’s License Clinic in Gainesville, where representatives from local and state agencies and volunteer attorneys helped people learn what they need to do to get their license restored.

The Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award commemorates Miami lawyer Tobias Simon, who was a tireless civil rights attorney, a crusader for prison reform and an appellate authority.