SGR Honored with Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award by Jacksonville Area Legal Aid
ATLANTA (October 23, 2017) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce that the firm has been recognized with an Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award by Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA). The award was presented during the 18th Annual Robert J. Beckham Equal Justice Awards Celebration in recognition of SGR’s extensive pro bono legal work through the organization.
SGR’s Jacksonville office has provided legal expertise to a number of JALA’s volunteer programs, including the SGR-pioneered JALA Tenant/Landlord Pro Bono Project. The initiative involves firm attorneys conducting intake interviews with potential clients in need of legal services to determine which cases JALA can take. Firm Partners James Cummings and Steven Brust, assisted by associate attorneys in SGR’s Jacksonville office, have made a significant impact on the delivery of civil legal services to low-income people in the community through their consistent involvement with JALA.
Mr. Cummings is a Partner in SGR’s Litigation Practice, where he represents clients in a variety of litigation matters in the state and federal courts, with practice areas including complex commercial litigation, contract disputes, creditor’s rights, trust and probate litigation, personal injury and wrongful death, products liability, premises liability, and insurance-related litigation.
Mr. Brust serves as Managing Partner of SGR’s Jacksonville office, and as a member of its Executive Committee. In his litigation practice, he handles commercial and fiduciary litigation of all types, including partnership and shareholder disputes, liability defense for corporate officers and directors, title insurance defense, executive benefits and employment contract disputes, and estate and trust litigation, including fiduciary removal proceedings.
About Jacksonville Area Legal Aid
The mission of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid is to provide high quality legal assistance to low income and special needs groups – to empower them to accomplish energetic and affirmative advocacy, all to alleviate the circumstances, incidents and causes of poverty and discrimination. Developed during the Great Depression and subsequent recession of 1937, the organization that has become Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. (JALA) was born when a group of Jacksonville Bar attorneys banded together to provide legal services to those in need. Called different names over the years including Duval County Legal Aid Association, it was officially named Jacksonville Area Legal Aid in 1973. The organization achieved 501(c)3 status in 1970. JALA now serves 17 counties of North Florida including Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Nassau, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor and Union. JALA is a primary engine for economic and social justice in Northeast Florida. Please visit www.jaxlegalaid.org for more information.
About Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP
SGR is a full service, international law firm that advises regional, national and global businesses on a wide range of legal matters. The firm’s more than 200 attorneys provide legal counsel in more than 45 specialized practice areas, including corporate transactions, litigation, intellectual property, aviation, banking, real estate, construction and employment law. Founded in 1893, SGR has offices in Atlanta, Austin, Jacksonville, London, Munich, New York, Southampton, and Washington, D.C.
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