Pro Bono

Zuckerman Spaeder attorneys in Tampa have frequently acted pro bono on behalf of children and young adults through Crossroads for Florida Kids. We serve as primary attorneys for children in foster care and assist the public defenders of others who are contending with delinquency and criminal matters. Most of these kids have suffered the trauma of abuse, neglect, or abandonment, causing mental health issues.

Drawing on one of Zuckerman Spaeder’s known strengths, we help our pro bono clients through a multitude of criminal justice challenges. Our work runs the gamut from counseling on expungement to death penalty work, representing clients on compassionate release motions, to undertaking pro bono criminal cases. The firm’s commitment to criminal justice work only grew during the pandemic, which threw into harsh relief the necessity for representation of incarcerated individuals who are elderly, very sick, or at heightened risk of COVID-19, and do not pose a danger to the community. Our team has fought tirelessly on behalf of these pro bono clients to return them to their families and has done so with great success on more than a dozen of occasions.

Zuckerman Spaeder LLP has a strong health care practice that represents clients in an array of matters. The National Health Law Program, which educates, advocates, and litigates health care issues, turns to our health care team for representation in lawsuits in which it is a party or a friend of the court. The firm also provides pro bono representation in ERISA health care cases, complementing our national plaintiff’s health care practice.

As part of our commitment to ensuring that members of our community have equal access to justice, we devote time pro bono to working with clients, who for any variety of reasons, are facing homelessness. Whether counseling clients through issues of unjust eviction, housing violations including unhealthy living conditions, or communications challenges due to language barriers or reading comprehension, our lawyers have meaningfully assisted numerous pro bono clients in securing exceptions, extensions, or payment to protect their access to safe and stable housing. 

The firm works actively on immigration matters in a number of different areas. Zuckerman Spaeder has provided legal ethics advice to a national provider of legal services to immigrants. Firm attorneys actively work on a number of special immigrant juvenile status cases. Firm attorneys have also secured political asylum for a victim of torture and secured a reduced bail for an immigrant who was arrested and detained. 

Since 2004, Zuckerman Spaeder has helped to create, and has worked in partnership with, the appellate project of the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia to advocate on behalf of those in greatest need. Focusing on public benefits, housing, family, and consumer law, the Barbara McDowell Appellate Advocacy Project provides high-quality representation to people who cannot afford a lawyer in civil appeals before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Through this partnership, firm attorneys provide representation to clients before the D.C. Court of Appeals and further assist Legal Aid and its partners in preparing and mooting appeals. This legal aid appellate project is one of the first in the nation.