Studio 54 Event Honors Pro Bono Service

West Palm Beach, FL -- On Saturday evening, May 13, 2006, the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County together with the Sun Sentinel Children's Fund, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation hosted the 18th Annual Pro Bono Recognition Evening at the Cohen Pavilion of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. The theme of the evening was "Studio 54" and over 750 individuals attended the event which netted over $200,000. All funds generated by the evening will benefit the disadvantaged children, families and elders served by Legal Aid and the children served by the Sun Sentinel's Children's Fund.

Honored at this year's event were the following Palm Beach County attorneys: Robin Bresky (Appellate Law Award); Jorge M. Cestero (Family Law Section of the Florida Bar-Specialty Bar Award); John B. Cleary, Jr. (Elder Law Award); Peter A. Cooke (Consumer Law Award); Georgiana Fratella Dambra (Guardianship Law Award); Michael B. Davis (Individual Rights Award); Charles D. Jamieson (Child Advocacy Award); Kevin L. McNamara (Family Law Award); Morris G. (Skip) Miller (Non-Profit Law Award) and Larry D. "Donnie" Murrell, Jr. (Criminal Law Award). Non-attorney Lela Jordan, Executive Director of the Vicker's House was the recipient of the Community Service Award and the prestigious "And Justice for All Award" was posthumously awarded to attorney Jack E. Orsley and was received by his wife Jackie and their four (4) children. Entertainment was provided by the students of the Alexander W. Drewyfoos, Jr. School of the Arts under the direction of Garry Q. Lewis. The emcee for the evening was Bill Bone.

The Legal Aid Society provides free legal representation and education to over 5,000 disadvantaged children, families, elders and individuals annually through its Family Advocacy, Children's Advocacy, Elder Advocacy, Health Advocacy, Individual Rights Advocacy and Community Advocacy projects. Legal Aid's services are available throughout Palm Beach County.

The Sun-Sentinel Children's Fund, a fund of the McCormick-Tribune Foundation, provides grants to nonprofit organizations in South Florida that help low income children and families . Since the inception of the Fund in 1991, more than $20 million in grants have been made to local non-profit organizations.

The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Inc., founded in 1949, is a private nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to providing free legal services to disadvantaged children, families, elders and individuals living in Palm Beach County. Projects include the Domestic Violence Project, Juvenile Advocacy Project, Foster Children's Project, Ryan White Project, Fair Housing Project and Elder Law Project.

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Contact:
Bob Bertisch, Executive Director (561) 655-8944 ext. 247