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2019 Florida Bar President’s Pro bono Award
Crystal Freed
4th Judicial Circuit (Clay, Duval and Nassau counties)
Crystal Freed found success at big-name rms a er earning her J.D. in 2003 from Georgetown University Law Center. But Freed, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, realized her pas- sion was to help victims of human tra cking, and in 2008 she formed the Freed Firm, P.A., in Jacksonville. Freed co- chaired Northeast Flor- ida’s rst Human Traf- cking Task Force from 2007-2009, quadrupling membership. As chair of the Human Rights Com- mittee of the Jacksonville Bar Association, Freed piloted the Attorneys for Human Tra cking Survivors project. She also co-founded a state- wide e ort, Florida At- torneys for Survivors of Human Tra cking. She also spearheaded the cre- ation of the Jacksonville Human Tra cking Pro Bono Working Group.
Crystal Freed was an at- torney who learned about human tra cking while in law school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Moved by the yearning to protect human liberties, Crystal became an advocate for tra cked persons and dedicated her company, e Freed Firm, to preventing tra cking through legal ser- vices.
Christine Meyer
Supervising Attorney
| Guardian ad Litem Program
FLORIDA GUARDIAN AD LITEM PROGRAM
e Florida Guardian ad Li- tem Program is a state agency court-appointed to represent the best interest of abused, neglected, and abandoned children. rough a multi- disciplinary team approach, the Guardian ad Litem Pro- gram attorneys, child advo- cate managers, and volunteer child advocates powerfully and e ectively advocate for the most vulnerable children in Florida. e Guardian ad Litem Program ensures all the children’s needs are met, they are receiving all necessary ser- vices, and most importantly, they nd their way to a safe, loving, and permanent home. Children with advocates like these spend less time in foster care and are twice as likely to be adopted.
Christine Meyer is the super- vising attorney of the Guardian ad Litem Program in the Fourth Judicial Circuit. A graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, Ms. Meyer manages the program’s legal team consisting of nine attorneys. Meyer has been with Guardian ad Litem for more than 20 years and just earned board certi cation in juvenile law from e Florida Bar. In October, she won the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Program’s Leadership Award. Meyer is also an adjunct law professor at Florida Coastal School of Law teaching a Child Advocacy Clinic. Practicing in this area of the law is truly her passio
Katy DeBriere Attorney | Jacksonville Area Legal Aid NORTHEAST FLORIDA MEDICAL LEGAL PARTNERSHIP
rough the NFMLP, Northeast Florida health care institutions refer pediatric pa- tients and their families to Jacksonville Area Legal Aid for help with civil legal issues such as access to health care, safe housing and spe- cial education services.
At Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Katy DeBri- ere is the managing attorney for the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership. DeBriere graduated with honors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2008 and joined JALA in 2015. She provides legal ser- vices to pediatric patients and their families and refers cases to JALA sta and pro bono attorneys.
Lauren
Carroll Attorney | Injunction for Protection Project HUBBARD HOUSE
Hubbard House provides legal rep- resentation to survivors of domestic, dating, sexual violence, and stalking in injunction for protection proceedings and related matters. Representation includes dra ing petitions and motions and appearing at including child
support and enforcement hearings.
Ms. Carroll began her career as a social worker and earned her master’s in social work from the Uni- versity of Tennessee. A er graduating law school, she has continued to advocate for children and families with the guardian ad litem program and subse- quently with Hubbard House as an attorney with the FCADV supported Injunction for Protection Project.
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