We are committed to closing the justice gap, providing pro bono legal services to those in need across our many communities.

Akerman's pro bono initiatives are focused on helping the most vulnerable members of our society, with an emphasis in the areas of education and youth development. We work on behalf of foster youth, incarcerated youth, parents adopting children, and young immigrants seeking refuge in the United States, among others.

Our lawyers become involved in pro bono service at the beginning of their careers, with the firm providing mentoring programs, training opportunities, and other dedicated services to support our people and the people they serve. We also collaborate with our clients and community partners to expand the reach of our pro bono efforts.

What We Do

• Child Welfare Project. Many of our professionals participate in the firm’s national Child Welfare Project, which provides trial and appellate representation to children and offers transactional legal services to nonprofit organizations that serve foster youth. In conjunction with the Project, Akerman has developed an unprecedented partnership with the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA) and its programs across the United States, providing thousands of pro bono hours in support of CASA's mission to protect abused and neglected children.
• Adoptions Project. Our professionals have collaborated with Public Counsel, the nation’s largest public interest law firm, to develop a special pro bono project providing legal services to parents adopting children out of the foster care system.
• Law Firm Consortium on Children's Rights. We are a founding member of the Law Firm Consortium on Children's Rights, an organization of Florida law firms focused on ensuring that court systems implement best practices protocols to protect the rights of vulnerable children in the foster care system.
• TENT Alliance. Akerman is a proud member of the TENT Alliance, an international partnership of private sector organizations working together to respond to the refugee crisis. As part of this effort, our professionals are working to expand legal protections in the United States for the thousands of immigrant youth who have fled warfare, gang violence, human trafficking, and abuse in their home countries.
• GI LAW Project. Akerman is proud to support the men and women serving our country and defending our freedoms by participating in the Governor’s Initiative on Lawyers Assisting Warriors (GI LAW), a collaboration between the Florida Governor's office, the Department of Military Affairs, the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and Enterprise Florida. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis introduced the GI LAW project to assist active duty military members by providing free legal representation in civil matters, filling the gap for Florida service members between legal assistance available through their military service and the civil legal needs with which military attorneys cannot assist service members. These services include matters such as family law matters, landlord-tenant disputes, social security disability claims, contract disputes, help with unfair and deceptive sales and practices, bankruptcy matters, and wills and estates.