Shook Attorney, Pro Bono Program Receive Equal Justice Champion Award

The Legal Services of Greater Miami (LSGMI) has awarded Shook Senior Counsel Greg Boulos with the Equal Justice Pro Bono Champion Award. Previous recipients of this award include a former U.S. Senator and the former publisher of the Miami Herald. Boulos was recognized for co-founding a pro bono program that represents developmentally disabled children seeking education accommodations. 

Boulos was inspired to create the pro bono program by having close friends with children on the autism spectrum who could not afford counsel in their dispute with their school about special needs accommodations.

“These families already spent most of their resources on healthcare for their children and do not have money to spare to secure accommodations that their children have a constitutional right to access,” said Boulos. “Without these accommodations, children can lose opportunities to obtain a standard high school diploma one day, be withdrawn from schools where they managed to develop friendships or from programs for gifted children.”

“Greg and I put our heads together, connecting the dots in the community between Legal Services of Greater Miami, local autism programs and a group of private law firms, including Shook,” said Shook Pro Bono Chair Scot Fishman. “That collaboration has yielded a new pipeline for families to pro bono legal services.”

Boulos went on to find more pro bono clients through LSGMI’s referral program and contacts with local non-profits. Since then, the program has trained approximately 35 litigators and have started securing great results for pro bono clients.

Boulos and Shook’s Pro Bono program were recognized at LSGMI’s annual Pro Bono Celebration on October 23.