The Florida Bar Foundation announced the winners of the 2021 Florida Pro Bono Law School Challenge April 5. Stetson University College of Law won the top honor, the MVP Pro Bono Champion Award, for matching the most students with its own alumni. Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law won for most student engagement. Ave Maria School of Law won for the most alumni engagement.

“It is a testament to our state’s law schools’ commitment to pro bono work that 309 law students matched with lawyers on full representation cases through the Challenge,” Stephen R. Senn, the Foundation’s president, said. “Providing students with opportunities to get real world experience and lawyers with opportunities to mentor and support their local legal aid programs strengthens the legal aid system.”

For the third year in a row, students and lawyers used an online platform at FloridaLawSchoolChallenge.org to choose cases hosted by legal aid programs. Florida’s law schools competed for six weeks to see which could take the most pro bono cases. Students and lawyers from all of Florida’s 12 law schools participated. Legal aid programs also competed to post the most cases online during the Challenge; CABA Pro Bono Legal Services, Legal Services of North Florida, and Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida were winners.