A long overdue thank you.

Sir Winston Churchill said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." And what lawyers give more than those who devote their professional careers to providing legal assistance to people who could not otherwise afford it? They are the dedicated and conscientious--and glaringly underpaid--lawyers who carry out legal aid work.

I believe passionately in the mission of legal aid. The lawyers who staff the legal aid services in Florida are undeniably at the heart of our legal system; they ensure our system of justice is available to all.

While there is great nobility in rendering pro bono services, pro bono work alone is no substitute for full-time legal aid attorneys who devote their undivided attention and expertise to providing legal assistance to the poor. The legal aid lawyers often represent the only true access to our civil justice system for the less fortunate of our citizens. These include the working poor, the disabled, single mothers, the elderly, and, of course, children.

Early legal assistance programs were called legal aid societies and were operated by local bar associations. In the mid-1960s the federal government established an office of legal services to distribute federal money to local programs, and in 1975, Congress created the Legal Services Corporation as an administrative agency. Here in Florida, statewide support to provide civil legal services occurred in the early 1970s when The Florida Bar, along with the governor's office, set up a nonprofit organization, Florida Legal Services, Inc.

Today in Florida, legal services organizations in various counties are multisponsored and funded by federal, state, and local governments, The Florida Bar Foundation, The Florida Bar, local bar associations, and special grants.

Legal aid lawyers are at work every day to help these vulnerable people maintain or restore their independence by giving them the tools to help themselves.

According to The Florida Bar Foundation, lawyers working for legal aid services, which received Foundation grants last year, took on the challenge of 37,483 family matters and 18,074 housing issues, pursued 16,043 individual rights cases, 8,832 consumer issues, and worked on 7,878 income maintenance matters.

Here are just a few typical cases handled by legal aid lawyers last year:

* Lawyers from the Legal Aid Society of Collier County represented a mother of three who was suffering from multiple sclerosis. Her husband abandoned the family and refused to provide any financial support for his wife or their children. Legal aid lawyers represented her in a dissolution of marriage proceeding, in which the judge ordered that the father pay child support and alimony.

* Lawyers from Florida Rural Legal Services, Inc., represented an elderly widow threatened with eviction by her homeowners' association for using an "illegal" wheelchair ramp. Legal aid filed a fair housing complaint and negotiated a settlement that ensured her right to stay in her home.

* American Friends Service Committee lawyers assisted a 41-year-old immigrant who fled from Guatemala after being kidnapped, beaten, and tortured because of his political activities. Legal aid lawyers advocated on his behalf before the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and he was granted asylum and the right to remain in the United States.

* Faced with foreclosure, an 84-year-old woman living on a small fixed income came to Bay Area Legal Services, Inc., for help. Several months earlier, she had been contacted by a contractor who advised her that a government program would pay for repairs to her home. After having her sign confusing paperwork he did not explain, the contractor made costly and unnecessary repairs to her home that resulted in a $32,000 mortgage she was unable to pay. Legal aid lawyers negotiated cancellation of the mortgage. The contractor was later prosecuted by the state.

* A woman's request for a car to help her move from welfare to work was denied by the local workforce board. Although cars and other supporting services were available, there was no formal application, review, or appeals process. Lawyers from Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc., and Florida Legal Services, Inc., co-counseled and appealed the denial to an appellate court, which led to the woman receiving a car. The state was prompted to adopt a formal application process, and standards of review and denial policies are now in effect in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties for all people seeking assistance as they move from welfare to work.

As the folks at Florida Legal Services, Inc., say, "Legal services embodies two basic principles: fidelity to the clients and commitment to the community, which is bound together by a devotion to equal justice."

I salute Florida's professional legal services lawyers for their commitment to equal justice and for their untiring work to make a difference in the lives of low-income clients and their families and communities.

Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren E. Burger once said, "Concepts of justice must have hands and feet ... to carry out justice in every case in the shortest possible time and the lowest possible cost."

Our legal aid lawyers provide the "hands and feet" to make justice happen for the poorest among us. They truly are tireless crusaders for the legal rights of the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and children in need.

I congratulate all of our legal aid lawyers for their extraordinary commitment to providing services to the disenfranchised. Because you care, because you are committed, because you are dedicated to the notion of equal justice under law, you provide hope for the hopeless and a voice to the voiceless.

Today is a great day to be a Florida lawyer. I am proud to be one. You should be too.