The Florida Justice Technology Center (FJTC) has expanded its board as it takes on a variety of projects to support Florida advocates, pro bono attorneys and low-income clients.
The center was formed two years ago with funding from The Florida Bar Foundation to increase access to justice through the innovative use of technology.
John Stewart, a member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors and past president of the Young Lawyers Division, and Donny MacKenzie, a past Florida Bar Foundation president, replace past Florida Bar President Greg Coleman and Savvy Suit Co-Founder James Haggard on the FJTC board.
A partner at Rossway Swan, Stewart serves on the Supreme Court of Florida’s Florida Courts Technology Commission and was selected to chair the Bar’s Vision 2016 technology subcommittee. He speaks regularly on technology and the law including multiple sessions at the 2016 and 2017 ABA TECHSHOW.
MacKenzie is a member of the litigation department at Holland & Knight and the firm’s Jacksonville pro bono partner. He serves on the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice and has played a critical role in the development of the Florida Legal Access Gateway (FLAG), which uses an online interview format to direct users to the most appropriate legal help and resources.
Other new board members are Jack Newton, co-founder and CEO of Clio, and Jayme Cassidy, who directs the Veterans Law Clinic, the Legal Incubator, and the Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Law Clinic at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Shepard Broad College of Law.
Newton, whose company is the leading provider of cloud-based practice management software used by lawyers around the world, is president of the Legal Cloud Computing Association (LCCA), a consortium with a mandate to accelerate the adoption of cloud computing in the legal industry.
Prior to joining NSU, Cassidy was the supervising attorney for the EACH (Economic Advocacy and Community Health) and VALOR (Veteran Advocates Legal Outreach & Representation) Projects at Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida, Inc. She created and implemented the VALOR Project, which is a medical legal partnership with the Department of Veteran Affairs.
The FJTC conducted a pilot of FLAG in Clay County, Fla., and is conducting an evaluation that includes in-depth user-testing interviews and website analytics. The pilot was funded by The Florida Bar Foundation with $500,000 Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi agreed to direct to the project from Florida’s share of a $136 million joint state-federal settlement with Chase Bank USA N.A. and Chase Bankcard Services, Inc.
FJTC also has been upgrading and updating FLAdvocate.org, a website that provides resources for legal aid and pro bono attorneys statewide, including listservs and a popular online library, as well as FloridaLawHelp.org, which provides legal resources for the public. And the center is providing support for the website of the Florida Dependency Law Center, www.floridadependencylaw.org, an online resource center for attorneys and judges who handle dependency cases.
About the Florida Justice Technology Center
The Florida Justice Technology Center was conceived by a small group of individuals from The Florida Bar and The Florida Bar Foundation. After The Florida Bar loaned $2 million to The Florida Bar Foundation earmarked for technology, the Florida Justice Technology Center applied for and received its first two years of funding from the Foundation. FJTC is a 501(c)3 independent nonprofit whose mission is to increase access to justice in Florida through the innovative use of technology.
