(WASHINGTON) February 22, 2006 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has announced that Bryant Richardson, a lawyer in the firm’s Real Estate practice group, has received the 2006 Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award. Richardson was presented with the award in a ceremony at the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee on February 16.
The award recognizes the contributions to the ideal of pro bono service of lawyers from each of Florida’s judicial circuits, plus one attorney who remains a member of the Florida Bar while living and practicing in another state. This year, the winner of the Out-of-State Award was Richardson, who is based in DLA Piper’s Washington, D.C. office.
Richardson has been active in several pro bono causes throughout his career. He made significant contributions to the study and report produced by DLA Piper and the D.C. Appleseed Foundation that aimed to reduce the number and costs of disputes between parents and special education students and the District of Columbia Public Schools, so that funds could be redirected to classroom services. For more than two years, on a pro bono basis, he worked to help a D.C, couple obtain guardianship of their three nieces, who had been abused by their mother.
Richardson has also devoted significant time to Unitarian Universalist Affordable Housing Corporation, a community development loan fund that brings together socially responsible investments to finance affordable housing and child care in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore region, and actively volunteers and assists the Capital Area Food Bank. In 2003, Richardson received the DLA Piper Pro Bono Associate of the Year award in 2003 for the Washington, D.C. office.
“We are proud that the Florida Bar has recognized Bryant for his pro bono efforts, which have truly been above and beyond the call of duty,” said Elizabeth Dewey, DLA Piper’s Pro Bono Partner. “His dedication to all his clients and to increasing access to legal services for those who might otherwise go without representation exemplifies our philosophy of all-around excellence.”
Richardson practices in the areas of commercial real estate development and finance, commercial leasing, and real property transactions. He represents private equity funds, pension funds, and local and national developers on transactions, development projects, and complex real estate finance. He also represents large corporate users in connection with various lease matters.
Richardson received an undergraduate degree in Special Education from Florida International University, and was a high-school special education teacher in Miami-Dade County before graduating, magna cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law.
About DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary (www.dlapiper.com) DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has 3,100 lawyers and 58 offices in 22 countries throughout the U.S., U.K., Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia. It has leading practices in commercial, corporate and finance, human resources, litigation, real estate, regulatory and legislative, and technology, media and communications.
