Imagine living paycheck to paycheck, barely making ends meet, when the bank tries to foreclose on your home. Or your landlord tries to evict you in order to raise the rent. You barely have the income to cover the basics, let alone pay for a lawyer. What do you do?
You call the Legal Aid Society, that’s what you do. Conceived as the brainchild of a couple of attorneys in the 1960s looking to help local residents who couldn’t afford legal representation, the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar quickly grew into an essential service for thousands of Central Floridians. Executive Director, Mary Anne De Petrillo, sat down with our host Chief Judge Fred Lauten to explore the tangible impact the Legal Aid Society has in our community and courts.
Former Chief Judge and Moderator
Judge Fred Lauten served in the Ninth Circuit from 1994 to 2019. Between 2015 and 2019, he served as Chief Judge of the Circuit.
Executive Director, Legal Aid Society
Mary Anne De Petrillo received her juris doctorate from Loyola University New Orleans and has served as the executive director of the Legal Aid Societ