Associate Heather Lee was awarded the 2019 Pro Bono Service and Excellence Award from the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Lee received the award at the Association’s annual meeting.
Lee was nominated for the award by partner Mike Mathews for her service to the bar, including:
- First-chairing a three-day federal civil rights trial on behalf of a prisoner who alleged he was beaten and pepper-sprayed while in custody
- Drafting an appellate brief before the Eleventh Circuit on behalf of an Alabama death row inmate who alleged he was wrongfully convicted
- Drafting two amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court, including one on behalf of a man serving a life sentence who had been denied the right to present alibi witnesses, and one arguing the precedent that unanimity is required only for federal, not state, juries.