Legal Aid attorney receives professionalism award

April 2010
by Gabrielle Davis

ORLANDO — Cara Dobrev, attorney with the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association, received the 2010 Young Lawyers Lawrence G. Mathews Professionalism Award, given each year to a lawyer that aspires to the highest ideals of professionalism.

"She is a bright beacon of professionalism and a rising star in our legal community. She has devoted her career to protecting and advocating for the vulnerable — the children," said Ninth Judicial Circuit Magistrate Howard Friedman, who served on the bar committee that chose the recipient of the Mathews Award. "Her tireless efforts in pursuing this noble cause are worthy of recognition."

Dobrev was presented with the award, sponsored by the Orange County Bar Association, on March 25 at an OCBA luncheon.

She developed her interest for public service as a fellow with Equal Justice Works, a national two-year fellowship for which The Florida Bar Foundation provides matching funds to its grantees. As an EJW Fellow, Dobrev was placed with the Legal Aid Society of the OCBA, where she now serves as the Guardian ad Litem Program Coordinator.

In 2009-10 Dobrev was a fellow in the inaugural class of The Florida Development Leadership Institute, sponsored by The Florida Bar Foundation.

Dobrev has long had a passion for children's legal rights since her days as a new graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg when she was a social worker in group foster homes.

As a Georgetown University law student, she worked as a legal intern for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington, D.C. and for the special master in the D.C. courts appointment to advise the court on dependency cases.

In her current role as Guardian ad Litem Program Litigation Coordinator, Dobrev supports legal aid staff and the hundreds of dedicated pro bono attorneys who advocate for children in Orange County's dependency system. Dobrev engages community partners to create holistic services for dependent children, which include efforts to ensure sound legislation and policies are implemented for dependent children statewide. She also serves as an legal advocate for dependent children.

"Cara is an extraordinary lawyer whose expertise in all things GAL has made her an invaluable part of the delivery of legal services to children in the Ninth Circuit. She is called upon daily by both lawyers and judges to navigate difficult waters with kind, caring, insightful and creative solutions for many vexing problems that surround the delivery of these services," said Bruce Blackwell, shareholder of King, Blackwell, Downs & Zehnder, P.A. in Orlando. A past president of The Florida Bar Foundation, Blackwell also sat on the bar committee that chose Dobrev for the award.

Dobrev said she is honored to be chosen for the award because "professionalism is at its heart about working well with others."

"As advocates for children, everything we do is about making sure the kids are safe and cared for," she said. "The law is an important basis for this work, but we can only truly help kids by working together."