John Daly has been volunteering at Brevard County Legal Aid since the mid-1980s when he began devoting a few hours each week providing clinical assistance at our office. Over the years, he has undertaken full representation of low-income clients in contentious family law matters, staffed innumerable legal clinics, and assisted BCLA in organizing and implementing our family law pro se assistance program.
His recent work with pro se litigants has been especially important. Thousands of litigants represent themselves each year and, as the recession lingers, the numbers are increasing. The need in family law cases is critical. Without adequate preparation, their cases are delayed or continued, and they are unable to effectively access the judicial system. Unfortunately, fundamental rights are at stake.
John’s first career was not as an attorney. He was a mathematician conducting weapons effectiveness analysis for the United States Navy when, in 1976, a local lawyer challenged him to take the Law School Admission Test. He passed the exam comfortably and attended law school at the University of Florida. After graduation, his fascination with law and history led to a position with a small firm in the historic city of Eustis. He gained valuable experience in the areas of corporate, family and probate law. Eventually, he returned to Brevard for a position with the Harris Corporation in Melbourne.
Along with his law degree, John holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in math and recently added an M.A. in Historic Preservation to his resume. He has a strong interest in old buildings and machinery and is actively involved in a not-for-profit dedicated to promoting historic preservation with an emphasis on protecting and restoring the William T. Wells home, one of the few Queen Anne style structures to have been built in South Brevard.
John Daly provides vitally important assistance to those in our community who, without help, stand to lose everything. In appreciation of his longstanding dedication to the needs of Brevard’s poor and disadvantaged, we are proud to recognize John B. Daly as Legal Aid’s “Pro Bono Attorney of the Year.”