Our History

CABA Pro Bono Legal Services was founded in 1984 by Jose Garrido, a past president of the CABA Pro Bono Project, who identified a gap in legal representation within the community and organized a group of volunteer attorneys to provide pro bono services.

In 2006, then-president Manuel L. Crespo led the effort to establish the organization as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit with its own board of directors. Its first office was located in Little Havana at Abriendo Puertas, where Crespo oversaw renovations and hired the organization’s first employee, Maria Jacqueline Rodriguez, who remains on staff.

The organization operated from that location until 2008, when it relocated near the Orange Bowl. In 2009, under executive director Raul Flores, CABA Pro Bono hired its first staff attorney to handle foreclosure cases in-house; previously, all cases had been referred to volunteer attorneys. Past president Sandra Ferrera also served for several years as pro bono chair during this period of growth.

In 2013, under executive director Lesley Mendoza, the organization moved to its current headquarters at 2400 S. Dixie Highway and added another staff attorney. That year it also launched the Mi Futuro program, which has represented more than 1,200 children since its founding.

The organization continued expanding its staff and attorney roster. In 2015, it added a third program area focused on human trafficking cases. In 2019, it launched the Veterans Representation Program to serve veterans in Miami-Dade Veterans Court and received a grant from the Florida Bar Foundation to expand its pro bono operations. Fundraising efforts by past board members and presidents have supported this growth. 

Over four decades, CABA Pro Bono has grown from a small volunteer referral effort into an independent legal services organization, now operating as its own program separate from the Cuban American Bar Association while maintaining the roots and founding spirit that shaped its mission. The organization has expanded its team of attorneys and staff and added a second office in Kendall to complement its Coconut Grove headquarters, allowing it to serve significantly more eligible low-income Florida residents each year through representation in family law, eviction defense, human trafficking and domestic violence cases, veterans’ services, and legal advocacy for children.