Searcy Denney donate $75,000 to the Foundation: The money came from a fee award after the firm challenged a Bar ad rule.

Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley has made a $75,000 gift to help fund the revival of The Florida Bar Foundation's Summer Fellows program, which places law students at civil legal aid organizations to get first-hand experience in public interest law.

"Searcy Denney's gift is the largest the Foundation has ever received from a law firm," said then Foundation President Matthew Brenner. "That speaks volumes about their commitment to the greater good, and, in particular, to the Foundation's mission of providing greater access to justice."

Past Florida Bar President Greg Coleman said the origin of the gift is also an example of Searcy Denney CEO Chris Searcy's ethical standards. The funds came from attorneys' fees the firm was awarded in a "friendly" suit against The Florida Bar that sought to clarify advertising rules enacted several years ago related to websites. The firm had been unable to get a definitive answer from The Florida Bar as to whether its website was in full compliance.

"He and his firm have always held their ethical conduct to the highest standards," Coleman said. "It was exceptionally important to Chris to ensure his firm was in complete compliance at all times with the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar."

When Coleman was Bar president, he and Searcy had worked out a resolution to the litigation, but meanwhile the court ruled in favor of Searcy Denney, and the firm received a $75,000 fee award.

"Chris immediately called me and told me he did not consider the work they did with The Florida Bar, in reference to this litigation, to be the type of work where his firm should recover their attorneys' fees. He wanted to donate the money to The Florida Bar Foundation," Coleman said.

The donation will fund 11-week legal aid fellowships through which law students will develop projects in areas of identified needs, such as homelessness, juvenile justice, and medical-legal partnerships. The Foundation had suspended the Summer Fellows program in 2012 due to lack of funding, after the organization's major revenue source, IOTA, fell by more than 90 percent.

Last year the Foundation began raising funds to restart the program, which began in 1995. The cost of the program is about $150,000 a year. With Searcy Denney's gift, the Foundation has...