Southern Legal Counsel expands its practice areas while remaining true to its roots

Change is afoot at Southern Legal Counsel, and it’s good news for Floridians struggling with civil legal problems such as landlord-tenant issues, identity theft, and access to disability benefits.

With Interest on Trust Accounts (IOTA) grants from Funding Florida Legal Aid more than doubling – from $506,784 for 2024 to $1,315,138 for 2025 – SLC has been able to hire three new attorneys and expand its practice areas to include housing, consumer, and public benefits matters.

Meanwhile, the statewide public interest law firm remains as committed as ever to its roots as a provider of free legal services for populations that have been traditionally neglected or discriminated against. From children with special education needs to people with disabilities needing home and community-based services, SLC continues to advocate for the rights of those society tends to overlook, misunderstand, and all too often, harm. Even though we have received substantial additional funding, the costs of our IOTA work are still not fully funded.

A shed is not a home

“Billy,” not his real name, was living in a toolshed on a relative’s property when he turned to SLC for help obtaining Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a federal public benefit for people who are elderly, blind or disabled and lacking income or resources.

Recently hired SLC attorney Deb Gowen helped Billy obtain SSI benefits of $644 a month, but she is continuing to advocate for him to receive the maximum amount of $967 per month so that he can afford modest housing. The Social Security Administration had reduced his benefit because it believed his relative was providing him free housing, when in fact, he is only allowed to keep his belongings in the shed.

“He’s entitled to some past due benefits,” Gowen said, “and if he can get the full amount, he’d be in a position to set himself up, put down a deposit and get the utilities turned on.”

Student housing nightmare

When signing a lease in a student apartment complex, residents are often assigned roommates they don’t know anything about.

For “Alexia,” not her real name, student living became a nightmare when her roommates started verbally abusing her. Even after she had filed a police report following a particularly upsetting incident, the property manager did not adequately address her concerns.

Adding to that, some of the roommates were smokers, and Alexia had specifically requested a non-smoking unit. When the management finally moved her, it was to an apartment where there were still smokers.

The situation was complicated by a change of the property management company and the accompanying online record-keeping systems, which resulted in disjointed communications.

“We put all her communications in one place in a letter so they could see the scope of the problem,” said SLC attorney Devin Branch, who succeeded in getting the complex to move Alexia to an apartment where she felt safe and didn’t have to room with smokers.

“We’re handling a lot more of these landlord-tenant issues that have been cropping up,” said Branch, who joined SLC in 2025.

Branch counsels clients statewide on eviction and other housing matters, and even when it’s not possible to prevent an eviction, he tries to help the tenants mitigate the fallout.

Debt collector got the wrong guy

As of 2021, about 22% of Americans, or one in five, had experienced identity theft in their lifetime, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Experian reports that credit card abuse was the largest category of identity theft, with nearly half a million reports of hijacked and newly opened bogus credit card accounts a year.

Among those affected was a Broward County resident we’ll call “Bryan.”

Unbeknownst to Bryan, an identity thief was racking up credit in his name at liquor stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, and a Dick’s Sporting Goods, among other businesses from Daytona Beach to Deerfield, Fla.

The imposter with a penchant for Chipotle and Dunkin managed to rack up $16,000 in credit card debt, leaving Bryan on the receiving end of calls from debt collectors and facing a lawsuit.

That’s when he turned to SLC.

“They were trying to default him in the lawsuit because he hadn’t responded, not being an attorney,” said SLC Attorney Dan Marshall, who quickly got the case against Bryan dismissed. 

Together with Branch, Marshall is ready to take on a wide array of consumer issues, from identity theft to shady car dealers and towing companies.

“If anyone hears about these kinds of problems, they can refer the person to our website,” Marshall said.

Students with disabilities still a priority

While SLC is now able to help clients in new practice areas, its longstanding work on behalf of children with special education needs is still a major focus of the firm.

Roberto Cruz, who joined SLC in 2025 following a long career as an attorney in government, public interest, and corporate law, has been working alongside SLC Executive Director Jodi Siegel on special education cases, a number of which have involved application of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

“This law provides students experiencing homelessness with specific rights to ensure their education is not disrupted,” Cruz said. “Its central purpose is to remove the many barriers that students in these difficult situations often face.”

A recent case involved a student with developmental disabilities whose family had to move in with a relative due to their own home falling into disrepair and other issues.

One of the children had an Individualized Education Program (IEP), and a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) that called for special accommodations to support the student’s learning and development.

“Unfortunately, this family and the school district had some major disagreements about the plan, and it got elevated to the state level,” Cruz said.

The new school failed to recognize the student’s right to move from the previous school to the school zone where the family was living with the relative.

“We contacted the school to make them aware of their rights under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act,” Cruz said. He and Siegel also attended a meeting with school district officials facilitated by the Florida Department of Education. The collaboration resulted in accommodations that integrated the parents’ concerns.

“We were able to help with the immediate and successful transition of this student with special needs to the new school setting,” Cruz said. “It’s important to understand that this isn’t always the case. Some districts forget or overlook their obligations under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.”

SLC is currently handling cases from other counties that are requesting remedies under the act.

“We hope it’s not a systemic issue, but if there are people out there who need help with transitioning to a new school with their IEPs and their BIPs, SLC is here to help,” Cruz said.

In fact, SLC helps students whose rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are being violated, whether they are unhoused or not. Passed in 1975, IDEA is designed to ensure a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the United States, and SLC attorneys have used the law to advocate for students for decades.