Equal Justice Awards

Gunster shareholder Mike Freed is a trial lawyer with a wealth of experience in the courtroom and arbitrations, administrative proceedings and other forms of dispute resolution. Board certified in business litigation, his practice spans a wide range of substantive legal disciplines and specialized industries, including corporate governance, education, health care, hospitality, labor and employment, construction, logistics, transportation and receiverships. Freed is also a philanthropist whose giving goes well beyond writing checks. As the founder of Freed To Run, Freed established a six-marathon series that raised $2.25 million to endow a JALA program called the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership that provides civil legal services to hundreds of indigent pediatric patients a year. To achieve permanent funding for this important program, Freed not only ran 36 marathons himself, but also engaged donors and relay teams from virtually every sector of the community to contribute to both the fundraising and awareness. While that initial fundraising goal has been met, Freed is not stopping. He is now working with JALA to establish a powerful new endowment that will safeguard and strengthen JALA’s housing-related legal assistance for indigent seniors. Known as Shelter for Elders, this initiative will be funded through a new event format called the Freed to Run Challenge, which involves walks or runs over a period of 12 or 24 hours. Individuals and relay teams compete to see who can complete the most laps around the Duval County Courthouse during their chosen time frame.