Six Marathons, Six Days: Athletic Attorney Fundraising For Legal Aid

Mike Freed, a Florida attorney with law firm Gunster, plans to run six marathons in six days to raise funds for legal aid. Specifically, Freed is running to benefit the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid group, for whom he has done pro bono work. The move isn’t pure altruism, however: Freed’s wife, Crystal Freed, last year raised $40,000 for victims of sex trafficking in India by throwing a Bollywood-themed benefit. Freed hopes to out-fundraise her. Freed only began running seriously within the last year, but has run four marathons and three ultramarathons. The Freed-To-Run event will begin at the Florida Supreme Court building in Tallahassee. He will set off from a different court house every morning, ending in Jacksonville.

Florida is one of three states that provides no funding for legal services. But JALA estimates that 48 percent of Jacksonville residents qualify for civil legal aid. “Frankly I was just overwhelmed by the need that’s there,” Freed told ALA Journal. Freed hopes to raise $50,000 – the bulk of a yearly salary to hire a new attorney at JALA.