A Tallahassee attorney has received an award for his efforts to help the victims of the Pulse Nightclub massacre, the worst mass shooting in modern American history. He was nominated by Florida’s Attorney General.
Speaking a couple months ago to the Florida Chamber Foundation, Attorney General Pam Bondi recalled how massive the effort was to help the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting.
“I had 19 victims’ advocates that we brought in from around the state, thinking they’d be here for a couple days,” she said, at the time. “They were here three weeks later. So far, we’ve dispensed well over $300,000 in funeral expenses, counseling, lost wages…and the dynamic of that situation was interesting because so many of our victims and family members were Spanish-speaking. So, many of them were from the Dominican or Puerto Rico. So, we had to help arrange funeral services either here or in Puerto Rico.”
Working alongside those advocates for weeks was Andrew Fay, a Tallahassee Attorney. And, his efforts prompted Bondi to nominate him for the 2016 Government Attorney of the Year Award.
“Andrew’s nomination was incredibly impressive and explained how Andrew immediately left Tallahassee, went down to Orlando to help the victims of the Pulse massacre, and how he stayed there working for 18 hours a day, seven days a week for three weeks and refused to come back to Tallahasee,” said David W. Grimes. “His wife, actually, had to mail him clothes, so he could continue working.”
Grimes is the President of the Florida Government Bar Association—which issued Fay the award.
“People have certain conception of government attorneys that doesn’t really mesh with what we see from our side,” Grimes added. “Previous winners have been lead attorneys on the Deepwater Horizon litigation and have done all sorts of exceptional things. And, while no one ever wanted to be in this situation that Andrew was in, he went above and beyond the call of duty in keeping with the best traditions of our legal profession and rendering aid and helping make sure that people understood the system and get the help they need. So, we’re very happy to recognize him as the Government Attorney of the Year.”
Fay was recognized last week during one of the Florida Government Bar Association’s monthly luncheons. The Association—not affiliated with the Florida Bar—is mostly comprised of attorneys employed by the Government.
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