Walking together on the path to unity.

• Author: Young, Gwynne A.
• Position: PRESIDENT'S PAGE

Born with cerebral palsy, Timothy A. Moran zooms around in a power chair, and, because he is unable to write, he uses Dragon Naturally Speaking computer technology to dictate and complete pleadings for his clients.

Now in a solo practice in Oviedo, he began his career volunteering for legal aid, calling pro bono a duty and privilege.

Logging more than 600 hours of pro bono work for more than 150 low-income clients, Moran was honored with this year's Young Lawyers Division Pro Bono Service Award. At the Supreme Court ceremony, he told of one client duped into paying a mortgage on a poorly built mobile home on land she no longer owned. Working with Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, Moran was able to reverse the defected deed and get her land back free and clear.

After all of the paperwork was signed, his client said, "Mr. Moran, does that mean I can plant my tulips where I want?"

"Yes, ma'am," Moran told her. Moran has said "yes" to being fully

involved in The Florida Bar.

The 35-year-old Moran, whose practice focuses on foreclosure defense, is a member of the YLD, as well as the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section. His Bar participation keeps him abreast of current developments in real estate law so that he can better serve his clients.

"The legal profession is one that embraces diversity, and, as such, my disability has not been a barrier," Moran said. "In short, our profession has allowed me to be different while making a difference."

Moran is one face of diversity at The Florida Bar.

Allow me to introduce you to another: Tara Rao, born in Madras, India, came to the United States when she was three, and speaks Tamil and Kannada, her native language, as well as English and conversational Spanish.

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Now, she communicates fluently with leaders of The Florida Bar after meeting former Bar President Scott Hawkins while he was crisscrossing the state campaigning for the office. Hawkins told Rao he had never heard of the South Asian Bar Association of Florida, where she served as vice president. She invited him to attend a board meeting in Tampa. Hawkins, in turn, appointed Rao to the Bar's Special Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, where she still enthusiastically serves.

"I have to say, initially, I didn't know how to get involved with the Big Bar," said Rao, who also serves on the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers Diversity Committee.

"I didn't know how to fit in and how to get an appointment and...