Legal Services

At some point in your career, you are likely to find yourself in need of some form of legal assistance. There are many possible issues that may arise in the scope of your law enforcement duties that you may not ever contemplate. The Florida PBA provides legal representation for arbitrations that arise from disciplinary matters or contract violations, officer involved shootings, critical incidents involving injury or death, in-custody deaths, civil suits, criminal defense, and many other issues that may arise while acting in a capacity as a law enforcement officer.

The Florida PBA has many “in-house” attorneys in addition to over 40 retained contract attorneys located throughout the state. Our lawyers are experienced attorneys in their respective fields of practice.   We provide attorneys that concentrate in criminal defense, civil defense, administrative law, labor law, worker’s compensation, contract negotiations and more. These services are included as part of your monthly membership dues. In addition to our top-of-the-line attorneys, the PBA provides all necessary resources including experts, investigators and more. There are never additional costs to the member.

To ensure you have access to the legal benefits, you must be an active member in good standing at the time of the incident needing representation. Click below for more detailed information as to the legal assistance PBA provides to its membership

• ‍Internal Affairs Investigation‍
  • • When a member is placed under investigation for a work-related issue, the Florida PBA will provide representation throughout the investigation process. The Florida PBA will assign a highly trained field staff representative to the member.  If the investigation is criminal in nature, an attorney will be assigned to the member.‍
• ‍Grievances and Arbitration‍
  • • If a member is disciplined by their agency unjustly, the Florida PBA will assist the member in filing a grievance.  
  • • The Florida PBA provides representation in disciplinary cases that arise out of and are within the scope of their official law enforcement duties such as written reprimands, suspensions, demotions, dismissals, and contractual disputes.
  • • If a member believes that their agency has violated the collective bargaining agreement, the PBA will file a grievance based upon the violation.
  • • If the grievances are not resolved, the PBA will file for arbitration and assign an attorney to represent the member during the arbitration process. The PBA covers all costs associated with arbitration cases.
• Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission‍
  • • The Florida PBA provides representation when members are at risk of having their law enforcement or correctional officer certification suspended or revoked by the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (CJSTC). This process includes probable cause hearings and formal hearings held at the Division of Administrative Hearings.

Legal Defense

• Shootings / Critical Incidents‍
  • • If a member is involved in an officer involved shooting, on-duty patrol car crash with serious bodily injury, or an in-custody death, the Florida PBA will provide an attorney to represent the member.
  • • If necessary, the PBA will immediately dispatch an attorney to assist the member at the scene of the incident.‍
• ‍Civil Suits ‍
  • • If a member is sued for an action that arose in the scope of their law enforcement duties, the PBA will assign a civil attorney to monitor the case. The civil lawyer monitors the civil case to make sure that the PBA member’s best interests are being represented by the Agency assigned attorney.
  • • In the event that the Agency attorney does not represent the member’s best interest or does not represent the member at all, the PBA will actively represent the member throughout the civil case. ‍
• Criminal Actions‍
  • • If a member is charged with a criminal offense arising from actions taken in the scope of his or her law enforcement duties, the PBA will provide a criminal attorney for the member.
  • • There are no caps or fees for criminal representation.
  • • The PBA hires experts and investigators if necessary to aid in the criminal representation.

Legal Duty Officer

The Florida PBA has an on-call legal duty officer available for all critical incidents (officer involved shootings, patrol vehicle crash with serious bodily injury and in-custody deaths) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Attorneys will report to the scene for officer involved shootings and any other emergency where it is necessary.

Basic Estate Planning

The Florida PBA offers estate planning and advance directives for healthcare planning to our members and their spouses. These services include a Simple Will, Living Will, Healthcare Surrogate, etc.