The scholarship pays tribute to Butler, a beloved Key West High School teacher and mentor who tragically died in March 2023. Butler is perhaps best known for leaving a profound mark on the lives of his students, particularly the young athletes he coached and guided.

For Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, choosing to honor Butler through the scholarship is a way to keep his legacy alive.

“I have known the Butler family for my entire 45 years working in Key West,” Leesfield said. “There is no finer family in the community who has done more for high school athletic programs. Dexter Butler was a true role model.”

Dylan Martinez has been selected as the first-ever recipient of the Dexter Butler Scholarship.

Created less than a year after his passing, the scholarship reflects the values Butler championed: kindness and an unwavering support for his students and athletes. Among this year’s applicants, one theme consistently emerged — “Coach Dex,” as the boys affectionately called him, made each of them feel seen and valued.

Joined by Partner Justin B. Shapiro, Mr. Leesfield personally presented the award to Dylan at Key West High School’s 2025 Class Night in the school’s auditorium.

“On behalf of the attorneys and staff at Leesfield & Partners, I want to congratulate Dylan Martinez and all the boys who applied,” Leesfield said. “These young men aspire to live out the example left behind by Dexter Butler — an admirable goal. I commend their efforts and encourage them to continue this work going forward.”

Other Scholarships Championed by LFF

The Leesfield Family Foundation has supported countless scholarships and grants to further the education of students in need since 1994. In partnership with organizations like the American Association for Justice and the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, LFF has been afforded the opportunity to be a part of the journey of hundreds of students all over the country. Over the years, The Foundation had broadened its scope and expanded its initiatives to also support organizations dedicat4ed to women and children’s initiatives. LFF also significantly contributes to disaster relief organizations. No matter the cause, however, The Foundation has stayed true to its motto — generosity, warmth and reassurance.

“Our giving is rooted in gratitude, using my extra resources to help others instead of accumulating more,” Mr. Leesfield has previously said. “I gain great satisfaction from helping others.”

Last month, The Leesfield Family Foundation celebrated the recipients of the LFF/MDFAWL Sookie Williams Scholarship — Rebecca “Becky” Rodriguez and Genesis Navarrete. LFF is honored to support these two fledgling attorneys as they continue to strive for greatness in their legal careers. The staff and attorneys at LFF and Leesfield & Partners cannot wait to watch the successes of these recipients.

Congratulations to all the recipients and good luck!

• For more information on the Leesfield/AAJ Law Student Scholarship Program, contact Carmen Marrero at Marrero@Leesfield.com.
• For more information about the MDFAWL Scholarship, please visit MDFAWL.org
• Follow us on social media or email info@Leesfield.com for more information about the Dexter Butler Scholarship.
  

  Partner Justin B. Shapiro, Anita Butler, Dylan Martinez and Ira Leesfield posed for a photo

With a planned athletic scholarship to be awarded in his name, Butler will be afforded the opportunity to continue doing just that for his students.

“Coach Dex” and Butler’s Legacy

Butler died in March 2024 while on his way to meet his students, according to reporting from local news outlets at the time of his death. He was a husband to Maria L. Castillo and father to a 2-year-old girl, Viviana Jade Butler. His parents are Anita and William “Bill” Butler and his brother is Devin Miles Butler.

In life, he was known for his compassion, kindness and mentorship, a legacy that this scholarship aims to keep alive. His passion for student sports stems from his own experience as an athlete, both during his high school years and in college at the University of South Florida and Nova Southeastern University. Butler returned to his hometown of Key West after college where he taught and began coaching, following in the footsteps of his father who coached tennis and basketball. His time teaching and coaching earned him the affectionate nickname, “Coach Dex.” 

The news of Butler’s death left his community reeling with devastated mourners gathered by the hundreds  for a candlelight vigil in his honor, according to local reporting. Butler is described as being “full of life” and who seemed to love those around him with a kindness that left an “indelible impact.” Through this scholarship, Butler’s work to support and guide his students will continue. 

For more information

The scholarship will be awarded on behalf of the Leesfield Family Foundation with the support of Foundation Chair Ira Leesfield and his law firm, Leesfield & Partners. The scholarship was created as a way honor Butler’s passion for sports as well as the dedication that he had for his students. 

More details including how to apply and an award ceremony will be released at a later date.  

For more information, please visit www.Leesfield.com of follow the Law Firm on the following social media sites: 

• Facebook @Leesfield&Partners
•  X @leesfield
• Instagram @leesfieldpartnersmiami

Hoffer is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and has a Master of Business Administration from Liberty University in Virginia. When asked why she decided to pursue law school, Hoffer said it was her experience serving in the Air Force that spurred the choice. Hoffer said she hopes to someday become a civil litigator. 

Lainie Long Hoffer, a second-year law student at the American University Washington College of Law

“Since I was raised in a culture of scholarships and financial assistance, the Leesfield Family Foundation is a natural outlet for my family to now express its thanks to the less fortunate and those in need,” Foundation Chair Ira Leesfield has previously said. 

The scholarship, which was first given out in 1994, goes to law students from all over the country who display an unwavering commitment to trial advocacy and upholding the civil justice system. As of 2024, the scholarship has been extended until 2030 in recognition of 36 distinguished law student recipients. 

About The Leesfield Family Foundation

The Leesfield Family Foundation was started by Ira Leesfield, Founder and Managing Partner at Leesfield & Partners, and his wife and daughter, Cynthia and Jennifer Leesfield, in 1990. Since then, The Foundation’s impact has stretched far beyond the borders of the family’s hometown of Miami, Florida. The Foundation regularly supports local, national and international grants and organizations as well as funding numerous college and law school scholarship opportunities for students in need. In addition to its work with The Foundation, the Leesfields are also actively involved with the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative. 

About the American Association for Justice

The American Association for Justice is a network dedicated to furthering the rights of victims and injured persons; specifically, that person’s right to a trial by jury. In the vein of advocacy, the AAJ also promotes access to education and encourages the publishing of information that could impact the public’s health and safety. The AAJ got its start in a meeting held at an Oregon hotel in 1946.

Scholarship Applications for the 2025 cycle are now available. For more information on how to apply, please visit www.leesfieldfamilyfoundation.org/scholarships. 

Over three decades later and that mission has expanded ten-fold. Today The Leesfield Family Foundation sponsors numerous grants, scholarships and relief efforts within the family’s home base of South Florida and all over the world. The family has been recognized for their efforts and devotion to public service by local and national organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Florida Justice Association and The American Jewish Committee. The Leesfields are also proud to have spent the last 23 years working with and supporting the Clinton Foundation and to continue that work via the Clinton Global Initiative, which aims to identify and take action in areas such as climate resilience, health equity and inclusive economic recovery and growth.

Disaster Relief 

Most recently, The Leesfield Family Foundation celebrated its continued support of World Central Kitchen and its efforts to get nutritious meals to families of refugees and troops in Ukraine. Two years after Russia first invaded Ukraine, The Leesfield Family Foundation has helped to feed millions of people whose lives and homes have been uprooted by the conflict. 

The Leesfield Family Foundation is proud to continue supporting World Central Kitchen in its efforts to continue feeding families in war-torn Ukraine.

In reporting from The New York Times, it was estimated via radar satellite data that the two-year war has destroyed around 210,000 buildings across an 800-mile stretch from cities like Ukraine, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Kherson. The once full and operational buildings include over 900 hospitals, churches and schools that made up communities now desolate and shattered. The number of felled buildings, according to The Times’s analysis, is more than if every building in Manhattan was destroyed, four times over. The devastation to these cities, once bustling with children off to school and families sitting around a table for dinner, is wrenchingly evident. In addition to The Foundation’s support, the Leesfield family has also pledged to match every contribution it receives dollar-for-dollar to help World Central Kitchen continue its work feeding Ukrainians in need. For more information on how to contribute, please visit www.LeesfieldFamilyFoundation.org.

Ira and Cynthia Leesfield sit on the host committee for The Underline Sneaker Ball which will take place on Sept. 28, 2024.

Local Support  

On the home front, The Leesfield Family Foundation continues its support of local organizations such as Live Like Bella, the Fatherhood Task Force, Lotus House, Amigos for Kids as well as many others. “We continue our long-term involvement … as part of our ongoing commitment to improve the quality of Florida life for children and families,” The Leesfield Foundation said in a statement describing almost four decades “of caring” within its South Florida community.  

The Underline Sneaker Ball

In March 2023, Friends of The Underline elected Ira Leesfield onto its Board of Directors. In September, The Underline will host its Sneaker Ball, a concept that invites attendees to pair formal attire with a favored pair of tennis shoes, to promote its work on the Underline, a 10-mile linear park below the city’s Metrorail system, a portion of which is located across the street from the Leesfield & Partners office on South Dixie Highway. That land will be transformed into an urban park space and will be named on behalf of the family. Ira and Cynthia Leesfield sit on the host committee for the event which is set to take place on Sept. 28, 2024, at Brickell City Centre. 

Attendees are encouraged to lace up their best, “fashion-forward” sneakers for the occasion. Tickets go for $500, each, with sponsorship packages ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. To register for the event, go to https://www.theunderline.org/sneakerball/.

Scholarship Opportunity

Dexter Butler was known in life for his kindness and dedication to mentoring his students at Key West High School. Via a scholarship, The Leesfield Family Foundation aims to keep that legacy going in his name.

Since it began in 1990, the Leesfield Family Foundation has been dedicated to women’s and children’s initiatives, disaster relief and scholarships. The education of The Foundation’s very own, Ira Leesfield, was achieved with the help of scholarships. 

“Since I was raised in a culture of scholarships and financial assistance, the Leesfield Family Foundation is a natural outlet for my family to now express its thanks to the less fortunate and those in need,” Leesfield said on The Foundation’s website. 

In The Foundation’s tradition of giving back, it is launching another scholarship this time in honor of the late Dexter Butler, a Key West High School teacher and coach who died in March 2024. The $2,500 athletic scholarship will be awarded to a student of exceptional academic standing and will afford Butler’s family the comfort of knowing their son’s legacy of supporting and guiding young students will not be forgotten. 

Butler is described as being “full of life” and who seemed to love those around him with a kindness that left an “indelible impact.” Through this scholarship, Butler’s work to support and guide his students will continue. 

Grant applications and scholarship requests for 2024 and 2025 are now being accepted. For more information, please visit www.LeesfieldFamilyFoundation.org or email Carmen Marrero at marrero@leesfield.com.

The Florida Association of Women Lawyers (FAWL) recognized Attorney Ira Leesfield, Managing Partner at Leesfield & Partners, P.A. with the Honorable Theodore Klein Award at their 33rd Annual Judicial Reception and Scholarship Presentations event held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami. This Award recognizes a lawyer or judge in the South Florida legal community who has demonstrated initiative and dedication to women’s issues. FAWL’s President Ileana Cruz, recognized Mr. Leesfield, honoring the memory and work of the late Magistrate Judge Theodore Klein cited as one of the “sharpest legal minds in South Florida.” Leesfield and his Firm and the Foundation are longtime advocates and supporters of FAWL, a professional organization dedicated to promoting the advancement of women in the legal profession. Its membership is comprised of lawyers, judges, and professionals within the business community.

“This award exemplifies a special meaning this year, as the Leesfield Family Foundation just celebrated its 25-year anniversary,” said Ira Leesfield. “We look forward to working with FAWL each year and providing scholarships for dedicated women who might not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue their career in law.”

In the past, FAWL has recognized Ira Leesfield with “The Friend of FAWL Award” as well as “The Philanthropist Award” for the much-needed funding the Leesfield Family Foundation has provided over the past quarter century.

At the event, and for the 19th consecutive year, Ira Leesfield presented the Leesfield/FAWL Law Student Scholarship to Jessica Satinoff, a third-year law student at Florida International University School of Law. Ms. Satinoff is the Executive Comments Editor for FIU Law Review and serves as a Certified Legal Intern at Dade Legal Aid, a non-profit organization which provides legal assistance to impoverished families and children, and victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

The scholarships were granted in association with the Florida Association of Women Lawyers, Miami-Dade Chapter  (FAWL) and presented today at its 32nd Annual Judicial Reception and Scholarship Presentations event held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Miami, FL.

Upon graduation, Nejla Calvo hopes to work at Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. providing local advocacy, outreach, and education to low-income residents in mobile home parks.

Janelle Vega is a single mother to a five-year-old boy and works as a research assistant for her commercial law and contracts professors.  She has a master’s degree in Public Administration and aspires to become a voice for unrepresented minorities and the homeless.

“The Leesfield Foundation is proud to support FAWL and its commitment to help exemplary female law students like Janelle and Nejla fulfill their ambition to pursue a career in law. We look forward to witnessing their future successes and will continue to seek and support more worthy law students throughout the years to come.” said Ira Leesfield.

FAWL is a professional organization dedicated to promoting the advancement of women in the legal profession.  Its membership is comprised of lawyers, judges, and professionals within the business community. The Leesfield Foundation is credited as being the first law firm affiliate to fund a FAWL scholarship. This year marks its 18^th consecutive year of participation.

The Leesfield Family Foundation supports numerous scholarship funds, including the Harold Foster Memorial Scholarship at Nova Southeastern University and the Dan Pearson Scholarship at the University of Miami School of Law.  Since 1994, the Leesfield Family Foundation has also endowed the Leesfield/American Association for Justice Law Student Scholarship to provide assistance to students who exemplify a high commitment to trial advocacy and public justice.

The scholarship has been awarded every year since 1994, recognizing law students who exemplify a high commitment to trial advocacy and public justice. Born in Kenya and fluent in Swahili, Brenda is the 23^rd recipient of this scholarship, having graduated Summa Cum Laude from Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland as an Honors College Eagle Scholar. She is a first-year law student at The University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law and expects to graduate in 2016.  Ira Leesfield presented the scholarship to Ms. Kathurima on July 27, 2014 during the American Association for Justice Annual Convention held in Baltimore, Maryland. Brenda’s desire to become a lawyer is fueled by her experiences growing up in a society devoid of the rule of law and civil justice. She is a dedicated law student with a passion to contribute to the well-being of her community and has undertaken numerous projects to assist the less fortunate, such as her significant role in the implementation of a laptop award program for underprivileged students while she served as Secretary of the Student Government Association at Coppin State University. She hopes to embark on a legal career with emphasis on civil rights litigation, and be a “voice of conscience” for the most vulnerable members of society. “I am honored to be the recipient of this prestigious award from such esteemed organizations. As a student paying for my own college education, I cannot express what this award means to me. . .Your support is what makes my future a real possibility, and for this, I am deeply grateful, ” said Brenda Kathurima.  We proudly congratulate Brenda Kathurima for her remarkable accomplishments.

University Maryland Newsletter relaying the selection of Ms. Kathurima as the 2014 recipient of the Leesfield/AAJ Law Student Scholarship.