Miami attorney Albert Dotson Jr. first saw the power of law to shape communities as a college intern for then-Miami-Dade State Attorney Janet Reno right after the 1980 McDuffie riots.

The riots, protesting the acquittal of police officers who beat a young black man to death, spread violence through Miami’s black neighborhoods, including Liberty City, Overtown and Brownsville. More than 35 years later, Dotson has never stopped listening to the voices of those communities.