Fran Haasch-Nineteen Years Of Giving Back

You’ve probably seen the ad on billboards all over the Tampa Bay area, in this magazine or on Born to Ride TV.

- Eric Vician

You know the one that features personal injury attorney Fran Haasch sitting sideways on a ruby red Harley complete with matching red formal business shirt, fingertips – and a scowl designed to appeal to the tough biker crowd that comprises 60 percent of her clientele.

The LawFran.com advertisement certainly is eye catching, but Haasch is the first to tell you, it was hard for somebody like her who smiles so much in life, not to smile for that photo. The “tough” looking Haasch in the ad, actually is closer to a teddy bear. Sure she’s known around town as everyone’s favorite biker lawyer, but when you peel back the onion a bit and remove the shiny red nail polish, what you have is a wife, mother and philanthropist who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty all in the name of helping someone or something.

You might not know that Haasch is among the nicest, most giving people in the greater Tampa Bay area. And you also might not know that it all began with a half sandwich, half rotten potatoes and a helping family half a world away. We wanted to find out why Haasch is so driven to help people, animals and places – like the Bahamas where she sent immediate aid to 10 families the week after Category 5 Hurricane Dorian devastated Florida’s neighboring island nation this past September.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT, WHY ATTORNEY FRAN HAASCH GIVES BACK

Haasch’s grandfather was killed a week before World War II concluded, leaving her grandmother, Alma, a refugee after the war caring for four sons – including Haasch’s father, Werner, who was born in Germany as the 2nd oldest of his siblings. His youngest brother was only a couple days old when the war-torn family found themselves starving. Desperate, Alma began writing letters to a family in Wisconsin whom she believed to be related to them.