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Ohio attorneys celebrate national pro bono month
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: October 22, 2012
October is known as breast cancer awareness month, but it’s also the time when attorneys band together to offer their services to low-income residents who may not be able to afford to pay for them.
The idea of creating a national pro bono celebration was first introduced to bar leaders around the country at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in 2008.
“The concept seemed a perfect fit and ideal opportunity for the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation to advance its mission of acting as a statewide convenor and collaborator in pro bono,” said E. Jane Tayor, director for pro bono and communications at the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation, and a past president of the Akron Bar Association.
Taylor said the foundation’s board quickly took on the role of Ohio statewide leader and coordinator for the celebration, spending close to a year working with bar associations, legal aid organizations and law schools to organize activities for the first official event, which took place nationwide in October 2009.
“The first year there were quite a few events, but by 2010 we had the distinction of having more events than any other state in the country,” said Taylor. “Last year about half of the events involved providing legal help to Ohioans who could not afford a lawyer.”
As the years have continued, funding for legal aid organizations has dropped, making October’s pro bono celebration even more important.
“We are encouraging all lawyers to volunteer,” said Taylor. “Anything they can do helps.”
About 40 pro bono events are planned in the state throughout the month of October, but the official national pro bono celebration week is Oct. 21 to 27.
“We used to squeeze all our celebration activities into just one week, but there was so much going on that we decided to spread it out throughout the month,” said Jennifer van Dulmen, managing attorney for Community Legal Aid’s Volunteer Legal Services Program and president of the Portage County Bar Association. “It is less hectic and it gives our volunteers more opportunities to find celebration events that fit their schedules."
There are 27 legal clinics taking place this month throughout our eight-county region, along with free continuing legal education seminars, social events and recognition for the volunteers.”
On Oct. 19, there will be a large community clinic at the Job Center at 1040 E. Tallmadge Ave. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. “In the past, we’ve served over 100 clients at this event and we hope to see a large number again this year,” said van Dulmen.
“There are also legal clinics in Youngstown, Medina, Lisbon and Wooster,” said van Dulmen. “The consumer protection clinics for people being sued because of credit card debt will be held in Stow on Oct. 17, Ravenna on Oct. 18, and in Akron.”
Akron’s consumer protection clinic takes place on Oct. 19 at the municipal court on High Street from 2:30 to 4 p.m. In addition, there will be another general services clinic in Akron on Oct. 25 at Open M at 941 Princeton St. from 5 to 7 p.m.
In addition, van Dulmen said people could also call legal aid if they are interested in the will clinics in Akron, Canton, Warren and Youngstown.
Attorneys can also attend a continuing legal education seminar devoted to exploring how the media has portrayed lawyers and poverty-related issues over the last 75 years, as well as attend the pro bono sidebar. Both take place at the Akron Bar Association on Oct. 25, with the CLE running from 1 to 5 p.m., and the sidebar following from 5 to 7 p.m.
“I think it’s critical for the public to understand the impact of pro bono attorneys in our community. This year so far our low-income clients have received over $2 million in economic benefit from the work done by pro bono attorneys, which does not include the value of their pro bono service. The benefit is real for low-income people and it is important that everyone truly appreciates this,” said van Dulmen.
Jennifer Hamey, a partner at Perduk, Hamey & Associates Co. L.P.A. has volunteered her services for the past four years.
“I attended a legal aid event a number of years ago, and have been helping out ever since, mainly handling bankruptcy matters,” said Hamey.
“I really got involved with the pro bono program for Summit County community legal aid when I was asked to help put together the bankruptcy program that is currently in effect today. Legal Aid utilizes law students from The University of Akron School of Law to help intake the initial appointments with clients; then the client is placed with a lawyer, such as myself, to get the bankruptcy processed through the court system.”
Hamey said she now volunteers between 25 to 30 hours per year. In 2011, she received the Volunteer of the Year Award from Community Legal Aid Services in Akron.
As part of pro month, she along with other volunteer attorneys will staff the legal clinic at United Way of Medina today from 5:30 to 7 p.m., and the community free advice clinic at the Job Center on Oct. 19.
“Legal aid helps with various different areas of law,” said Hamey. “Some primary areas that are asked for frequently right now are creditor issues, bankruptcy, domestic relations issues and landlord-tenant disputes.
“As an attorney I really believe we have an obligation to help others. You can still have a successful practice, and find time to donate some time.”
Hamey said on occasion she has taken on cases for clients that she met at one of the clinics. “If they come to a legal aid clinic and are unable to be matched with an attorney or do not qualify for legal aid, I will sometimes take the case on a discounted basis, susbsidizing what legal aid cannot do.”
This year Community Legal Aid Services partnered with Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell in Youngstown to provide low-cost legal services in Mahoning County.
“The organization was looking for a way to provide more predictable services to clients, said managing partner, Alan Wenger. “My partner, Shirley Christian, who is also the Mahoning County Bar president, discussed it with us and we went through the training, which I thought was very helpful.”
Attorneys agreed to participate in four legal clinics, the third one took place yesterday at Community Legal Aid at First National Tower at 11 Central Square in Youngstown from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The fourth one is set for December 17 at the same location.
“I have participated in the two previous clinics and found it a valuable experience,” said Wenger. “I think this type of work helps any attorney who is looking to broaden his horizons a bit.
“Many other lawyers in the bar association spend many hours volunteering, so we are not doing anything out of the ordinary, but our arrangement is unique.
“Our clinics give people the chance to get preliminary counseling. Our goal is to lay the groundwork for what they need to do to solve their problems. The kind of issues I help clients with are not the ones I handle in my practice, but they hearken back to the things I learned in law school and early in my practice, and I think that has been good for me,” said Wenger.
For more information on October’s pro bono events and other information, log on to legal aid’s website at www.communitylegalaid.org or contact Sandra Costa at 330-983-2622.