Author: ab139

The Expungement Clinic helps low-income Summit County residents seal the record of their criminal convictions. A sealed record enables many people better access to jobs, housing, and volunteer opportunities. Students will learn integral skills in the legal field including filing paperwork with the court, drafting motions, interviewing real clients, and communicating with clients both through the mail and over the phone. Students who are eligible for a legal intern certificate will have ample opportunities to appear in court and present an oral argument.

A student commitment to the Expungement Clinic can be for as few or as many hours as the student pleases. The only requirement is that you devote enough time to attempt to contact your clients at least twice a week. All hours qualify as Pro Bono Limited Means.

There are now two different volunteer opportunities to accommodate night and non-traditional students. After attending a training, students can volunteer at our Saturday events without maintaining a regular presence during normal business hours.

There will be three training sessions next week. Students only need to attend one meeting These sessions are informational only, and students are welcome to attend simply for a brief overview of the law surrounding sealing of a conviction. The trainings will be Tuesday the 20th at 12:30 PM, Wednesday the 21st at 2:30 PM, and Friday the 23rd at 12:30 PM. Sessions will be in the Legal Clinic Conference Room and will be expected to last 30 – 45 minutes.

Students with any questions please contact Russel Nichols at russel.nichols@gmail.com.

Are you interested in pursuing a career in Public Interest Law? Are the reasons you decided to go to law school mostly about wanting to help people? Consider interning with Community Legal Aid’s Volunteer Legal Services Program (VLSP).

Community Legal Aid is the sole provider of legal assistance to low income individuals in an eight county area. The Volunteer Legal Services Program is a program within Community Legal Aid that works very closely with private attorneys providing them with a number of volunteer opportunities. Students volunteering for the VLSP can work in several areas: Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, our Peace of Mind clinic which assists Uncollectible clients, Simple Contract law, Simple Estate Planning, and Family law.

For students, our program offers a variety of learning opportunities in the following areas; client interviews, client meetings, document review, case management, determining the correct address for service and notice, drafting simple estate planning documents, drafting advice letters, completing public record searches.

NOTE: Students are required to volunteer a minimum of five (5) hours. Students who can volunteer once or twice a week (5-8 hours total per week) for the entire semester will be provided with more substantive training along with an opportunity to attend a 341 Hearing, sit in on a bankruptcy petition signing, and work with a private attorney to execute Simple Estate Planning Documents.
If interested, please contact VLSP Staff Attorney, Carla Boyle, at cboyle@communitylegalaid.org

Our next free Certificate of Qualification for Employment (CQE) clinic is Saturday, January 24th. We’re very excited to be providing opportunities for ex-offenders in Summit County to take a step toward gaining employment and independence!

We are looking for students to volunteer from 9:45a-12:45p on Saturday, January 24th. The clinic will be held at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church 422 Bell St, Akron, OH 44307. The time you volunteer can be applied toward your graduation requirement as pro bono limited means hours.

There will be a volunteer training on Friday, January 23, 4:00-5:30pm at the law school. The time you’re at training will count toward your pro bono limited means hours as well.

If you’re interested in volunteering or have any questions, please e-mail Sarah at smw87@zips.uakron.edu. You can also learn more about the clinic at our website: http://www.uakron.edu/law/clinical/cqe-clinic.dot.

The Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer Legacy Committee, with the support of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Foundation, has created an annual fellowship to be awarded to two exceptional first or second year students enrolled in an Ohio law school. The fellowship is funded by the Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer Legacy Fund, honoring his commitment to the legal profession and his special interest in Ohio’s law students.

The fellowship award will be for $4,000 to fund a summer opportunity advancing one of Chief Justice Moyer’s primary initiatives. These include:
-Providing citizens with improved access to the courts, alternative dispute resolution, and advanced technology;
– advancing the tenets for which he stood: civility, ethics, judicial independence and the rule of law;
-working with national and international organizations to promote the principles of judicial independence and the rule of law within the United States and throughout the world; and
-promoting or sustaining civic education.
The award requires that the student devote a minimum of 320 hours over the course of the summer to employment or supervised independent research. In evaluating Moyer Fellowship applications, the selection committee will give priority to projects and activities that involve original research and scholarship, consistent with the stated purpose of the Fellowship Program and legacy of Chief Justice Moyer.
The fellowship grant process is competitive and law students must submit a:
-Law Student application, including a comprehensive description of the proposed summer employment or independent as outlined in the application materials,
-Current Resume, and
-Supervisor Agreement.
The deadline for submitting a competed application is Friday, March 13, 2015. For application materials, please stop by the CPPO or email Miranda Cave (mah60@uakron.edu). Also, if you have an idea and intend to apply for the Moyer Fellowship, please set up a time to meet with Ms. Benedict O’Brien and Professor Joann Sahl. Thank you.