CMBF

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation
Lawyers Giving Back

The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation ("Bar Foundation" or "CMBF") is a leading law-related charity in Northeast Ohio. The Bar Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization with origins dating back more than 50 years. Today, the Bar Foundation, through the support of its donors and volunteers, is more vibrant than ever before, and poised to build on its success in the coming years.

Serving as the charitable arm of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association ("CMBA"), the Bar Foundation represents the commitment of CMBA members to the Justice For All programs and the Greater Cleveland community. The Bar Foundation is a fundraising vehicle for CMBA members to collectively provide outstanding programs and initiatives that serve the Cleveland metropolitan community and promote pro bono legal assistance and public law-related education.

The Bar Foundation funds these innovative and wide-ranging programs: The 3Rs – Rights, Responsibilities, Realities; Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program; High School Mock Trial Competitions; Pro Se Divorce Clinics; Reach Out Pro Bono for Nonprofits; Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts; and Law Day . Additionally, the CMBF assists in fundraising for the Association’s diversity initiatives aimed at improving the pipeline of minority students entering law school and the legal profession.

In partnership with The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, the Bar Foundation also provides funding support for the Bankruptcy Pro Bono Project, which assists individuals going through a personal bankruptcy, and the Bankruptcy By-Pass Program, which offers pro bono legal support for individuals for which bankruptcy filing is not an option.