Pro Bono & Community Programs

The Justice for All (“JFA”) Committee serves as the oversight committee to coordinate and support the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s pro bono and public service programs. The variety of programs under the JFA umbrella offers volunteers abundant opportunity to provide service to the community. Many JFA programs are collaborative partnerships with legal assistance and other community service providers. JFA programs include:

THE 3RS: RIGHTS ● RESPONSIBILITIES ● REALITIES

Launched in the 2006-07 school year, The 3Rs is an unprecedented program fostering personal connections between volunteers from the legal community and high school students in Cleveland and East Cleveland. Using a real-world curriculum focused on the U.S. Constitution and career counseling, teams of volunteers visit their assigned 10th grade social studies classes throughout the school year to accomplish the following goals:

   • Improve understanding of and respect for the rule of law and our Constitution;
   • Improve passage rates on the social studies portion of the Ohio Graduation Test (“OGT”);
   • Provide practical career counseling to focus students on their potential beyond high school; and
   • Improve the “pipeline” of minorities flowing into legal careers in the region.

The CMBA hosts a number of orientation sessions for volunteers - judges, attorneys, and law students - who are provided teaching materials and continuing support throughout the school year.  The program requires the service of over 500 volunteers annually as it reaches more than 4,000 students in 18 high schools.  The program is overseen and given direction by the 3Rs Committee of the CMBA, which includes key representatives from the school district, courts, law schools, and law firms large and small.

The 3Rs was honored among the Association’s diversity programs receiving the First Annual Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Award for Excellence in Pipeline Diversity from the American Bar Association Presidential Advisory Council on Diversity in the Profession in 2009. The 3Rs has also been received the Ohio State Bar Foundation 2008 Outstanding Program Award, the LexisNexis National Community Outreach Award in 2007 and the American Bar Association Partnership Award in 2007.

BANKRUPTCY PRO BONO PROJECT AND BANKRUPTCY BY-PASS PROGRAM

The Bankruptcy Pro Bono Project provides training and support to volunteer lawyers, who in turn provide pro bono legal representation to qualified, income-eligible individuals going through a personal bankruptcy.  The Bankruptcy By-Pass Program provides pro bono legal assistance to individuals, the majority of whom are low-income senior citizens, in resolving debtor-creditor matters in which bankruptcy filing is not an option.  Both programs are partnership efforts with The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, which handles program intake and referrals.

BOOKS FOR KIDS

The JFA Committee, in partnership with the Labor & Employment Law Section and Litigation Section, coordinates the annual Scrooge-Cratchit Books for Kids benefit in December to raise money to purchase new books for the library and media centers of deserving K-8 schools in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. This program is coordinated with the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Federal Bar Association’s A Book of Your Own program, which collects new and gently used children’s books for distribution directly to the students at the designated schools so they will have books at home. Volunteers are needed to assist in planning the special event and to help with book collection, sorting and distribution.

CLEVELAND HOMELESS LEGAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

This partnership between the CMBA and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless aims to serve those in the community in need of help but least able to access legal assistance. Volunteer lawyers are needed to staff regularly scheduled sessions at many locations throughout Cleveland, including homeless shelters, to provide legal advice and assistance to homeless or at-risk individuals. Attorneys can volunteer at varying levels of commitment, from helping with intake interviews and providing brief advice to accepting referrals for direct extended representation.

HIGH SCHOOL MOCK TRIAL COMPETITIONS

The CMBA hosts and coordinates the Ohio Mock Trial Cuyahoga District and Regional Competitions, organized under the auspices of the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education. It also partners with the Cleveland Municipal Court and Cleveland Metropolitan School District to coordinate the annual Cleveland Mock Trial competition, a unique event for Cleveland’s high school students. Volunteers are needed to serve as competition judicial panelists and team legal advisors. With the help of volunteers from the legal community, over 800 area high school  students are provided the opportunity to hone their communication, analytical and courtroom skills each year in these programs. Volunteers are provided with training, support and case materials.

PRO SE DIVORCE CLINIC

Reach Out is a partnership program of the CMBA and Northeast Ohio Association of Corporate Counsel aimed at providing pro bono legal assistance and law-related education to income eligible area non-profit organizations that serve the community. Non-profit organizations deal with many of the same complex issues as businesses in the for-profit sector, but often have scarce resources or no budget for legal assistance. This program will allow business lawyers to give back to the community by helping the organizations that are serving the community.

VOLUNTEER LAWYERS FOR THE ARTS (“VLA”)

This program aims to build a bridge between lawyers and local artists and arts organizations by helping to facilitate access to legal services and to develop law-related educational resources. VLA members serve by participating as speakers in sponsored CLE and community education programs and by providing pro bono representation to income-eligible artists and arts organizations.

The JFA programs welcome volunteers who would like to give back to their community. To volunteer or for more information please contact Mary Groth, Director of Development and Community Programs at the CMBA at (216) 696-3525 ext. 5004.