University of Akron C. Blake McDowell Law Center
University of Akron
C. Blake McDowell Law Center
150 University Avenue
Akron, OH 44325
www.uakron.edu/law/
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Joann M. Sahl, Esq.
Director, Civil Litigation Clinic
jsahl1@uakron.edu
(330) 972-7189
Category Type
Public Service Graduation Requirement Program
Description of Program
Akron Law’s program (the “Program”) has two components: community service and pro bono. Both components require specific hours devoted to providing assistance to persons of limited financial means. The Program is headed by the Director of Akron Law’s Civil Litigation Clinic (the “Program Coordinator”), who coordinates the Program and assists in recruiting and placing students with appropriate community service / pro bono opportunities. The Assistant Director of Career Planning & Placement also works closely with the Program Coordinator and is primarily responsible for tracking the students’ community service / pro bono hours.
The Program encourages and helps to coordinate events sponsored by many student organizations (such as the Student Bar Association and the Akron Public Interest Law Association) which include such community service / pro bono activities as part of their regular programming. Further, Akron Law sponsors multiple community service / pro bono events throughout the year, including the Akron Law Heart Walk, Wills for Heroes, multiple legal clinics, and Akron Law Cares, the law school’s annual community service and outreach project. Akron Law also participates in National Pro Bono Week.
For further information, including the text of Akron Law’s mandatory community service / pro bono requirement, see www.uakron.edu/law/community. The website also contains convenient links to: (1) the Certification of Supervisor form; and (2) “Submit Your Hours” – a web-based reporting and tracking application. In order to receive credit for hours served, the Program requires that students complete and submit both the Certification of Supervisor form and an online submission via the “Submit Your Hours” application.
Location of Program
The University of Akron School of Law Legal Clinic.
Staffing/Management/Oversight
Joann M. Sahl, Esq., Director, Civil Litigation Clinic. Professor Sahl acts as Program Coordinator. Joel A. Holt, Esq., Assistant Director, Career Planning & Placement.
Funding
The Director of Akron Law’s Civil Litigation Clinic, as part of the position’s duties, devotes a portion of her time coordinating the Program. She facilitates the Program, obtains appropriate community service / pro bono opportunities, and recruits students to participate in these opportunities. The Program Coordinator communicates opportunities to students via mass email and via other forms of social media. The Program Coordinator also visits law classes to promote the ideals and benefits of community and pro bono public service, as well as specific available opportunities.
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education Projects
The Akron Public Interest Law Society devotes all of its efforts to various pro bono projects throughout the academic year.
Street Law is a joint endeavor between the Akron Bar Association, Akron Law, and local public schools to teach students law and citizenship. Street Law brings local attorneys and law students into area classrooms in partnership with high school and middle school teachers. Street Law has a summer component for elementary students (camp law school), middle school and high school students (the minority pipeline program). Street Law has been recognized as a national model by Lexis.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
Akron Law faculty members participate in both community service and pro bono opportunities. For example, Akron Law regularly hosts faculty brown bag lunches, many of which focus on pro bono opportunities for the faculty. Faculty members share information about projects in which they are currently involved and are made aware of other opportunities in the community and beyond and are encouraged to volunteer for those activities. Further, upon the dean’s approval for the use of faculty time on pro bono projects, secretarial support is available for faculty in the preparation of amicus briefs, legislative support and proposals, bar association committee reports, and CLE materials.
Akron Law faculty and administrators also participate in the Akron Bar Association’s community service and pro bono projects. Both the Akron Bar and Akron Law work closely with Community Legal Aid to support their programs and thus provides an avenue for faculty and administrators to provide pro bono service. Also, the Akron Bar Pro Bono committee, of which the Program Coordinator is a member, develops programs to provide legal assistance to clients of limited financial means. Akron Law students participate in many of these projects.
Faculty members serve as chairs and reporters for local, state, national and international bar and professional committees, and dedicate many hours of personal time to providing legal assistance to the poor at area shelters and clinics, and to assisting with other community service and pro bono projects
.The Faculty Evaluation Criteria and Procedures specifically recognize the importance of service to both the profession and community in reappointment, tenure, promotion, salary decisions and incorporate the AALS Statement of Good Practices for law professors, encouraging pro bono service.
Faculty members serve as advisors to student groups, including those devoted to pro bono causes.
Awards/Recognition
The Program Coordinator, with the assistance of the Assistant Director of Career Planning & Placement, tracks the total number of student community and pro bono service hours using a two-pronged methodology. First, students must submit a “Certification of Supervisor” form detailing, among other things, the hours worked, and the name and type of service project. This form must be signed by an authorized representative of the organization. The Certification of Supervisor form is available online via a link on the Program’s webpage ( www.uakron.edu/law/community). Second, students must submit and verify all hours in a web-based reporting application available via a link, labeled “Submit Your Hours” on the Program’s webpage. To receive credit toward the graduation requirement students must complete both prongs of the reporting procedure.
The student(s) with the highest total annual number of pro bono hours, as determined by compiling the data received from the reporting procedure, are recognized in the annual Honors and Awards booklet and given a monetary award funded by a local law firm.
The Aileen McMurray Trusler Professorship is awarded to a tenured full professor in recognition for her or his community service and pro bono efforts. The current holder of the professorship focuses on death penalty issues and is a frequent presenter on death penalty issues at litigation seminars and symposia.
Community Service
Akron Law student groups often work with faculty advisors and administrators to organize community service activities. Faculty, students, and administrators participate in projects such as Habitat for Humanity, tutoring, and food, clothing, and toy drives. Further, Akron Law sponsors multiple community service / pro bono events throughout the year, including the Akron Law Heart Walk, Wills for Heroes, and Akron Law Cares, the law school’s annual community service and outreach project. Akron Law students also assist with multiple free legal clinics and other projects sponsored by the local Community Legal Aid office.
Law School Public Interest Programs
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Contact Information
Joann M. Sahl, Esq.
Director, Civil Litigation Clinic
jsahl1@uakron.edu
(330) 972-7189
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
Public Interest Centers
Public Interest Clinics
The Legal Clinic provides assistance to low income clients in the following specialty clinics:
Appellate Review Office: provides clients with legal representation on appeals in state and federal criminal and civil rights cases.
Trial Litigation Clinic: provides clients with misdemeanor criminal defense.
Small Entrepreneur and Economic Development (SEED) Legal Clinic: provides low-cost legal and business assistance to small and emerging businesses in the local community. This assistance includes business planning, employment, contract/lease, tax, and entity formation information.
Civil Litigation Clinic: provides low-income clients with legal representation in housing matters, including landlord/tenant and foreclosure actions.
The Clemency Project: provides legal assistance to low-income clients in their efforts to obtain a pardon of their convictions from the Governor of Ohio.
Prisoner Legal Assistance Clinic: provides general legal information on criminal and civil issues.
Jail Inmate Assistance Program: travels to local county jails, interviews inmates and provides general legal information on criminal and civil issues.
For further information, see http://www.uakron.edu/law/clinical/services.dot
Externships/Internships
Through its Public External Placement Clinic, Akron Law places students for credit in public interest settings under the direct supervision of an attorney. Placements are coordinated by the Director of the SEED Legal Clinic. Students earn academic credit for working 90 to 120 hours per semester at a public interest placement. Placements include a classroom component. Students may participate in the Public External Placement Clinic twice during their law school career.
The Public Interest Fellowship Program (the “PIFP”) is designed to support the public interest endeavors of students in terms of related work experiences. The PIFP presents students with the opportunity to gain relevant public interest experiences and legal skills while earning a modest stipend. The PIFP is offered three times per year (fall, spring and summer semesters). Upon their application, Akron Law students are considered by a committee of Akron Law faculty and administrators, and if selected, receive a monetary award based upon the ancipated hours worked and available funding.
The PFIP stipends are funded by the Samuel Reece Willis Foundation, the Student Bar Association Auction and the Malkin - Koosed Public Interest Fellowship. These sources together historically generate in excess of $30,000 per year for the PIFP stipends.
Classes with a Public Service Component
Capital Punishment Seminar: Students may opt to assist the professor in preparing petitions for certiorari on behalf of indigent death row inmates.
Public External Placement Clinical Seminars: Students receive academic credit for their work in public interest placements under the supervision of an attorney, as discussed above.
Family Law: Students assist single fathers with preparing visitation paperwork.
Public Interest Journals
Public Interest Career Assistance
Akron Law offers the following services:
- Career consultations relative to public interest areas and programs inclusive of the Public Interest Fellowship Program.
- Clinical Seminars which take place exclusively in governmental, public sector or not-for-profit entities.
- The Bliss Institute of The University of Akron which assists in the placement of students in government, interest group and lobbying organizations.
Akron Law’s Career Planning & Placement Office provides the following services:
- Posts, through a variety of sources, including the Symplicity job database and multiple forms of social media, public interest job opportunities as they are received.
- Career counseling regarding how to identify and obtain public interest careers, including opportunities for attorneys, law clerks, and fellowships.
- Coordinates and hosts an annual Public Interest Law Day Career Fair.
- A library containing a multitude of print and electronic media concerning public interest careers and career opportunities.
- Coordinates registration for Akron Law students who wish to attend and participate in the Annual Equal Justice Works Conference and Job Fair.
- Coordinates and announces through a variety of sources, various public interest career fairs.
- Provides PSLawNet to students and alumni.
- Provides lower division students with resources and counseling regarding Akron Law’s clinical opportunities and the externship program.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
Law School Funded:
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
Law School Funded:
Semester long Public Interest Fellowships
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
- Student Bar Association (SBA) Auction
- Samuel Willis Reece Foundation
- Malkin-Koosed Public Interest Fellowship
The foregoing sources fund the PIFP, which provide stipends for students working in public interest placements. These sources together historically generate in excess of $30,000 per year.
During the 2008 - 2009 academic year (fall, spring & summer), the PIFP awarded twenty seven (27) stipends to individuals working in public interest related work. The total of the awards was $32,468. During the 2009 - 2010 academic year (fall, spring & summer) the PIFP awarded twenty three (23) awards totaling $27,913.
Summer Fellowships
Law School Funded:
Summer Long Public Interest Fellowships
Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Semester (summer) long public interest stipends funded through the PIFP.
Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Each academic year, students are provided with opportunities to attend or participate in various public interest programs and conferences including: Equal Works Public Interest Conference and Career Fair and Legal Aid Society clinics.
Student Public Interest Groups
Akron Public Interest Law Society (APILS): APILS is highly involved in public interest endeavors. Activities include inviting public interest related groups to speak at Akron Law. APILS members have volunteered at the CASA Guardian Ad Litem Program of Summit County as well as Community Legal Aid. APILS members have been involved in pro bono research projects, mediation at the Akron Municipal Court and have served food at a local homeless shelter. Members of APILS have attended the Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair and many other public interest conferences.
The Student Bar Association (SBA): The SBA is actively involved with public interest issues. The SBA Auction represents a portion of the monies used to fund the PIFP fellowships. The SBA fosters a cooperative working relationship with Habitat for Humanity.
Other Student Group community service and pro bono activities include:
Asian-Latino Students Association / Black Law Students Association: Students tutor school children in the local area.
Law Association for Women (LAW): LAW regularly and historically coordinates Red Cross blood drives, as well as food, clothing and gift drives for area shelters and agencies.
Phi Alpha Delta: Phi Alpha Delta regularly and historically conducts canned goods drives.
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL): NACDL regularly and historically coordinates public interest speakers at brown bag dinners.
Street Law: Students volunteer with local attorneys and high school teachers to teach academic courses in local public schools on the issues of law and public citizenship.
