June/July 2021 - Pro Bono Newsletter

Joey Oteng

Hometown: Cincinnati, OH

Education: University of Vermont, Kent State University

Law school: Moritz College of Law

What does it mean to you to have an opportunity to assist us in our mission of using civil legal aid to help combat unfairness and injustice and help people rise out of poverty?

To me it has meant fulfilling a responsibility. If we are the people who benefit from the oppression of others, directly and indirectly, then it is up to us to eradicate the unjust positionality we inhabit. Getting to make interpersonal and institutional change while unlearning some of the intrapersonal classism, elitism, etc. that we’ve been socialized with matters. It gives us the knowledge, tools, and know-how to make systemic change. Raising those who have been most disenfranchised is to the benefit to us all, and focusing efforts to do so on that marginalized group is of the utmost importance. 

How has this experience benefited you?

This experience has helped me learn how the law is applied, and allowed me to learn a brand new area of law beyond what I have learned in academic environments. It has helped me identify my strengths – interpersonal relationships, emotional literacy, authentic empathy – and what I can work in the future – being decisive, asking for what I need, and moving forward even with ambiguity instead of hoping for perfection.

Have you had any memorable experiences you would like to share?

Getting to sit with a Nigerian woman to fill out her intake paperwork, console her, and to assure her that we would help her figure out what to do was surreal. To be able to be a familiar face, to get to express empathy in between providing legal aid, and to be affirming of the identities people are bringing with them to court was significant. The majority of the clients we served in eviction court looked like me – disproportionately Black. To have me there to understand them literally and figuratively was huge. So many comments about feeling safe, seen, or that they mattered with me will stay with me long after this experience ends.

Kiera Zacher

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA

Education: Ohio State University

Law school: Moritz College of Law

What drew you to the OSLSA fellowship? 

I always wanted to work in public interest, and after volunteering at LASC with the Public Benefits Team over the school year I knew that I liked the organization and their commitment to ensuring access to justice. I was drawn to the fellowship in particular because I believe increasing diversity in the legal profession is important, and I appreciated the goals that the fellowship was trying to achieve.

Have you engaged in other volunteer activities? How is this work different? 

In undergrad, I volunteered with Amnesty International and Brighter Futures. My experience this summer was much more robust, and I appreciated the responsibilities I was given and that I felt like an important member of the team.

What have you learned through your work here? What do you enjoy most? 

I learned the importance of everyone having proper legal representation and how that impacts the outcome of the case. I enjoyed having the opportunity to work directly with clients. 

I gained a great deal of experience with client communication and conflict resolution. I also made meaningful professional connections with the attorneys I worked with who helped mentor me through my first legal internship.

Karina Montoya

Hometown: North Hollywood, CA

Education: UC-Davis

Law school: University of Dayton School of Law

What does it mean to you to have an opportunity to assist us in our mission of using civil legal aid to help combat unfairness and injustice and help people rise out of poverty?

It means the world to me; it makes me feel that all my hard work in law school has been worth it. I want to use my degree to help others. Now I see that there are actually lawyers who do that. As a low-income, first-generation Latina law student, I know the struggles of not having access to legal services. Now I know I can help people in my community. 

What projects did you work on during your fellowship?

Most of my projects focused on researching current human trafficking laws and expungement/sealing laws for victims and the ways in which they can be better worded or improved, Currently, I am doing research for a case that came to us from the Ohio Supreme Court.

What drew you to the OSLSA fellowship?

I wanted to see what kind of change I could create with my law degree. Initially, I came to law school with the desire of landing a job in a large firm that would make me the most money. After two years and some experience in outside firms I have realized that is not the life for me. I want to build personal connections with my clients. My interests are in family law and disability rights law. When I interviewed for the program at OSLSA, I found out that there was work done with victims of human trafficking and I was drawn to that program. That area of law has shown a lot of overlap with family law.