Columbus Jewish News: Legal Aid aims to make legal system more accessible
By: Liam Koeth
With a mission to help guide Central Ohioans through a complicated, and often inaccessible, legal system, Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio aims to ensure residents are well represented – no matter their means.
“We are a non-profit law firm that provides civil-legal help,” Melissa Dutton, director of communications for Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio in Columbus, said. “In a variety of areas we help with housing issues, survivors of domestic violence, veterans access benefits. We really do a wide range of services for folks. We help people in a variety of ways, some of our clients we fully represent and go to court.
“A lot of times we are able to help people resolve things by offering advice or sending a letter. Helping someone sit down and maybe helping them complete paperwork. We sometimes give them self-help materials to help them navigate the system. It’s really a full spectrum.”
In the last year, Dutton said Legal Aid has helped “about 15,000 clients,” and when including the family members of each assisted individual, the total number is closer to 32,000.
“We represent a wide variety of people (and) we cover a 36-county region,” she said. “We help people who have a legal need in one of the areas we work in.”
In those 36 counties, Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio has eight offices – Athens, Chillicothe, Columbus, Marion, Newark, New Philadelphia, Portsmouth and Steubenville.
To increase community outreach, Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio also hosts community programming, including law clinics and record sealing and expungement clinics. O
ne of the upcoming events, a free Morgan County record sealing and expungement clinic, is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 22 at Ohio Means Jobs’ Morgan County office at 155 E. Main St. in McConnelsville. Pre-registration is encouraged.
These free clinics help make the legal system more accessible and easier to navigate, Dutton said.
“The legal system is very complicated and a lot of times its difficult for people to navigate that on their own,” she said.
“What we see is people coming to us with issues that prevent them from being stable. Family or housing is threatened. We focus on helping people and address issues that allow them to move forward and to rise out of poverty. I think we all know that trying to navigate the court system without an attorney can be very challenging and overwhelming. It's really important for people to have legal representation.”