Posted April 14, 20258:17 pm
By Steve Mark
Early in his legal career in Cleveland, as an associate at Benesch Law, Harlin Adelman took advantage of an opportunity that would stick with the young lawyer throughout his professional life.
“I was just starting to practice in 1990,” Adelman told the Cleveland Jewish News. “My firm had a pro bono opportunity where first-year lawyers could spend a month at Legal Aid. It was awesome. That was my introduction to the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.”
As Adelman’s career progressed, joining the University Hospitals Health System in 1998 as a staff attorney, later as deputy general counsel for the UH law department, through his appointment to become chief legal officer and secretary for the UH system in 2019, his commitment to Legal Aid has become increasingly supportive.
In December, 2024, Adelman became the legal assistance program’s new board president.
“What they do is priceless,” Adelman said. “The underlying foundational meaning really is that it’s about justice. It’s about access and providing direction and guidance for people to resolve their legal and social justice issues. It’s a huge safety net and a huge resource to those who don’t otherwise have the means or the knowhow to access those resources. A lot of people don’t know how to access the legal system or they can’t afford to access the legal system. People experience all kinds of legal issues that they need help solving.”
Adelman joined the board in 2019.
“One of the big programs includes advice clinics, where lawyers or law firms do some pro bono work,” he said. “They’ll go out to particular locations in underserved communities, like a library of public health clinic, and discuss whatever legal issue someone may be experiencing at the time. The lawyers aren’t necessarily representing them, but someone may come in with a landlord-tenant issue or a benefits question that lawyers can help with. We found that the community is very responsive to this.”
Adelman said he is proud of his efforts to help create a synergy between Benesch, his old firm, and UH. The law firm has provided funding to embed a Legal Aid lawyer at UH.
“It’s a great public-private partnership,” said Adelman. “A lawyer is at our Center for Women and Children at 59th and Euclid, which is an underserved area. Some of the stories coming out of there really resonate for me. For instance, we may have a patient bring a child in with asthma. The physician can treat the underlying symptoms, but he can’t resolve the reason that the child has asthma, which is that he’s living in a house with lead paint.
“So the physician will refer the parents and the child literally down the hall to the Legal Aid lawyer. It’s no different than having a pharmacy under the same roof, or a dentist under the same roof. Now you have a lawyer under the same roof. Maybe a family might not even be able to afford transportation. They literally walk down the hall, tell their story to the law-yer, and maybe the lawyer can take the case and mediate. Those are the kinds of things that really resonate.”
Colleen Cotter, executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, told the CJN, “Harlin’s leadership is so appreciated this year. His commitment to Legal Aid is unwavering Through his experience at UH he brings knowledge and insight about how to lead a great nonprofit, and I am grateful for his willingness to share his wisdom with me and my colleagues. He leads a very smart, engaged board at Legal Aid.”
At the Legal Aid Society, each term for a board president is one year. Adelman, who lives in Bentleyville and is a congreagnt of Congregation Shaarey Tikvah in Beachwood, has not wasted any time in his new role.
“I’ve been working already very closely with Colleen and our board committees to to really try to figure out how Legal Aid stays true to its mission and its values,” Adelman said. “At the same time, we have to prepare for this new kind of environment that we’re all finding ourselves in, so that’s an ongoing discussion. The Legal Aid compass is always pointed north and I want to keep it that way. We have an incredible commitment to the communities we serve and again, to our mission and values. I want to make sure that we don’t stray from that.”
Source: Cleveland Jewish News - New board president seeks to continue Legal Aid’s mission, values