Posted July 19, 20249:41 am
Lauren Hamilton, Supervising Attorney in Legal Aid’s Housing Practice Group, was named Co-chair/Vice-President of the Mental Health and Wellness Committee of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (CMBA).
For the past four years at Legal Aid, Lauren has represented low-income tenants who are facing eviction, and worked on various advocacy projects and group cases within the housing group.
Lauren has been involved with the CMBA since law school. After she received her law degree, she remained an active member of the CMBA - in 2014, she and a fellow CSU Law grad founded the LGBT & Allies Committee (now known as the LGBTQ+ Committee). Lauren has been an active member of the Mental Health and Wellness Committee for several years.
As co-chair, Lauren will help to create and implement initiatives, including the newly announced Bar Circles (peer support groups), that seek to normalize mental health struggles and put the focus on wellness and self-care within the profession.
“Mental health and substance abuse issues are prevalent in general, but even more prevalent in the legal profession itself,” said Lauren. “In order to be healthy and competent lawyers, we need to be addressing those issues, breaking down the stigma around them and dealing with them so that we can best represent our clients.”
Lauren recently shared her struggles with addiction on the CMBA podcast, My BarStory. Lauren hopes that by being transparent about her own addiction that others will not be afraid to get the help they need to overcome substance abuse and addiction. During the interview, Lauren shared that she has learned to “have self-compassion, self-forgiveness, and grace” and to set boundaries. To listen to the full interview, go to: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2029417/15473368
Prior to coming to Legal Aid, Lauren worked as a solo practitioner, in private practice, and most recently, as a staff attorney at Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center. Nueva Luz provides medical and housing case management, and legal services to clients living with HIV. Many of the cases that Lauren worked on were housing issues.
Lauren earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Boston University and her JD from Cleveland State University Law School.
The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association is a nonprofit professional organization dedicated to serving the needs of legal professionals in Greater Cleveland. Learn more on their website: clemetrobar.org. For more information on the Mental Health and Wellness Committee or Bar Circles, please reach out to Lauren at lhamilton@lasclev.org.