Posted October 7, 20249:00 am
Lynn Rowe Larsen, a Litigation Practice Group Co-Chair and Partner at Taft, knows from personal experience that Legal Aid serves a significant role in protecting the rights of people who cannot afford counsel.
“I had the privilege as a young lawyer of working at Legal Aid for six months under a program my law firm at the time coordinated. That experience exposed me to the significant and important work that Legal Aid does in our community,” she said. “At Taft, I help coordinate our fundraising efforts for Legal Aid.”
Lynn was motivated to get involved in volunteering by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Joan Synenberg who visited her firm to invite them to participate in the Pro Bono Collaborative Clinic that she hosts in her courtroom every month. Lynn took a custody case in Juvenile Court. Legal Aid lawyers helped her figure out certain aspects of the case that she was not familiar with because she is not typically involved with Juvenile Court matters. This experience inspired her to continue volunteering for the Pro Bono Collaborative Clinic and to also participate in Legal Aid Brief Advice Clinics.
Lauren Gilbride, Managing Attorney for Legal Aid’s Intake Group and Volunteer Lawyers Program, remembers when Lynn took on the child custody case. “She took on a really challenging case and put in such an awesome amount of time to help this family through juvenile court,” Lauren said. “Juvenile court matters are a highly specialized practice. A lot of our volunteer attorneys are not familiar with it and are not comfortable taking these cases on so having Lynn do this work was important.”
Lynn encourages everyone to volunteer.
“Judge Synenberg’s Pro Bono Collaborative meets monthly and is an easy way to make an impact without a significant time commitment,” Lynn said. “Legal Aid also regularly schedules Brief Advice Clinics at many locations on Saturday mornings and these can also be a great way to get involved.”
Legal Aid salutes the hard work of our pro bono volunteers. To get involved, visit our website, or email probono@lasclev.org.