As a transplant who now calls Cleveland home, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association as its 2017-2018 President. In this decennial year, we are forging CMBA’s coming history through a new strategic plan that concentrates our efforts on increasing membership and enhancing engagement, building our sections into invaluable member resources, nurturing bar leadership, and impacting issues affecting law and justice — most importantly, the seemingly insatiable need for legal aid.
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland has been a critical ally in conquering CMBA’s strategic goals, and we’re proud our partnership is among the strongest in the country. Legal Aid’s mission to help people stop legal issues from escalating dovetails perfectly with the CMBA’s strategy focusing on the intersection of law and justice, and how our profession helps ensure that Northeast Ohio’s renaissance becomes a shared reality for all. With this mutual vision, we have partnered with Legal Aid to pilot The Legal Clinics at Cleveland Metropolitan School District, in which CMBA pro bono volunteers and Legal Aid staff provide advice to families on bankruptcy, custody, child support, evictions, and other legal issues that bear directly on the quality of a student’s educational experience.
The Legal Clinics are just one point where the CMBA’s and Legal Aid’s endeavors coincide. For instance, our Women in Law section enthusiastically joined forces with Legal Aid to host clinics for women and children in crisis. Historically, Legal Aid staff members have supported CMBA leadership as board members. Through Legal Aid’s many volunteer opportunities, CMBA members find deeply fulfilling pro bono work in fostering fairness, empowering individual clients, and meeting needs of families when and where they need civil legal counsel.
I’m Darrell Clay from the CMBA — and this is my Legal Aid Story
- Darrell Clay, Esq.
2017-2018 President, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
Join the conversation!
Share #MyLegalAidStory on Twitter,
Visit www.MyLegalAidStory.org