Staff News

Legal Aid hosted a public officials reception via Zoom on May 5, featuring an update on Legal Aid’s Economic Justice work during the coronavirus pandemic. The presentation, led by Managing Attorney Katherine Hollingsworth and Staff Attorney Mason Pesek, provided details on Legal Aid’s new Worker Info Line and other routes to service for constituents in need. The program ended with remarks by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown.

Deputy Director of Advocacy Tom Mlakar was named to the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Leadership Cleveland Class of 2022.

Supervising Attorney Kimberly Barnett-Mills was selected for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s 2021- 2022 Leadership Academy.

Director of Development and Communications Melanie Shakarian was selected for the Jewish Federation’s 2022 Adler Mission.

Staff Attorney Haley Martinelli, an attorney in our Family Law Practice Group, was selected to participate in the Cleveland Leadership Center’s OnBoard Cleveland Class of 2022. OnBoard is a civic immersion experience that enhances communications skills, builds awareness of the civic landscape, and promotes making a difference.

Our St. Vincent Charity Medical-Legal Partnership team of Senior Attorney Jenn Kinsley Smith and Paralegal Liz Lattner were recently appointed to the Cleveland Consent Decree’s Mental Health Response Advisory Committee. Jenn and Liz will be developing training content on the civil legal needs faced by those who have mental health challenges and are unhoused.

Senior Attorney Howard Strain of our Family Law Practice Group was appointed to the Board of HomeSafe in Ashtabula County. This private, not-for-profit community agency committed to breaking the cycle of domestic violence in Ashtabula County and its surrounding areas through the provisions of emergency and non-emergency services.

Senior Attorney Michael Russell received a Sustainable Economies Law Center Fellowship. The goal of the fellowship is to meet the legal needs of the growing sustainable economy movement, which requires that lawyers establish transactional practices inclusive of cooperative law, land trusts, and other democratically-governed organizations. Managing Attorney Tonya Whitsett was appointed for another 3-year term to the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Children and Families.