Legal Aid Attorney Honored

Alexandria Ruden, Supervising Attorney in Legal Aid’s Family Law Practice Group, is the inaugural recipient of an award named in her honor - The Ruden Award for Exceptional Service in the Field of Family Violence Prevention, presented by Ohio’s Office of Criminal Justice Services.

The award came about because of Alexandria’s years of working alongside state officials to address domestic violence issues and the laws surrounding them. Because of her expertise in and knowledge of issues affecting domestic violence, in 1996, she was invited to advise the Domestic Violence Task Force of the Supreme Court of Ohio and help it achieve its mission of determining the status of coordination and communication among entities responsible for addressing domestic violence issues.  The culmination of this work was the release of a report to then governor, Bob Taft.  After the report was released, the governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Services was commissioned to lead statewide implementation of the recommendations of the report statewide efforts, and Alexandria was asked to participate on its Family Violence Prevention Center Advisory Board. This year, in celebration of its 25^th anniversary, the Board chose to recognize Alexandria with its first award which it named after her.

“I may be a recipient of this award, but this vital work couldn't have been done without all the people—the women, the men, and the professionals who have been a part of this tireless endeavor, and who do this for the survivors that have no voice. I am humbled,” Alexandria said when she first heard about the award. 

Alexandria has helped more than 5,000 survivors of violence since beginning her legal career over 40 years ago. Because of her work on boards and committees statewide, she has brought domestic violence to the forefront, greatly impacting the legal system. She continues to represent clients in their domestic violence cases, but she also travels around the state and country educating and training domestic violence advocates, judges, lawyers, probation magistrates, law enforcement and others on laws surrounding domestic violence issues, types of protection orders, and more.

“I try to explain to law students that this work is only a little bit about you being a lawyer,” said Alexandria, “You’re a social worker, psychologist, coach - you do it all, and that's how you help your clients.”

Alexandria has been with Legal Aid since 1984 when she started the domestic violence practice.  Prior to working at Legal Aid, she worked in the legal department of the Free Clinic where her focus was also on domestic violence cases.