LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) -Â Ohio Northern University is looking to bring more attorneys to rural communities in northwest Ohio.
ONU Law announced their participation in the "Lawyers = Justice" legal collaboration between the Ohio State Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Foundation and the University of Toledo College of Law.Â
The collaboration will provide up to 40 law students annually with hands-on experience serving rural clients with supervision from law school faculty and experienced attorneys. ONU Law board members say the collaboration will expand legal services in northwest Ohio and help counteract the shortage of attorneys in the state.
"For us at Ohio Northern, being one of the few law schools that are in a rural county, we've been providing legal services to these individuals already for decades," said Melissa Kidder, director of the ONU Legal Clinic. "Because of this grant, we're able to allow more attorneys through these fellows to come and go out to these counties to help serve these populations."
Kidder added that the collaboration will allow the ONU Legal Clinic to expand their services to more counties, including Van Wert, Putnam, and Auglaize. Clinic officials said that the grant will help ONU provide hands-on experience for students while serving the community.
"With the new grant, we are going to be able to assist more individuals and also hopefully provide more students with the opportunity to get some hands-on practice and really apply what they've learned in the classroom in real life," said Liannie Parahoo, staff attorney of the clinic.
The partners hope to expand the program in the future to branch into other rural areas in Ohio.
