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Press Release

Two Legal Aid Society Lawyers Awarded Statewide Honors

February 28, 2001

Stephanie M. Jackson and Harold L. Williams, attorneys at The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, have received the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation (OLAF) Denis Murphy Award for outstanding service in providing services to low income clients.

Williams, a 26-year employee of Legal Aid in Cleveland, is the editor of Ohio Consumer Law, published by the West Group. It is used as a resource for lawyers throughout the state.

He spearheaded Legal Aid's successful recovery of more than a million dollars in refunds or forgiveness of loans for former Cambridge Technical Institute students duped into taking out federally-backed loans for worthless classes.

Williams has worked actively with colleagues and local organizations to stem the recent tide of predatory lending in Cleveland and the surrounding community. In addition, he devotes time to various community organizations and projects.

Jackson has been an attorney with Legal Aid since 1987. Her areas of expertise include housing, consumer and Social Security law. She is a contributor to Ohio Consumer Law.

She is credited with saving housing for numerous chronically mentally ill individuals, including tenants suffering from hoarder/collector disorder, for whom eviction was imminent.

Jackson presently is working on a project with LEAP (Linking Employment Abilities and Potential) and the MetroHealth Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury Systems to assist the disabled in their attempts to return to the workforce.

Both attorneys embody the finest ideals in advocating for the rights of those who have been marginalized, exploited, abused, oppressed and discounted, noted OLAF Board President Rick Oremus of Athens.

OLAF was created by the Ohio Legislature to administer state funding for Ohio's legal aid societies and to develop innovative approaches to serving the civil legal needs of the poor. It was created in 1991 after a statewide study revealed that only 17 per cent of the civil legal needs of Ohio's poor were met.

The Murphy Award is named in honor of OLAF's founding president Denis Murphy, a former Columbus attorney.

For more information about OLAF or the challenge of serving the unmet legal needs of Ohio's poor, please contact Beth Short at 1-800-877-9772 or (614)752-8919. For additional information about the various initiatives at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, contact Lyonel Jones, executive director, at 216-687-1900.

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