Recent News

October 27, 2006

Sally Bloomfield receives President’s Award

Columbus Bar Foundation President Doug Wrightsel recognized Sally Bloomfield for her leadership in the Columbus Bar’s pro bono program at the Foundation’s Annual meeting. Other Columbus Bar Pro Bono Award recipients were Danny Bank of Capital University Legal Clinic, the magistrates and staff of the Franklin County Municipal Court, the Homeless Project Volunteers, and Chester Willcox & Saxbe. The Pro Bono Awards are jointly presented by the Columbus Bar Association and Foundation for superior legal work on behalf of the poor.

Sally Bloomfield, a Charter Fellow and Past President of the Columbus Bar Foundation and Association, was recognized for her many years of service to the Foundation, including helping to found Community Mediation Services, serving on the steering committee for the Marsha Rockey Schermer Scholarship Fund and most recently, bringing pro bono front and center of Columbus Bar’s volunteer involvement. During her term as Columbus Bar president, volunteer opportunities were substantially expanded to provide appropriate programs for volunteers from all areas of the profession - small and large law offices, corporate law departments and government - making free legal advice and services more broadly available.

Danny Bank created the Divorce Pro Se Assistance Project to help clients with pending pro se actions in Domestic Relations Court. On Tuesday afternoons, cases are referred by the court to Bank, his legal interns and some other attorneys. They help the litigants correct their pleadings and other documentation so that they can proceed to a final hearing.

Chester Willcox & Saxbe planned and piloted the Pro Bono Tenant’s Advocacy Project with the Legal Aid Society of Columbus and the Columbus Bar. The Tenant’s Advocacy Project has been in operation since March 2006 and now includes volunteers from Jones Day, Bricker & Eckler, Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, Thompson Hine and the Capital Law Clinic. The lawyer volunteers go to court once a week and negotiate the first cause of action (possession) with landlords on behalf of indigent clients.

The magistrates and staff of the Franklin County Municipal Court are also being recognized for their support of the Pro Bono Tenants’ Advocacy Project. The patience and guidance of the judges, magistrates and staff have been invaluable to the program’s success. The Columbus Bar would like to recognize and thank Kathleen Graham, Mark Hummer, David Jump, Dennis Kimball, Denise Mathews, Antonio Paat, Lyndsey Gelhaus, Tracy Latham, Sharon Hawkins, John Remy, Anne Thompson, Karmene Reed, Lori Wisecarver and Paula Gruber.

The Homeless Project, which sends lawyers to homeless shelters on a weekly basis, is completing its eighteenth year and the Columbus Bar honored volunteers for their years of service. The original volunteers were Michael D. Allen, Matthew Eldridge, Jeffrey L. Glasgow, Jerry K. Kasai, Richard Ketcham, William Scott Lavelle, Thomas G. Shanahan, Gregory W. Swart, Anne M. Valentine and Phillip A. Waid. Those with over ten years of service are Marty Anderson, Amy Bostic, Angela L. Bosworth, Jeff Cabot, Robert Clyde, Michael Dennis, Kathryn C. Ehrle, Lisa L. Eschleman, A. Patrick Hamilton, Johnlander C. Jackson-Forbes, Paul S. Kormanik, Edward H. Lau, Helen MacMurray, James Micculla, Susan Kay Nagel, Judith Northrup, Florence C. Odita,Seth Reichenbach, Stephan J. Schmidt, Philip H. Sheridan Jr., Gary Lee Sieg, William Scott Simon, Joseph C. Sommer, James E. Southern, George E. Speaks, Simina Vourlis, J. Ellen Wentzel, Clark W. Wideman, Jeffrey T. Williams and Joan E. Zuber.

Click here for photos from the event.