CHICAGO, Oct. 7, 2022 — The Ohio Justice Bus will receive a Difference Makers Award at a luncheon today during the 2022 GPSolo Fall Leadership Meeting in Columbus, Ohio. The Making a Difference through Pro Bono Work Award, presented by the American Bar Association Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division, honors an attorney, office or institution in the legal profession that has made an outstanding commitment to volunteer legal services for the poor and disadvantaged.
The Ohio Justice Bus is a fully equipped mobile legal aid office that provides legal services to rural and underserved Ohioans at no cost to clients. A nonprofit organization funded by the AEP Foundation, the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation and supported by the Supreme Court of Ohio, it was launched in the fall of 2019, and is traveling again after a pandemic-induced hiatus.
The Ohio Justice Bus works with legal aid groups and community partners around Ohio to coordinate legal clinics to help low-income Ohioans with a range of civil legal issues. It works in partnership with the Ohio State Bar Association, affinity bar groups and local law firms to recruit volunteer attorneys. In 2021, the Ohio Justice Bus held 34 clinics with 19 partners and in 2022, it is on track to more than double the number of clinics offered.
Angie Lloyd, executive director of the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation and president of the Ohio Justice Bus, will accept the award. Click here for a photo of the Ohio Justice Bus.
With more than 20,000 members, the ABA Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division (GPSolo) is committed to providing unique resources exclusively for solo, small-firm and general practitioners, who represent half of the nation’s lawyers.
The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.