The University of Toledo College of Law is joining the Ohio State Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Foundation and Ohio Northern University Claude W. Pettit College of Law to launch “Lawyers = Justice: A Northwest Ohio Legal Collaborative,” a new initiative designed to bring more legal help directly to rural communities and build a stronger pipeline of attorneys committed to serving them.
For many rural Ohioans, a legal problem can quickly become a family, housing, financial, farming or small business crisis — especially when affordable legal help is difficult to find close to home. Across Ohio, 78 of 88 counties are considered legal deserts, with fewer than one lawyer per 1,000 residents. In several Northwest Ohio counties, the shortage is even more pronounced as many current attorneys are near retirement, and too few new lawyers are entering the profession.
The UToledo College of Law is joining the Ohio State Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Foundation and Ohio Northern University Claude W. Pettit College of Law to launch the new initiative “Lawyers = Justice: A Northwest Ohio Legal Collaborative.”
Lawyers = Justice is designed to respond to that challenge in a practical and community-centered way. By supporting new lawyers, training law students and expanding local legal clinics, the initiative will help residents address legal problems earlier, closer to home and before those problems become more disruptive and costly.
“Legal deserts pose serious access-to-justice challenges, especially here in Ohio,” said Jonathan Hollingsworth, president of the Ohio State Bar Foundation. “When the opportunity arose to support the Lawyers = Justice collaborative, our decision was immediate and unanimous. The OSBF is proud to help fund an initiative that builds a pipeline to meet this need and could be replicated beyond the state. We look forward to seeing what this partnership achieves for Ohio and other communities facing similar challenges.”
Bringing Legal Help Closer to Home
The Lawyers = Justice initiative will create a hybrid fellowship–clinic model that will:
• Support four newly licensed lawyer fellows each year as they build sustainable private practices in underserved Northwest Ohio communities.
• Provide up to 40 law students annually with hands-on, clinical experience serving rural clients under the supervision of experienced lawyers and law school faculty.
• Expand access to legal services for an estimated 720 people each year, through the fellows’ private practices and new or enhanced satellite legal clinics.
• Build a long-term path from law school to rural practice through mentoring, skills training and community-based experience.
The clinics will operate in Bowling Green, managed by Toledo Law, and in Lima, managed by ONU Law. The Toledo Law clinic will initially serve residents in Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Ottawa and Wood counties. The ONU Law clinic will initially serve income-eligible residents in Allen, Auglaize, Hardin, Putnam and Van Wert counties.
The clinics are expected to help residents with essential legal needs, including family law, estate planning, real estate, consumer protection, small business issues, criminal law and other matters that affect daily life and community stability.
Attorney fellows will also build private practices in the region and provide affordable representation to individuals, families, farmers and small businesses, including those who may not qualify for legal aid but still cannot easily afford traditional legal services.
Recruitment of fellows and law students begins in September, with a goal of having the clinics fully staffed and operational later this fall.
“I am so excited about this innovative collaborative clinic, one of the first of its kind in the country to provide training for students to serve clients in rural areas and train attorneys to pursue careers in underserved rural areas,” said Dean Rebecca Zietlow of Toledo Law. “Working with leading community partners — the Ohio State Bar Association and Ohio State Bar Foundation — and in the public/private partnership with Ohio Northern University, this clinic helps to meet a crucial need in this state — the lack of rural access to justice.”
Building on Statewide Momentum
Lawyers = Justice aligns with Ohio’s newly established Northwest Regional Hub Pilot for indigent defense and the recently expanded Rural Practice Incentive Program, which provides loan repayment for newer attorneys who agree to practice in underserved communities for at least three years. Both were funded as part of H.B. 96, the state budget bill for FY2026-27, at the urging of the Ohio Bar.
A Long-Term Investment in Rural Justice
Lawyers = Justice is funded through a $1.465 million grant from the Ohio State Bar Foundation. Together with in-kind support from the law schools and the Ohio Bar, the grant will support fellow stipends, clinic operations, staffing, office space, technology infrastructure, outreach and travel across the region for an initial three-year term.
The partners hope to expand the program beyond the first three years and explore whether the model can be replicated in other parts of Ohio facing similar attorney shortages.
For the Ohio Bar, OSBF, Toledo Law and ONU Law, this project is much more than an investment in lawyers and law students. It is an investment in stronger communities, more stable families and businesses and a more accessible justice system for rural Northwest Ohio.
“This project is the latest in our efforts to address the attorney shortage and build a strong legal services pipeline to meet the increasingly complex needs of all Ohioans, who we know are best served when they have the support of a good lawyer,” said Jan Allen Baughman, president of the Ohio State Bar Association. “Collaboration is the key to solving this problem and we could not be prouder than to be working with our Foundation and two outstanding Ohio law schools who share our commitment.”
