200+ Ohio Attorneys Step Up In Response To State Chief Justice Call For Volunteers

In Ohio, The Associated Press reports:

• More than 200 lawyers have volunteered to help homeowners facing foreclosure in response to a request by [Ohio] Chief Justice Thomas Moyer to provide free legal advice. The president of the Ohio State Bar Association put out a call for volunteers to meet Moyer's request, association spokesman Ken Brown said Wednesday. [...] Moyer said [recently] that lawyers have an obligation to help homeowners facing foreclosure, and they should do so without charge. "This is more than a legal issue; this is a social issue," Moyer told a group meeting at the Ohio Judicial Center. "People's lives are being seriously affected, and the legal community must respond with action."

***

• "Many Ohioans caught up in the crisis are of limited financial means with little or no access to an attorney," Robert Ware, president of the Ohio Bar Association, said in a note to members. Working groups have been established to determine the best ways for volunteer lawyers to work with the Supreme Court, the governor's office and attorney general's office and Legal Aid groups to serve the needs of Ohioans, Ware said.

For more, see Lawyers volunteering to help (Strapped homeowners get advice).