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Bar Association chief: More access to civil justice needed

SALEM — The president of the Ohio State Bar Association indicated the legal profession has some challenges to face for the future, both in attracting young people to the career and in serving a population with modest means.

“One of our biggest concerns is what has been a decreased access to civil justice,” OSBA President Ronald Kopp said, explaining that so many people feel like they don’t have access to legal help. “We’re looking at ways to improve citizen access to the justice system.”

Kopp was in town to speak at the District 13 annual meeting of lawyers in Columbiana and Mahoning counties held Tuesday at the Salem Golf Club, where a handful of local lawyers were scheduled to be recognized for their contributions.

Those to be honored included 50-year practitioner John Boyd of Youngstown, 65-year practitioners Dean Ferris of Canfield and Myron Regenstreich of Youngstown, and Youngstown attorney Tracie Schmidt as recipient of th Ohio State Bar Foundation Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 and under.

Kopp, an attorney with Roetzel & Andress in Akron, addressed The Future of the Profession — Challenges and Opportunities, allowing the attendees to earn an hour of general continuing legal education as he talked about what they’re facing.

During an interview before the session, he said they have a futures commission looking at the future of the legal profession.

“We’re spending a fair amount of time looking at student debt, baby boomers are retiring. That’s going to present a significant void,” he said.

About 25 percent of the practicing attorneys are 63 years old or older and new lawyers are coming out of law school with a boatload of debt as high as $120,000 for law school and their undergraduate studies. They’re also having a harder time finding a job because more people are trying self-help and corporations are turning more to in-house legal staff for a more efficient operation.

Citizens with modest means are having a harder time accessing legal help. Kopp said the Ohio Supreme Court has a number of initiatives to address access. One idea at this time is to have courthouse navigators to help people get to the right place when they come to court.

“We’re just really focused on ways to improve access to the justice system,” he said.

Kopp also said that the number of people entering law school is significantly decreased, likely because jobs are fewer and the cost is higher. There was a shift in the market when the recession began. On the criminal side, he said the number of prosecutors is about the same but those are lower paying jobs. It’s harder for an attorney to take a lower paying job, such as an assistant prosecutor or legal defender, when there’s student debt.

About 50 attorneys registered for the event, which included an afternoon of continuing legal education after the luncheon. The afternoon session, worth 2.5 hours of Professional Conduct CLE, dealt with ethical situations attorneys find themselves facing in their day-to-day dealings with clients, judges and other attorneys. The presenter was Gretchen Mote of the Ohio Bar Liability Insurance Company.

mgreier@salemnews.net

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