AWARD RECIPIENT RECOGNIZED FOR OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACY ON BEHALF OF LEGAL AID CLIENTS IN OHIO

Long-time legal aid advocate David Dawson is the 2010 recipient of the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation’s Denis Murphy Award. Dawson is the deputy director of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, which provides free legal representation to low-income clients in 5 northeast Ohio counties, including the metropolitan Cleveland area. The Award was presented on Thursday, June 10, 2010 during the Foundation’s quarterly board meeting by Julie Davis, Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Retail Ventures Inc. and the Foundation’s Board President.

“Dave’s nearly 40 years of distinguished service in legal aid is commendable. His goal when he joined the staff of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland in 1971 was to eliminate poverty and he has tirelessly pursued this goal throughout his career,” Davis said in presenting this year’s award.

“In the nomination for this year’s recipient, it is stated that his ‘colleagues and friends at Cleveland Legal Aid owe

[him] a debt we can never repay: for his leadership, his companionship, his dedication to justice.’ We, too, at OLAF owe Dave our debt of gratitude for his outstanding leadership and advocacy,” said Davis.

The Denis Murphy Award is presented annually in recognition of outstanding leadership and advocacy on behalf of legal aid clients in the state of Ohio. The Award was created in 1998 in honor of the Foundation’s founding board president, Denis J. Murphy, who passed away in 2005.

In championing the nomination for this year’s recipient, Colleen Cotter, Executive Director for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, notes his “well-deserved reputation as an expert in poverty law and creative advocate, [and that he] is well-respected for his integrity, professionalism and mentorship.” “His legal successes for countless individual clients and through impact litigation, combined with his remarkable ability to make those around him better – better lawyers, better people – make him a rare leader-advocate who mirrors the legacy of this award’s namesake, Denis Murphy,” adds Davis. In the letter of support individually signed by all of his co-workers, it states that we “consider him a great friend whose compassion and care for our client community serves as a great example to us all.”

The Ohio Legislature created the Foundation in 1994 as a response to the serious deficiencies in meeting the civil legal needs of poor Ohioans. In partnership with the Ohio Supreme Court state and local bar associations, elected officials, and local legal aid providers, the Foundation coordinates resource development, provides efficient distribution of legal aid funds, and promotes innovative approaches to ensure that poor Ohioans are treated fairly and are able to obtain their rights.

For more information about efforts to provide equal access to justice for all persons in Ohio, contact Jeffrey Fortkamp, OLAF Associate Director, at 614-752-8919 or visit the OLAF Web site at www.olaf.org.

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