When Susan Choe was the director of the Student Housing Legal Clinic at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, she would send her law students down to observe the eviction docket in Franklin County. For students just starting their legal careers, the visit provided an eye-opening look at the housing challenges experienced by low-income families.
“It would stun them that within about two hours, with maybe a docket of 150 families, the majority of those folks got evicted; they lost their homes that day,” Choe said. “I think it taught the students just how fragile it can sometimes be for families.”
For Choe, whose passion for civil rights led her to law school after a start in corporate banking, the ability to empathize with those who are struggling has served her throughout her career. From her turn as a legal aid housing lawyer; to Moritz; to her leadership roles at the Ohio Attorney General’s Office; and especially in her current position as executive director of Ohio Legal Help, Choe focuses on serving Ohioans.
“We’re always thinking about that single mom who maybe has two jobs, who’s trying to make it, and we’re trying to assist her with a legal issue, whether it’s at 2:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m.,” she said.
To better understand that mom, Choe and her team use a data-driven and fairness-by-design approach that meets users where they are. From how Ohio Legal Help frames its content to the mobile-first design of the website, everything about Ohio Legal Help is tailor-made to help low-income Ohioans understand their legal options, make informed decisions, and act.
During the pandemic, that intentionality proved prescient. As the world shut down and Ohioans increasingly used their smartphones to access information, Ohio Legal Help sat perfectly positioned to serve Ohioans facing eviction or struggling with pandemic-related job loss.
“Overnight people were on their cell phones on our site, and the data reflected that,” Choe said. “Because of the way we were set up, we could react immediately. We learned our work is scalable; the site didn’t glitch no matter how many we served.”
While much of Ohio Legal Help’s success is attributable to technology, Choe’s ability to develop partnerships makes the technology effective. Relationships with partners like the Ohio Judicial Conference and Clerks of Courts help Choe and her team understand the nuance of each Ohio court. With that knowledge, they design content and create tools that ensure the court system is navigable for Ohio Legal Help users.
A thorough understanding of legal aid and Ohio’s various social service agencies, many of which Ohio Legal Help refers users to, further cements its role as a go-to resource.
With more than three years of success under Ohio Legal Help’s belt, the future is bright. In the next 12 months, Choe and her team will launch custom virtual self-help centers with three domestic relations courts. They’re incorporating text-to-speech on the website and will continue to add to and refine Ohio Legal Help’s content to create the best experience possible for Ohioans.
“More and more folks are going online to get their information,” Choe said. “We understand the importance of that and take that charge very seriously. We’re going to make sure that our users get the information they need.”
Ohio Legal Help is an Ohio Access to Justice Foundation grantee. Visit www.ohiolegalhelp.org to learn more.