Helenka Marculewicz, executive director of the Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project, is the 2013 Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation Murphy Award winner.
Created by the Foundation in 1998, the award is named for Denis Murphy, a Columbus lawyer and founding member of the Foundation who was an advocate of strong funding for civil legal aid. Murphy died in 2005.
Marculewicz has been the executive director of the Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project since its creation 25 years ago, and is a nationally recognized expert in pro bono program management. About half of Dayton Bar Association members volunteer for the Project, which refers cases in which the client cannot afford to hire an attorney to lawyers who agree to represent the client at no charge. Marculewicz will retire from her position in January.
The award was presented to Marculewicz Thursday during the Project’s 25th anniversary celebration at Dayton’s Sinclair Community College. She was nominated for the award by a group of her professional peers in Ohio, who stated “Her expertise has been an essential resource freely given to other pro bono legal programs in Ohio and around the country, and her impact on civil legal aid in Ohio is indelible.”