Opportunity for Fellowship Development

Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (LASCO)’s mission is to provide civil legal aid and advocacy to overcome unfairness and injustice, reduce poverty, and increase opportunity. LASCO has a long-standing history of being committed to searching out the patterns, causes of, and solutions to the repetitive and fundamental legal problems facing low-income Ohioans and pursuing the legal recourse needed to address those problems. Since 1966, our organizations have helped thousands of Ohio’s poor obtain and keep housing, secure public benefits, worked with families to gain and maintain economic stability, and helped domestic violence survivors to live free of fear and abuse and to obtain the resources needed to sustain themselves and their children.

Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (LASCO) is pleased to offer opportunities to host two-year post-graduate public interest legal fellowships beginning in September 2026.

Rising 3L law students and recent law school graduates are encouraged to collaborate with LASCO in developing the fellowships. LASCO offers an invitation to help realize your ideas and projects that align with the goals and needs of the organization. If you have an idea or project you would like to explore, we are seeking candidates to support throughout the public interest legal fellowship development process. All proposal submissions will be reviewed and aligned projects will be selected to collaborate with LASCO this summer to prepare, submit, and navigate the fellowship application process.

We are specifically interested in candidates who will collaborate with us to craft proposals that build on our outreach and legal advocacy efforts to support disadvantaged communities through projects that tackle civil legal services. LASCO is especially interested in candidates looking to take on potential fellowship projects for work in the following areas and their intersections:

Immigration:

LASCO is interested in hosting a Fellow whose project would be to represent and support unaccompanied immigrant children in their domestic and immigration cases.  This project would require a fellow to work closely with the LASCO Domestic teams in Columbus and rurally as well as the LASCO Immigration team. The fellow would represent parents and guardians in custody proceedings as well as represent child before USCIS and the immigration court. Experience in immigration and/or family law is encouraged and fluency in a second language is a plus. 

Tax:

LASCO is seeking a Fellow to support individuals and small businesses in resolving state and local income and sales tax issues. Working closely with our Tax, Consumer, and Community Economic Development teams, the fellow will provide direct client representation while also building relationships and developing protocols with state and local tax authorities to improve access and responsiveness. A key part of the role involves creating community education materials and self-help tools designed to empower taxpayers with the knowledge and resources they need to address tax challenges independently.

Housing:

There are a variety of housing issues that need support in our urban and rural communities. Specifically, LASCO is seeking to host a fellow to address housing conditions in its rural service area. This project would take aim at rural Ohio's aging housing stock, and the corresponding conditions issues that can exacerbate an already scant housing stock. This project would focus on exploring innovative legal solutions, such as public nuisance claims, as well as building out LASCO's resources for self-represented tenants to keep their housing safe and healthy. 

Other housing opportunities are available and candidates are encouraged to develop a proposal where they feel passionate about providing service. 

Rural Wealth Preservation:

LASCO is looking for a Fellow who will focus on preserving generational wealth for low-income and elderly residents in under-served rural communities.  The fellow will provide legal services in three key areas: (1) estate planning to ensure the orderly and intentional transfer of real property and other other assets, particularly in communities at risk of “heirs property” disputes; (2) real estate tax relief advocacy to help clients maintain home-ownership and avoid displacement; and (3) assistance with Medicaid estate recovery matters to protect family homes and assets from posthumous claims.  The project aims to stabilize rural households, reduce poverty through inter-generational asset retention, and promote long-term economic security for vulnerable populations.

Court Help Center:

The Help Center in Fairfield County provides brief advice to client eligible families with legal matters before the Court of Common Pleas.  A Fellow would be trained to be able to quickly analyze legal issues that are common to this court, interview clients, and provide pro se support and other brief advice to clients.  The fellow would also liaise with the Court staff, and help further develop best practices and procedures for the help center itself.  One successful outcome of the fellowship would include connecting with the Clerks of Court to explore similar projects/grants in other counties.

Other Fellowship proposals are also encouraged.

Proposal materials should include a cover letter describing your background, experience, and areas of interest for future work. This cover letter will serve as the basis for development of a full fellowship application proposal created in collaboration with LASCO attorneys. In addition to providing a cover letter, materials should include a resume, writing sample, and most recent (unofficial or official) transcript, as soon as possible and no later than August 1, 2025. Successful proposals will demonstrate interest in public interest law, strong academic records, excellent organization and communication skills, and the demonstrated ability to handle a demanding workload .

Proposals will be reviewed as received. If selected, please be prepared to develop the fellowship project proposal in collaboration with LASCO staff in August of 2025, for submission to outside fellowship sponsors by early September 2025. Final selection of fellows is contingent on the funder of the fellowship’s selection of a candidate’s proposal and award of the funding. LASCO has successfully hosted numerous fellows in the past.

The development phase of the process is considered voluntary. Payment information is dependent upon successful awarding of a fellowship. Candidates for the 2026-2028 fellowship must be eligible to take the Ohio Bar Exam in July of 2026. Applicants who can be admitted to practice law in Ohio prior to July 2026 or can submit a UBE transfer application to the Supreme Court of Ohio by January 15, 2025 may also be considered.