Skaggs Homeless Youth Fellowship

Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio•Columbus, OH

1d•Onsite

About The Position

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. The Moritz College of Law and LASCO, in conjunction with the Skaggs Family Foundation are offering a one-year Fellowship for the 2026-2027, autumn to autumn time frame. The Fellow, working under the supervision of attorneys at LASCO, will work to improve opportunities and secure stability for low-income Franklin County youth by offering legal education, outreach, and representation to youth who are housing insecure or experiencing homelessness and who need access to civil legal services. The Fellow (Staff Attorney) will be full-time and will spend approximately half of their time at homeless shelters, drop-in centers and other locations with service providers working with homeless youth and conducting trainings. The other 50% of their time will be spent at LASCO working on cases, preparing trainings, consulting with legal aid attorneys and volunteers, and organizing work strategy to meet the needs of homeless youth. This call for interest is for recent Moritz College of Law graduates who will sit for the Ohio July 2026 Bar exam or is recently licensed in Ohio. This position is intended to run for one-year, starting in fall of 2026. In this role, you will be responsible for providing legal counsel and advice as well as direct representation upon licensure as well as collaborating with partner organizations in providing legal assistance to our communities.

Requirements

Strong legal advocacy skills
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment
High ability to exercise sound judgment and discretion
High ability to facilitate collaboration as well as build and sustain productive relationships with diverse groups and organizations
Excellent communication skills, both orally and written, with diverse audiences
A commitment to access for all people with a wide variety of lived experiences, both internally and externally
A commitment to providing culturally competent services
Strong work ethic
Proficiency in Microsoft applications, knowledge of current technologies and commitment to remain up to date with industry best practices
English language proficiency is essential
Recent Juris Doctor from Moritz College of Law and admitted to the Bar of the State of Ohio (or currently pending bar results)

Nice To Haves

Spanish/English bilingual skills are a plus. Additional languages – even better
Prior Legal Aid or related work experience a plus, but not required
Previous experience with people in crisis or under-represented populations preferred

Responsibilities

Handle all functions related to legal advocacy ranging from intake to the representation of clients before local, state, appellate and federal courts, and all relevant agencies
Maintain a caseload that includes both direct service and impact work
Participate in program and agency community legal education and outreach efforts, particularly as they relate to the opioid crisis response
Participate in outreach activities, clinics and other community events
Collaborate with other legal services attorneys on statewide advocacy
Promote and build community relationships by engaging with the public and partner service providers
Have the opportunity to participate in excellent on-going professional development including CLE-approved trainings on substantive poverty law and advocacy skills among others
Be a part of a community of collaborative and mission driven professionals
Provides other assistance to attorneys as requested by the Managing Attorney or Executive Director.