Lorain County Bar Association gets $30,000 grant to help lawyers starting solo practice

The Lorain County Bar Association has received a $30,000 grant from the Ohio State Bar Foundation to establish a solo lawyer incubator program. The bar association intends to use the money to establish a program to help lawyers who are starting a new solo practice. The program will employ an experienced attorney to mentor participants, provide space to house participants and provide them with resources to offer quality and ethical legal service to the community. Participants will be required to provide pro bono and reduced-cost services to the community. "Our goal is to assist the Lorain County community with legal needs while also supporting our membership and this program accomplishes that purpose," bar association President Giovanna Scaletta-Bremke — also a Republican candidate for Lorain County Common Pleas judge in 2024 — said in a news release. "It has long been our goal to connect new solo practitioners with mentors and resources to allow them to build long-lasting legal practices to serve the community." The community's legal needs remain high while the number of attorneys staying in Lorain County to serve its needs are few. It is the goal of the bar association to attract more attorneys to stay in Lorain County and serve the needs of the community. There are four other lawyer incubator programs statewide. According to Bar Association Executive Director Jeannie Motylewski, the association has not gotten any grant funding during her 18 years with the organization. Members Lee Belardo and Common Pleas Judge Chris Cook assisted in writing letters of recommendation to the foundation. Attorneys interested in participating in the incubator program can contact the bar association at lcba@windstream.net.