The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland is a law firm that provides legal education and legal representation to low-income individuals in Cleveland. The group focuses on education, health care, and housing. It provides legal assistance to people facing eviction, reduces or removes requirements for employment, and threatens legal action against schools in order to give students more options for where they attend school and for in-school programs. ^{1 2}

History

The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland was incorporated on May 10, 1905. In 1913, it became the charter agency for United Way and in 1966 it became a grantee of the Legal Services Corporation. As of January 2024, Legal Aid still receives grants from both organizations. In 1977, Legal Aid won the Supreme Court case Moore v. City of East Cleveland, which allowed for extended family members to live in the same home without being a dangerous threat to public health and safety. ^{3 4}

Cases

Moore v. City of East Cleveland

Moore v. City of East Cleveland is a 1977 Supreme Court case in which a woman from East Cleveland was evicted, fined, and arrested for having her son and his first cousin living in her house. With help from the Legal Aid Society, she sued the city claiming that it violated the Equal Protection Clause. The city claimed she violated ordinances which prohibited her son’s first cousin from living in her house. The judges determined the ordinances which the city used had a tenuous relationship with Moore’s situation and were intended to stop overcrowding, traffic congestion, and financial burden on schools. Additionally, the judges rules that a family is not limited to the nuclear family and, as a result, Moore was not in violation of having nonfamily living in her home. In May 1977, the court officially ruled that zoning ordinances cannot restrict members of a traditional family from living together. ⁵

Azzarello v Aid Society

Azzarello v. Aid Society is a case from 1962 in which Frank Azzarello brought the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland to court on the grounds that it was unlawful for Society lawyers to charge legal services fees when providing legal services as a nonprofit receiving financial aid from the government. The Legal Aid Society said that there was nothing unlawful about accepting fees since the nonprofit is a corporation and does not take money from cases, rather it is the lawyers who do so. It also argued if a lawyer in connection with the nonprofit is taken off a case, the money which was provided to the lawyer by the aid society is liquidated to cover the court fees and the remainder of that money is returned to the state. In October of 1962, judges ruled so long as their activities stay within the purpose as set out in the Society’s charter, there was no legal basis upon which their activities can be challenged. ⁶

Grants Received

The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland has received grants from Vanguard Charitable, Schwab Charitable Fund, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Mackenzie Scott, National Philanthropic Trust, Network for Good, Results for America, U.S. Department of Justice, Ohio Northern District Court, and the Supreme Court of Ohio. ⁷

1.  ^[1] “Legal Aid’s 2023-2026 Strategic Plan.” Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. Accessed January 23, 2024. https://lasclev.org/strategicplan/.
2. Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Form 990, 2022, Part III.
3. “History.” Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. Accessed January 23, 2024. https://lasclev.org/about-us/history/.
4. “Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494 (1977).” Justia Law. Accessed January 23, 2024. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/431/494/.
5. ^[1] “Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494 (1977).” Justia Law. Accessed January 23, 2024. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/431/494/.
6. Skeel, J. “Azzarello v. Aid Society.” Legal research tools from Casetext, October 25, 1962. https://casetext.com/case/azzarello-v-aid-society/.
7. “Annual Reports.” Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, 2022. https://lasclev.org/about-us/annual-reports/.