The Access to Justice Awards are Back on June 20, 2025!

Each year Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO), Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE), and the Toledo Bar Association (TBA) host the Access to Justice Awards Ceremony to recognize extraordinary service in the public interest and community advocacy. Individuals and organizations in northwest Ohio are honored for their outstanding contributions to promoting and providing access to justice for underprivileged and underserved people.

This year’s event has a new format and time. The Access to Justice Awards is scheduled for Friday, June 20, 2025, at The Pinnacle in Maumee from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Yes, it will be a breakfast and not a dinner.

We are currently seeking nominations for the Public Interest Law Award and the Community Service Award. The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, April 25, 2025. You can access the online nomination form here or request a copy of the form by contacting Carmen Vega-Pérez at cvega@ablelaw.org or (419) 930-2515.

If your passion is equal justice, we invite you to join us on June 20. The Access to Justice Awards Breakfast provides a unique experience to learn more about ABLE, LAWO, and the TBA Pro Bono Legal Services Program through our client stories and testimonials that illustrate how donor gifts make a difference.

2025 Justice for All Campaign

Donate to the Justice for All Campaign Today!

America holds close the ideal of equal justice for all, but all too often, justice is out of reach for many of its most vulnerable citizens. Civil legal aid steps in to ensure that this promise is made a reality for the thousands of individuals and families who need representation in the justice system, but could not otherwise afford an attorney. By giving to the Justice for All Campaign, you can make justice a reality for individuals and families in northwest Ohio.

The Justice for All Campaign is a fundraising partnership among

• Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE)
• Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO) and
• The Toledo Bar Association (TBA) Pro Bono Legal Services Program.

As the sole providers of free civil legal aid to low-income residents of northwest Ohio, the Justice for All Campaign unites our fundraising efforts to ensure that vulnerable and disenfranchised members of our community have equal access to the legal system.

Each year, thousands of people in our community request legal help from LAWO, TBA Pro Bono, and ABLE. Through gifts from our friends and supporters in the Toledo legal community, we are able to provide life-changing assistance to victims of elder abuse, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, and many families living, working, and raising their children in poverty who struggle to meet their day-to-day needs of housing, food, healthcare, or education for their children. But even though we served so many, there are still more who need our help, and we ask that you support us again this year.

Members of Our Community Need Your Help

Your investment in the Justice for All Campaign gives hope to our clients and creates stability in the community as their legal problems are resolved. Options for supporting the work of ABLE, the TBA Pro Bono Legal Services Program, and LAWO are as varied as the programs and services we offer. Whatever your interest—helping children, preventing homelessness, providing safety, rebuilding neighborhoods, protecting civil rights, providing for veterans—there is opportunity within this campaign.

When you support the Justice for All Campaign, you contribute to equal justice under the law – something we all care about.

For more information, please contact Carmen Vega-Pérez, Regional Director of Development at cvega@ablelaw.org.

Donate today!

Campaign Co-Chairs

Steven P. Collier, Co-Chair
Collier Mediation, LLC

Susan Hartman Muska, Co-Chair
Law Office of Susan Hartman Muska

Cabinet Committee Members

Emily Desmond
ABLE

Thomas Dillon
Shumaker

Bradley J. Lagusch
TBA

Peter Lavalette
RCO Law

Makiedah Messam
ABLE

Andrew Miller
Midwest Tape

Kevin C. Mulder
LAWO

Adam S. Nightingale
Eastman and Smith

Greg Robinette
MacMillan, Sobanski & Todd

Meghan Roth
Marshall & Melhorn

Katie Schuyler
University of Toledo

Sarah Skow
Spengler Nathanson

Michelle Tussing
TBA

Carmen Vega-Pérez
ABLE

2025 Justice for All Campaign Ambassadors

Cheryl Mendenhall
Allotta & Farley Co., LPA

Margaret G. Beck
Brady, Coyle & Schmidt, Ltd.

Janelle Matuszak
Bugbee & Conkle, LLP

Charles E. Boyk
Charles E. Boyk Law Office

James E. Yavorcik
Cubbon & Associates Co., LPA

Adam S. Nightingale
Eastman & Smith Ltd.-Toledo

Jeffrey W. Swiech
Gallon, Takacs & Boissoneault Co., LPA

Christopher F. Parker
Goranson, Parker & Bella Co., LPA

Bruce S. Schoenberger
Gressley, Kaplan & Parker

Stevin J. Groth
Groth & Associates

Jeremiah O'Brien
LaValley, LaValley, Todak & Schaefer Co., LPA

Tim Van Tuinen
MacMillan, Sobanski & Todd, LLC

Richard R. Malone
Malone, Ault & Farell

William J. Bingle
Maloney, McHugh & Kolodgy, Ltd.

Meghan Anderson Roth
Marshall & Melhorn, LLC

J. Randall Engwert
Reminger Co., LPA

Peter N. Lavalette
RCO Law

Sarah Skow
Spengler Nathanson

Robert S. Salem
University of Toledo College of Law

Michelle Kranz
Zoll & Kranz

Cara Wall
Zoll & Kranz