Page 43 - December 2019 Bar Journal

FEATURE
COLUMN ETHICS PERSEPECTIVECH & WRITING
LEGAL RESEAR COLUMN

on experts. Members who need more in-
depth legal research can utilize the CLLA’s 2810 CLINTON AVENUE
research services for an hourly fee. The CLEVELAND, OH 44113
MALACHIHOUSE.ORG
CLLA also offers an email document
delivery service that saves patrons both
time and money.
Throughout its history, the CLLA has
always embraced new, legal research
technologies to enhance its patron services.
Almost 50 years ago the CLLA installed
its first stand-alone computer terminal
from OBAR/Mead Data Central Inc., and
in 1992, it purchased dial-up services and
bar-coded all of its books so that they could
circulate more efficiently to members. After
creating a Local Area Network for its 125
th
anniversary, the CLLA launched its first
web page at www.clelaw.lib.oh.us in 1995.
Before the end of the last Century, the
CLLA had posted its first online Research
Guide Series, purchased legal research CD- BLESSING OF PEACE
ROM’s from West (now Thomson Reuters), Planned or deferred gifts to Malachi House are one of the most important ways you can help us
build our endowment to ensure our home will always be there in perpetuity for those who need us
and created its flagship Members Only page. most, when they need us most. It is difficult to see our residents come to Malachi House in their
This cutting-edge portal offered members terminal state, many times with fear and confusion in their eyes. As the days and weeks go by, it
their first taste of remote access to online is truly a blessing to witness their transformation as they smile, enjoy home cooked meals, feel a
sense of family and engage with volunteers, hospice teams, staff and board members. The peace
legal research databases and served as a they ultimately experience is a result of the loving care they receive. Won’t you consider being a
model that other law libraries in Ohio have part of that peace?
both envied and copied. Today, the Members
Only page provides an online, self-serve Judy Ghazoul Hilow, Executive Director | QUESTIONS? 216.621.8831 | Jena Olsen, Development Coordinator
jhilow@malachihouse.org
development@malachihouse.org
gateway where members can access even
more valuable legal research databases from Trial competitions at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center that the CLLA dedicated with
their offices and homes. Courthouse. That partnership expanded to the local FBI Citizens Academy.
The CLLA has a long history of creating include District Mock Trial competitions For more information about the CLLA’s
strategic partnerships with other legal in 2016. history, please visit its 150 Anniversary
th
industry leaders in Cuyahoga County. As For the last few years, the Law Library page: https://clevelandlawlibrary.org/public/
early as the 1880’s, the CLLA extended has increased its services to self-represented misc/150TH/150th.html.
privileges to law students at the Cleveland litigants. In 2017, the CLLA first partnered 1 1969 Charter: https://clevelandlawlibrary.org/Public/misc/
Law School (now Cleveland-Marshall with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and Charter_1869.pdf
College of Law) two nights a week to the CMBA to host monthly Pro Se and Pro Se 2 C urrent Mission Statement: https://clevelandlawlibrary.org/
prepare their cases for moot court. Around Plus Divorce Clinics at the Law Library for Public/misc/Mission%20Statement.html
1910, the CLLA began collecting, binding individuals who would not otherwise be able
and indexing all of the unpublished opinions to afford the divorce process. These programs
of the Eighth District Court of Appeals. By have been a huge success and are already Kathleen M. Dugan serves as the
1976, the CLLA had helped the Cuyahoga scheduled through 2020. Just last year, the head Librarian of The Cleveland
County Commissioners to establish a law CLLA created another new partnership with Law Library. She has been a
library at the County jail. Less than 10 years the Cuyahoga County Probate Court and the CMBA member since 2003. She
later in 1985, the CLLA became the first and CMBA to co-sponsor Probate Brief Advice can be reached at (216) 861-5070
still the only law library to join CLEVNET, a Clinics at the Cleveland Law Library. or kdugan@clelaw.lib.oh.us.
consortium of public and special libraries in Finally, for the last 17 years, the CLLA has
Northeast Ohio which has been recognized served additional roles in the greater local Joseph N. Gross is an attorney at
as a nationwide leader in library innovation. library community. In addition to holding Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan &
More recently in 2006, the CLLA partnered multiple K-8 book drives over the years, Aronoff LLP. He is President-Elect
with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar the CLLA recently dedicated two Little Free of the CMBA. He is a CMBF Fellow
Association and the Ohio Center for Law Libraries in Cleveland. Many lawyers may and has been a CMBA member
Related Education to host the first of what have seen the Little Free Library on the since 1991. He can be reached at (216) 363-4163
thereafter became yearly Regional Mock second floor of the Cuyahoga County Juvenile or jgross@beneschlaw.com.

DECEMBER 2019 CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN BAR JOURNAL | 43