The University of Toledo College of Law and Ohio Northern University have partnered with the Ohio State Bar Association and Foundation to launch "Lawyers = Justice." Designed to combat the shortage of attorneys in rural Northwest Ohio, this initiative will operate out of Bowling Green and Lima using a hybrid fellowship-clinic model. It will offer hands-on experience for up to 40 law students while supporting four new lawyer fellows as they establish local private practices. Read more about the collaboration at  Spectrum News .

 The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association invites the public and legal professionals to Fort Huntington Park on May 1 to ceremonially retake the Oath and honor the 58th annual Law Day. This nonpartisan event celebrates the Rule of Law as a vital foundation for judicial independence and equal justice for all.

717 Credit Union and the Akron Bar Association have launched a co-branded Affinity Visa card that donates 7.17 cents per transaction toward local attorney resource development. Additionally, the credit union will soon offer Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA), which are specialized accounts that generate revenue for Ohio’s legal aid fund. To learn more about this partnership, visit  The Business Journal .

A top Department of Labor official has prohibited Department of Labor staff from attending or speaking at American Bar Association (ABA) events in an official capacity, citing the organization's "radical goals." The policy eliminates agency funding for these events and requires employees who choose to attend to do so personally and without using their official titles. This directive follows similar actions by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission amid a lawsuit by the ABA, which alleges the administration used executive orders to intimidate law firms into silence by threatening their security clearances and federal contracts.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) criticized the American Bar Association's (ABA) law school accreditation as a "monopoly" that inflates the cost of a law degree and restricts the supply of new lawyers. The FTC endorsed a plan by the Texas Supreme Court to end the state's reliance on the ABA for oversight, viewing it as a vital step against the ABA's costly and restrictive requirements. The agency noted that other states like Florida and Ohio are also reviewing their requirements, while the ABA is already undertaking a sweeping review of its own accreditation standards.

  The American Bar Association, along with 58 other bar associations—including the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association—have united to “defend the rule of law and reject efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession.” They issued a statement rejecting government actions that punish lawyers, law firms, or judges for their legal decisions, and emphasized the importance of protecting the independence of the legal system. The coalition calls upon all members of the profession, from private practice to elected officials, to speak out against such intimidations.

  An ABA Working Group on AI has just published Guidelines for responsible use of AI in federal and state courts. The document, titled Guidelines for U.S. Judicial Officers Regarding the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence , is available in an upcoming law review article. The introduction to the Guidelines explains: “These Guidelines are intended to provide general, non-technical advice about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) by judicial officers and those with whom they work in state and federal courts in the United States…” If you want to read a great summary of the Guidelines, click here to read a blog post by legal tech guru Bob Ambrogi.