Top Akron Law pro bono contributors recognized

Class of 2023 Akron Law students who completed at least 150 hours of pro bono and community service were recognized in a ceremony on April 20.

University of Akron (UA) School of Law students take their pro bono and community service commitments seriously. The 124 graduates of the Class of 2023 upheld that tradition, donating more than 15,000 hours during their time in law school.

Sixteen graduates completed at least 300 hours of service, and another nine completed at least 150 hours. These 25 were recognized in a ceremony in the Brennan Courtroom on April 20. Those who completed at least 300 service hours will be honored with special cords at the commencement ceremony on May 7.

Those who achieved 150 hours or more received an Ohio Access to Justice Foundation certificate and a cover letter signed by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor and the Foundation’s board president. Recipients who go on to pass the Ohio Bar Examination will also be recognized at the swearing-in ceremony.

Topping the pro bono honor roll were Jason Sanders, who logged 1,986 hours of service, and Michael Njus, who recorded 1,597 hours. They each received the Perantinides & Nolan Pro Bono Service Award at the ceremony on April 20. The $500 award is presented annually to one full-time and one part-time student reporting the highest number of service hours.

An avenue to more pro bono

Both Sanders and Njus are non-traditional students. Njus had retired early following a successful business career that culminated with a decade as the head of his own organizational excellence consulting firm.

“My wife [Emily Njus] had just started law school on a part-time basis,” said Njus. “I was bored in retirement. She said, you should do law school too—full-time.”

As a UA undergraduate, Njus had found it fulfilling mentoring underprivileged students. He saw earning a law degree as an avenue to doing meaningful pro bono work in the social justice sphere. He wasted no time that first semester, signing up with the Valid Clinic, which helps people with suspended driver’s licenses get their licenses back.

He went on to also volunteer at the Certificate of Qualification for Employment (CQE) Clinic and the Academic Success Program and serve as a Student Bar Association officer. A U.S. Army veteran, he’s also done volunteer work outside of law school as a service dog trainer for disabled veterans for the last five years.

Last summer he worked “more than full-time” as a volunteer at the Summit County Public Defender's Office doing criminal defense work at the Akron Municipal Court.

“It was a wonderful experience,” he said. “I would encourage any law student looking to do pro bono work or get hands-on experience to check out the Public Defender’s Office.”

Paul Perantinides (left) and Chris Nolan of Perantinides & Nolan, Co., L.L.P., present the firm’s award to Jason Sanders.

‘It can be done’

Jason Sanders’ route to law school was as circuitous as Njus’s. He had a 14-year college football career before he and his wife decided they’d had enough of the lifestyle. Their longest and happiest stop had been at Akron. That’s where he found a job in the UA’s Department of Development in 2017, assisting in fundraising for the School of Law.

Sanders enjoyed fundraising and built a network of Akron Law alumni. He decided to go all in. In summer 2019, he started law school in the evening, while continuing his day job.

“I promised my wife I would take the path of least resistance—no extracurriculars or pro bono and such—and then I ended up doing the exact opposite,” Sanders said.

He served on the Law Review, Moot Court, Student Bar Association, Student Disciplinary Board and University Hearing Board, and mentored 1Ls. Outside of the University, he began serving through Leadership Medina County and on the boards of Main Street Wadsworth, the city’s downtown revitalization nonprofit, and the board of Feeding Medina County. His 1,986 hours of pro bono and community service is believed to be the highest number ever for a part-time student.

In August 2021, Sanders was named director of gift and estate planning at Cleveland State University, where he was able to take some of his law school courses as a visiting student. He graduated cum laude in just 3.5 years.

“This award is one of my proudest accomplishments because a lot of people told me it wasn't possible to work full time, have a family, go to law school and do well academically, and still do all the pro bono stuff. It can be done,” said Sanders.

Although virtually every U.S. law school encourages students to engage in pro bono and community service, Akron Law is one of only about 40 that require a minimum number of pro bono service hours as a condition for graduation—40 hours in Akron’s case.

“Akron Law implemented the requirement to ensure that every law student experiences the personal and professional benefits of pro bono and community service; to promote their future pro bono involvement as attorneys; and to provide awareness of legal and access to justice needs in our community,” said Alisa Benedict O’Brien, assistant dean for career services and strategic Initiatives. “I really can’t recall a graduate who didn’t say they valued the experience.”

Clinical Professor Joann Sahl congratulates Courtney Middleton on the Outstanding Clinical Student Award.

Outstanding Clinical Student Award

Two special recognition awards were also presented at the ceremony.

Clinical Professor and C. Blake McDowell Jr. Professor of Law Joann Sahl recognized 3L Courtney Middleton as the 2023 recipient of the Clinical Legal Education Association Outstanding Clinical Student Award for her work with the Ohio Governor's Expedited Pardon Project and through Akron Law's Reentry Clinic.

“Courtney’s work with the Expedited Pardon Project clients is outstanding. It takes finesse and a certain skill to get the clients to discuss their criminal records in the detail required to determine their eligibility,” Sahl said. “As I saw during her time with the Reentry Clinic, Courtney displays admirable patience with each applicant but a firm hand when needed. Her approach results in terrific success with each applicant. Courtney also volunteered to take on a supervisory role training and then mentoring new law students hired into the project. She is a terrific mentor and all of the students enjoy working with her.”

Megan Parker with her mother, Jaclyn Sims, and Akron Law Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Andrew Costigan.

Law student by association certificate

The second special award—the “Juris Mom-orate Certificate”—was presented by 3L Megan Parker to her mother, Jaclyn Sims, “for being a law student by association so that one student could achieve her dreams.”

“My whole life this person has always told me a few key things that I’ve kept with me and will continue to carry always,” said Parker. “One — ‘you may not be able to change the world with physical action, but you sure can change the world with your mind.’ Two — ‘shoot for the stars in everything you do, because you’re bound to reach one someday.’ Three — ‘you are my favorite child to argue with, so you are going to make an amazing attorney one day.”

“For as long as I can remember, this individual never left my side nor stopped providing support no matter what obstacles in life we faced,” Parker continued. “From my having unique health issues that my four siblings did not, multi-month hospital stays when my health unexpectedly took a turn for the worse, to practically reliving the U.S. education system all over again, they’ve always made sure I had everything I needed to achieve my ambitious goals.”

“They’ve sat through numerous undergraduate and law school lectures, been called on by professors under the belief they were a student, attended extracurricular activities with me—sometimes just for the accompanying food—and spent the past two summers driving me to my job in Cleveland almost every day. My favorite part of all this, however, is how they’ve honey-tested me by asking me to explain what I had learned in my law classes each day in a way she would understand. But most importantly, for my entire life, this person has never given up on me nor all the goals I continuously set my sights on.”

Below is the full list of the class of 2023 pro bono award recipients, including total hours.

To learn more about pro bono options at The University of Akron School of Law, visit here.