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Summit attorney Harry McKeen receives Volunteer of the Year award

SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter

Published: July 6, 2020

Ask Summit County attorney Harry McKeen to talk about the help he’s provided to Community Legal Aid Services Inc.’s many low-income clients and he’ll say he is simply fulfilling his obligation as a lawyer by giving back to the community in which he lives.
The Akron native, who focuses on criminal and eviction defense and driver’s license restoration, entered the field later in life.
“I became a lawyer to help people,” said McKeen, who received his juris doctorate from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2011. “I did not get into the law to make money. I volunteer my services a lot and I prefer to remain anonymous.”
In fact, when he learned he’d been chosen as Community Legal Aid’s 2019 Summit County Volunteer of the Year, he said his first instinct was to decline.
“I am honored by the award, but I can think of many others who are more deserving,” said McKeen.
“This county has so many amazing judges like Common Pleas Court judges Christine Croce and Joy Malek Oldfield, who run the Summit County felony drug court (Turning Point) and former Barberton Municipal Court Judge David Fish, Barberton Judge Todd McKenney and Stow Magistrate John Clark, who are among those responsible for implementing our driver’s license restoration program (VALID),” said McKeen.
“Without those programs, my clients would not be able to get their lives back.”
A member of the Akron Bar Association, McKeen serves on the Judicial Evaluation Commission and Investigative Subcommittee. He has been a Community Legal Aid Services volunteer since he began practicing in 2011.
“Harry is an example of an attorney in the community, who gives back in as many ways as possible,” said Steven McGarrity, executive director of Community Legal Aid Services. “The work he has done to help our clients get records sealed and their licenses back is incredible.”
“Harry travels to all eight of the counties that we serve to meet with clients,” said Rachel Nader, managing attorney for Community Legal Aid’s Volunteer Legal Services Program. “He is a compassionate listener, who has built a rapport with some of our most disenfranchised clients.
“Harry not only provides assistance to clients, he lets them know that a solution is within their reach.”
One of his signature efforts is serving as a volunteer attorney for VALID (Volunteers Assisting Licensed Individual Drivers) clinics in Summit and other counties.
The clinics provide an opportunity for residents whose licenses have been suspended to meet with an attorney and discuss what they need to do to get their driving privileges restored.
“It was attorney Bill Dowling who approached former Barberton Judge Dave Fish and myself with the idea initially,” said Barberton Municipal Court Presiding Administrative Judge Todd McKenney. “Stow Municipal Court Magistrate John Clark was also involved in the creation of the program as were others.
“The goal was to allow residents to pay off their reinstatement fees through an installment plan, with a down payment of only $50,” said Judge McKenney.
“Harry McKeen is our most passionate champion of the program,” he said. “He defines the word advocate. Harry not only staffs the clinics, he follows up with each and every client, even making them take an oath and promise to do what it takes to get their licenses back.”
McGarrity said McKeen was also instrumental in helping Community Legal Aid set up the program in Mahoning County in 2019, volunteering at the clinic, mentoring other attorneys and training two local judges.
“Harry makes his clients believe there really is hope and he stays with them right up until the end,” said Judge McKenney. “I think he’s extremely deserving of the Volunteer of the Year award.”
“The importance of having a driver’s license cannot be underestimated,” said McKeen. “Can you imagine driving around looking over your shoulder everywhere you go because your license has been suspended and the only way to get it back is to pay thousands of dollars in reinstatement fees.
“Thanks to our legislature, judges and magistrates, a client can now set up payment plans and get their licenses back, allowing them to go to work and shop without fear of being arrested.”
McKeen is also a volunteer for the Summit County Turning Point Program, a specialized docket that provides intensive court supervision for nonviolent, drug-dependent offenders, who receive treatment services and submit to random drug and alcohol testing.
“Harry has served as a go-between for clients in the felony drug court to help them get their licenses back and he takes appointments for felony drug cases,” said Judge McKenney.


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