Dayton attorney and UDSL alumna Susan Brasier (’86) of Falke and Dunphy LLC, was honored for her service to the community at the Access to Justice Awards on May 1, 2007 at Sinclair Community College Ponitz Center. Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center was the keynote speaker.

Susan Brasier received The Lloyd O’Hara Public Interest Law Award for her many years of commitment and advocacy on behalf of victims of domestic violence. Since 1988, Susan has served as a pro bono panel attorney with Artemis Center for Alternatives to Domestic Violence. She also served as a city prosecutor for the City of Riverside, and during her tenure there, helped develop protocols that have become a model throughout Ohio for the prosecution of perpetrators. She also worked to obtain a significant number of convictions in cases where victims—out of fear of their abuser—failed to testify or even recanted their testimony.

The evening also honored renowned civil rights lawyer Morris Dees, founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to seeking justice. Dees and The Southern Poverty Law Center, founded in 1971, are internationally known for tolerance education programs and are heralded for victories against white supremacists and the tracking of hate groups. Dees and the SPLC have received praise from the American Bar Association, the National Education Association, the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the Friends of the United Nations.

This was the second Access to Justice Awards Celebration in the Miami Valley.  The event was presented by Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO), Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE) and the Western Ohio Volunteer Lawyer Project (VLP) to recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations from our community for their outstanding contributions toward promoting and providing access to justice for the underprivileged and underserved.  In addition to celebrating those who promote access to justice for all, proceeds from the Access to Justice Awards Dinner help to provide legal services in civil matters to low income people.