Kathi Schear is a staff attorney at LASCO working on the domestic and reentry teams. She also serves as the legislative liaison with the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation. After graduating law school in 1978, Kathi worked as a bailiff for Stark County’s Juvenile Court and in Washington D.C. as a lobbyist for the Rural Electric Cooperatives before moving to Columbus in 1980. She volunteered for Legal Aid and the Public Defender’s office for a short time before receiving an offer to become a full time staff member at LASCO (then LASC) in the fall of 1980. Throughout her distinguished career at LASCO, she has worked with almost all of LASCO’s programs, including the pro bono, housing, public benefits, senior citizens, and domestic violence teams. She has also spent time working in LASCO’s Marion office, but has always been based in the Columbus location. In the 1990s, she was asked to head up the LASCO’s domestic violence team. Recently, however, her work has been centered on domestic relations, reentry of restored citizens, and legislative progress. She especially enjoys building relationships with clients through her domestic relations work and helping to create better family situations after divorces, custody disputes or child support disputes. She also enjoys bringing people together through her reentry work and helping to create new opportunities for success in the lives of clients.

Bar Activities

• Member, Columbus Bar Association
• Member, Franklin County Reentry Coalition
• Treasurer and Former President, Action Ohio
  

Education

• University of Akron Law School (J.D. 1978)
  

Personal

Kathi Schear has two children, Andrew, 28 and Carolyn, 31. She also owns three dachshunds.