Valerie Vodrey Hendrickson is a senior staff attorney in the Newark office. Before joining LASCO (previously SEOLS) in 2016, Valerie worked in the juvenile section of the Office of the Franklin County Public Defender, and before that, for nonprofits including the ACLU of Ohio and Girl Scouts of America, as a fundraiser for OSU, and in food service. After more than a decade of anti-sexual-violence advocacy, she spent a brief stint as Newark’s domestic violence specialist, but now enjoys being a general practitioner.

Valerie loves being a legal aid lawyer, especially when her work results in a client staying housed, keeping benefits, getting income, or breaking free of an abuser’s hold. As she puts it, “Any time I can solve someone’s problem, tear through some red tape, or get an unheard voice some air time, I’m doing something right.”

Bar & Court Admissions

• State of Ohio
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio

Education

• The Ohio State University (B.A. in Chinese language and literature & international studies, magna cum laude, 2011)
• The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (J.D., 2016)

Volunteer and Community Activities

Valerie is a seventh-generation Appalachian Ohioan from the former pottery capital of the world: East Liverpool, Ohio. She has lived happily in central Ohio for the past ten years. When she’s not at work, her hobbies include meeting strangers’ dogs, gardening, cooking, and reading science fiction. She shares her life with her partner, Adithya, who shares her passion for social justice.