tafelski-joe

OHIO
Joe Tafelski ’72
Executive director, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality Inc.

Joe Tafelski (L.L.M. ’72) doesn’t wear a cape, but he’s still a hero to a lot of people. He’s spent his career helping low-income individuals and families seek justice.

“I think a lot of times people view justice as the end result,” he says. “But I think the greatest part of justice is the process we use to try to get to that.”

Tafelski is the executive director of Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE), the largest civil aid program in Ohio. ABLE, Tafelski says, helps people who have nowhere else to go.

Some of Tafelski’s first experiences with nonprofit law firms were in Kansas City. Internships he completed at UMKC helped him understand the impact lawyers can have on the community.

“The internships helped expand my horizons and taught me that the practice of law is something where you can do something that can be mentally challenging, but also, if you are in the right area, you can really help a lot of people,” he says.

That desire to help others eventually led Tafelski to ABLE.

Tafelski says one particularly memorable case dealt with migrant farm workers who were being paid less than minimum wage. ABLE helped them get the money they deserved. As they signed the settlement papers, one of the workers approached him and said, “to me, ABLE is justice. Without ABLE, I wouldn’t have any justice.”

This, Tafelski says, is why ABLE’s work is so important.

“Lawyers can have a huge impact on someone’s life if they go about it the right way.”

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