Susan Donofrio, the 2026 Denis J. Murphy Award recipient for outstanding leadership and advocacy at Ohio’s legal aids, didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a lawyer. Initially on the path to a Ph.D. in English, Donofrio pivoted to law when life circumstances brought her to Washington, D.C. She attended Georgetown Law School, where she first volunteered for and fell in love with legal aid.
“I appreciated that it was real people and real problems,” Donofrio said. “You feel like you’re making a difference for people.”
When she arrived in Columbus as a newly minted lawyer, Donofrio applied to The Legal Aid Society of Columbus n.k.a. Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (LASCO), where the legendary Bea Sowald hired her for a position on the family law team. Forty-six years later, Donofrio remains at LASCO, where she has cemented a reputation as a consummate lawyer and mentor.
Over the course of her career, Donofrio has helped countless low-income clients with civil legal issues related to domestic violence, divorce, custody issues, and child support. “Using my legal skills to help women and families improve their future is what inspires me every day and reminds me why I became a lawyer,” she said.
She was the first attorney in Ohio in civil legal services to become a certified specialist in family law, an accomplishment that entailed months of studying and preparation on top of her day job.
“There are always new things to learn, not only in domestic law, but in all of the other areas of the law that impact low-income people who are going through a crisis,” she said.
Donofrio willingly and enthusiastically shares her expertise with others. She’s served for decades in various capacities on the Ohio State Bar Association Family Law Committee and as a mentor for LASCO’s pro bono programs. Her colleagues at LASCO describe her as highly collaborative, and a leader who is both a mentor to attorneys, paralegals, administrative staff, and volunteers, as well as a person who deeply values others’ input and ideas.
As Donofrio puts it, practicing family law lends itself to collaboration.
“One of the other cool things about doing domestic legal aid is that it impacts so many different areas of the law,” she said. “If I have a divorce client who’s facing eviction or foreclosure, I just have to go down the hall, and there’s an expert to help them. Or if I’ve got somebody who has an immigration issue, we’ve got a group here that can help them with that, or with benefits, or tax issues.”
It turns out that being a lawyer has a lot of parallels to education, and that working at legal aid has allowed Donofrio to combine everything she loves: teaching, learning, practicing the law, and helping people solve real problems.
“It’s just been wonderful to be able to spend my career in a place where there are such shared values, and such a sense of mission and collaboration.”
The Ohio Access to Justice Foundation annually presents the Denis J. Murphy, Dick Pogue Access to Justice, Elam, Rising Star, and Voice of Justice awards to outstanding leaders. Learn more about the Foundation’s awards.