February 2022 DBA CLE Calendar & On-Demand CLE

DBA CLE February 2022

Wednesday, February 2 | 1.0 Gen Hr | 4:00pm-5:00pm Hybrid: In-person at DBA & Zoom DBA Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Section presents: Pet Planning - Estate Planning for The Family Members That Are Often Left Out

Speaker: Laura Martin Esq. Wright & Schulte, LLC

Most of your clients have pets and most pet owners consider them members of the family. This presentation will help you become more comfortable talking to your clients about their furry and feathery family members and will give you confidence that you can draft routine estate planning documents that provide for the specific needs of pet owners.

Thursday, February 17 | 1.0 Gen Hr | Noon – 1:00pm DBA Workers' Comp & Social Security and Employment Law Sections present: How Ohio Workers’ Compensation Affects Employment Law Concerns; Adopting an Integrated Approach

Speakers: Jennifer Brill Esq. Graydon and Gretchen Treherne Esq. Jackson Lewis, P.C.

This program will discuss the commonality of areas involving employee illnesses and injuries and the overlap and distinctions between the Ohio workers’ compensation laws, the Ohio employment discrimination laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and other considerations. It is important for employers to have an integrated approach to achieve compliance with all statutes.

February Video Replays credits pending

18

Lincoln and The Law

9:00am-10:30am 1.5 gen hr

22

Judge Dankof’s Criminal Law Update

9:00am – 12:15pm 3.0 gen hrs

25

Eliminating Bias in the Legal Profession

9:00am-10:00am 1.0 prof conduct hr

28

The Ethical Lawyer

1:00pm-4:15pm 3.0 prof conduct hrs

Join us in Welcoming, Kate to the DBA CLE Department!

kbertke@daybar.org 937.222.7902

New programs added daily. Stream from your the location of your choice, home or office. Discounted rates on CLE for Members! Unlimited CLE Members access all On-Demand content for FREE!

On-Demand DBA CLE

Featured Programs:

Blockchain and the Law

2.0 General Credits

Into the Minds of National Legal Innovators

1.5 General Credits Back to the Future Its Never Too Late To Go Paperless

1.0 General Credit

Environmental Justice

2.5 General Credits

Cross Cultural Lawyering

1.5 Professional Conduct Credits International ADR

3.0 General Credits

By Shannon Costello Esq. | Coolidge Wall Co., LPA | costello@coollaw.com

Real Property

Expanding Broadband to Improve Digital Equity

The pandemic has made ever more apparent and pressing the need to close the so-called digital divide that has exacerbated pre-existing inequities due to poor access to technology, including high-speed, reliable internet access. These inequities negatively impact the ability of students to learn and communities to thrive and are made especially acute when remote learning, teaching and work arrangements are needed.

The good news is that across Ohio, communities are increasingly stepping into the space left vacant by commercial internet service providers (ISPs) in an effort to increase the commercial viability of building broadband infrastructure and expanding access for high speed internet service. By investing in construction of the public infrastructure associated with broadband services, public entities can subsidize and incentivize private investment by private ISPs in a way that promotes delivery of reliable, high speed internet service. These efforts coincide with and seek to leverage the increasing availability of grant and other funding sources to assist local governments, ISPs and consumers in efforts to expand broadband access, particularly in rural and other underserved communities throughout the state of Ohio.

There are a variety of roles local governmental entities play in the development of broadband service in their regions. Communities are finding the most success with what is referred to as the Private Infrastructure/ Public Service model. Under this model, public entities fund, build and own the underlying communications infrastructure (e.g. the conduit, poles, towers, and related infrastructure), and private sector ISPs own, lease, and operate the balance of the necessary equipment and commit to deliver the service. The collaborations in this model are typically broader than a single public entity collaborating with a single ISP. In many cases, collaborations among multiple public entities are needed in order to accomplish a regional project, with each entity playing a different role. Diversity on the service provider side of the Private Infrastructure/Public Service model is also a priority in order to foster a competitive commercial market for internet service delivery and comply with FCC and other federal and state regulations.

A foundational component of building a broadband network is the installation of conduit within and along existing public right-of-way. Existing right-of-way serves as a natural public infrastructure network into which the conduit and fiber optic cabling and related equipment can be readily installed. Beyond these rights-of-way, the design of the overall network takes into consideration multiple factors, including how to optimize effectiveness and coverage, enhance and prioritize identified economic development zones, leverage existing broadband assets (or assets that can serve a dual purpose through co-location of broadband and wireless facilities), address critical gaps in service to improve equity and access to underserved areas, and maximize the ability to sustain commercial service delivery. The design exercise identifies the geography of these projects and the inventory of existing resources throughout the region that can be leveraged in support of the project (e.g. existing conduit and fiber, networks of poles, sewer systems, and tall towers and rooftops), which in turn will help identify necessary public and private entity partners who can support the project (e.g. schools, libraries, hospitals, institutional owners and even private properties where appropriate).

The expansion in federal and state funding coupled with low interest rate financing options now promise to make the goal of

“middle mile” and “last mile” broadband connectivity a reality for local communities. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) enacted on March 11, 2021, will funnel $5.68 billion in direct assistance to the State, $2.24 billion in direct assistance to Ohio’s metro cities, another $843.7 million to so-called nonentitlement units of local government (i.e., other Ohio cities and villages, and townships under recent General Assembly-enacted legislation), and $2.27 billion to Ohio counties. Allocations of ARPA funds for Ohio school districts will be indirectly allocated via the State from the State’s funding, with $4.5 billion to be distributed to Ohio school districts through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. Among other uses associated with pandemic response needs, these funds can be used to “make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure”. The stated objective of the funding for broadband infrastructure is to provide access to high-quality broadband service and facilitate necessary investments in projects that “establish or improve broadband service to unserved or underserved populations to reach an adequate level to permit a household to work or attend school, and that are unlikely to be met with private sources of funds”. (Interim Final Rule at p. 62). The breadth of this category allows for flexible and creative projects that build on existing resources to expand broadband internet capabilities.

The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law in November 2021, contemplates an additional $65 billion in funding to expand broadband in rural areas and in low-income communities. Approximately $14 billion of the total is intended to help reduce internet bills for low-income citizens, hopefully improving the viability and long-term benefit of the public investment in broadband infrastructure.

Closer to home, the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program, adopted under House Bill 2 of the 134th General Assembly (effective May 17, 2021), awards grants to ISPs to fund construction of broadband projects in unserved and underserved areas of the state. These grants to ISPs, alone or when combined with other funding resources garnered and deployed by local political subdivisions, hold the promise of building out broadband infrastructure projects that support the needs of the local and regional community well into the future.

These funding resources are necessary given the often high cost of these projects. The State, counties, municipalities, school districts and other public entities across Ohio, and all manner of collaborations and consortia of these entities, are teaming together to collectively leverage new funding and existing resources and to structure comprehensive solutions to achieve “middle mile” and “last mile” connectivity. Through use of co-development agreements, co-location agreements and various funding agreements, collaborations are working to build out the systems. Cities and counties make available the networks of rights-of-way and existing pole rights. School districts and other public landowners in the region make available existing conduit and tall structures for collocation of fiber and broadcast equipment. Port authorities or other public issuers are facilitating financing of infrastructure improvements, using the funding resources of other benefiting public entities and opening up a competitive environment for ISPs to operate in previously underserved regions.

Not of least importance is the actual internet service delivery. The economics of delivering service in underserved regions is challenging. At the end of the day, the public entities that build internet infrastructure assets want to see one or multiple ISPs to operate a robust network system where the risks responsibilities of the customer acquisition obligations and day-to-day network performance are born by the ISPs and ultimately operating to close the digital divide.

Reflections on Retirement

Rounding the corner to my March 6th retirement date provided an ideal opportunity to reflect upon the years I have served as Executive Director of your Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project. I have an overwhelming sense of pride to be part of this amazing Dayton legal community.

To you, our volunteers – you are so amazing at sharing your time and talents with those less fortunate in our community. Whether it is helping someone break free from domestic violence, seek relief from overwhelming medical debt, wage a fair fight against an intolerable landlord, or any of the other many services you provide to clients through the Volunteer Lawyers Project, you rise to the challenge of providing the same high level of service to your paying and pro bono clients alike. You dug even deeper when our community was ravaged by the Memorial Day tornados of 2019, the mass shooting in the Oregon District later that year, or during this never-ending pandemic. Your kindness and willingness to serve never ceased to amaze me.

To the amazing staff members – you worked tirelessly to connect those in need with the volunteers willing to assist them. These last two years you have worked mightily to continue the provision of services, even when we had to contend with court closures and mandates and so many other obstacles. I will miss working with you in service of our shared mission to provide innovative opportunities for attorneys to perform pro bono civil legal services to benefit persons of limited means.

To the members of our Board of Directors – your willingness to roll up your sleeves and be a true working board to ensure the VLP always has what we need to excel is inspiring. I respect you more than you will ever know.

To Helenka Marculewicz, may you rest in peace – you built a solid and enduring foundation as the inaugural Executive Director of the VLP. Your mark on this organization remains strong to this day. Thank you for entrusting me to lead the organization you built from the ground up with your hard work and dedication.

To Summer Hawks, the new and only the third Executive Director of the VLP – your intellect, strategic thinking and compassion will serve this community so well moving forward. I retire knowing that you will bring your considerable talents to bear to make this organization even stronger and vital to the community.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., during his tenure as president of the American Bar Association, said it perfectly. “Equal justice under law is not merely a caption on the façade of the Supreme Court building; it is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our society. It is one of the ends for which our entire legal system exists…it is fundamental that justice should be the same, in substance and availability, without regard to economic status.” I am grateful for the time I have spent at the VLP doing my part towards achieving equal justice for all, especially the most vulnerable among us.

So what’s next for this retiree? I’ll be flying off on many new adventures but promise to always come back to Dayton – and volunteer at the Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project!

Thank you, Kelly