Former Ohio Bar Association president joins the MSH team!
While he’s much too humble to agree, we don’t think it’s going too far to call Dean Wilson a legend. He is the immediate Past President of The Ohio Bar Association. He served for more than 30 years as a municipal court judge. And he was a trailblazer in working to bring quality legal services to those who need it most.
Fortunately, retirement isn’t for everyone. We are thrilled that Dean will join MSH as an Associate, lending his knowledge of consultation work and his passion for improving access to justice.
“Throughout my career, I have seen how the law can be a powerful tool to help solve real problems for real people, not to mention how much better the outcomes are in any legal matter when a defendant or litigant is supported by the skills of a good attorney. MSH shares this philosophy, and I am grateful that through my work here, I can continue to make a difference.“
Dean is credited with establishing the Perry County Free Legal Clinic. He also established the Perry County New Direction Drug Court to help defendants struggling with addiction get back on their feet. Dean believes in second chances. He believes in doing what he can to help others. That’s the way he was raised in rural Ohio, a foundation that has shaped his values and his career.
“One of the things I was taught by my grandparents that I didn’t fully appreciate until I became an adult, is that before 1964, there weren’t food stamps and my grandparents were not wealthy people, but they had a small grocery store that they maintained,” Wilson said. “It didn’t occur to me why they kept a board in back of the cash register – that was a credit. So if you came in and you didn’t have money to pay, Grandma and Grandpa gave you credit. That touched me, that helped formulate me, especially with regard to what I’ve tried to do in the court system and what I tried to do in my private practice before that.”
Supporting rural communities like the one he grew up in has been his life’s work. He has made it his mission to engage attorneys in rural practice and bring access to justice to those areas. At MSH he will leverage his relationships across Ohio to strengthen the LegalShield Referral Network, recruit Of-Counsel lawyers and new lawyers to MSH.
Welcome to the team, Dean!