March 24, 2009
Seventh District Jurist Hears Supreme Court Case
Judge Mary DeGenaro of the Seventh District Court of Appeals served as a visiting judge on the Supreme Court of Ohio today and heard oral arguments in one case.
Judge DeGenaro was selected by Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer to sit in place of Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, who recused herself from National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, P.A. v. Richard O. Wuerth; Lane, Alton & Horst, (Case No. 2008-1334).
According to the Ohio Constitution, in the event of a recusal by a Justice, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can select any of the 68 sitting Ohio appellate court judges to sit temporarily on the Supreme Court.
“We are pleased to have Judge DeGenaro join us today,” Chief Justice Moyer said. “Her participation provides the parties in the case with a court of seven justices despite the recusal of Justice Stratton.”
The National Union case – out of Summit County – involves a certified question of state law posed by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court agreed to determine if a legal malpractice claim can be maintained directly against a law firm when all of the relevant principals and employees have either been dismissed from the lawsuit or were never sued in the first instance.
Judge DeGenaro was elected to the Seventh District Court of Appeals bench in 2000 and re-elected in 2006. Before that, she worked in private practice for 14 years, focusing on general civil litigation and appellate practice. She is a charter member of the Ohio State Bar Association’s appellate practice committee and serves on the committee that drafts the Appellate Practice Specialty Bar Exam. In addition, she teaches at OSBA CLE seminars and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, the Mahoning County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board and the external advisory committee of the Ohio Center for the Advancement of Women in Public Service at Cleveland State University.
“It is always a privilege to have an opportunity to serve all the citizens of Ohio when sitting by assignment,” Judge DeGenaro said, who previously heard cases on the Supreme Court on three separate occasions, most recently two years ago.
The Seventh District Court of Appeals serves Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Mahoning, Monroe and Noble counties and hears cases from county, municipal and common pleas courts as well as original actions in habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, procedendo and quo warranto.
Archived video of this case and every case argued before the Supreme Court of Ohio since March 2004 is available at: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/videostream.
For a high resolution, publication-quality photo of Judge DeGenaro, please visit http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/PIO/news/2009/degenaro_HR.zip.
Contact: Chris Davey or Bret Crow at 614.387.9250.