The Supreme Court of Ohio
& The Ohio Judicial System

July 19, 2011
Chief Justice O'Connor Serves as Cleveland Law and Leadership Speaker

Supreme Court of Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor today encouraged students enrolled in a statewide program that seeks to improve diversity in the legal profession to keep their options open for any number of career paths.

The Law and Leadership Institute identifies promising youth from urban neighborhoods and grooms them to be future leaders in the legal profession by introducing them to lawyers, law students, judges and law professors. They learn about the law in a classroom setting at one of Ohio’s law schools as well as field trips to courts and law offices. Students entering the ninth, 10^th, 11^th and 12^th grades began their studies June 27 in six cities across the state. Chief Justice O’Connor visited with students studying at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.

She focused part of her message on her personal educational experience. Chief Justice O’Connor stressed that it’s OK “to not know what you want to be when you grow up.”

“I didn’t have a grand plan in mind when I went to college and law school,” Chief Justice O’Connor told the group. “At the time, I wouldn’t have guessed that I would serve as a judge, let alone as Chief Justice. But that’s why it’s always a good idea to broaden your experiences, work hard and learn as much as you can. The only person who can stop you is you. Never shut a door on your future by your behavior when young. Leave all doors open so when opportunity presents itself you can take advantage of it.”

The institute began in 2008 in Cleveland and Columbus and expanded to Akron, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo in 2009.

Partners for the 2011 institute include the Supreme Court, the Ohio Center for Law Related Education, the Ohio State Bar Association, Ohio’s metropolitan bar associations, city school districts and Ohio’s eight other law schools: the University of Akron School of Law, Capital University Law School, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, the University of Dayton School of Law, Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law, and the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

As the sixth woman and 148^th Justice to serve on the Supreme Court, Chief Justice O’Connor was elected in 2002, re-elected in 2008 and elected as the first woman Chief Justice in the history of the state in 2010. She has experience as a practicing attorney, magistrate, common pleas judge, and prosecuting attorney.

Chief Justice O’Connor has made it a priority of her administration to increase the diversity of the Ohio bench and bar.

For a high-resolution, print-quality photo of Chief Justice O'Connor, visit: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/PIO/news/images/justices/oconnor_highres.zip.