Your Advocate for Brighter Futures

I am a dedicated sole practitioner in Cleveland, offering over 40 years of legal experience. My practice focuses on divorce, dissolution of marriage and legal separation, child custody, support, and parenting rights/visitation issues, as well as representing professionals facing disciplinary or ethical concerns.

I have served as a guardian ad litem for minor children in the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court since the program's inception in the 1980s, ensuring the best interests of children during family disputes.

My commitment to professional ethics is demonstrated by my over 25 years of service on the Grievance Committee for the Cuyahoga County Bar Association and Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. I have also chaired the CCBA Grievance Committee and served as bar counsel from 2000-2008, representing the association in ethics and professional responsibility cases before both the Ohio Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court.

My leadership extends to my roles as a past president and board member of the Cuyahoga County Bar Association and as Treasurer of the Cuyahoga County Bar Foundation. I am an active member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, where I served on its Grievance Committee until 2014, and currently contribute to the Judicial Selection Committee.

Since 2001, I have also served as an acting judge in the Shaker Heights Municipal Court, bringing my extensive legal knowledge and commitment to justice to the bench.

Education

  • Cleveland State University, College of Law, Cleveland, Ohio, J.D.

  • Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, B.A. 1974

    • Honors: Dean's List

    • Major: English and Political Science

Bar Admission

  • Ohio, 1978

  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio

  • U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio, 1978

  • U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1991

  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1992

Published Works

  • Multi-Disciplinary Practice, Ohio Lawyers' Weekly, 2000

Representative Cases

  • CCBA v Alexander Jurczenko, 114 Ohio St. 3d 229, 2007-Ohio-3675, 2007, Ohio Supreme Court

  • CCBA v Scott Maybaum, 112 Ohio St. 3d 93, 2006-Ohio-6507, 2006, Ohio Supreme Court

Honors

  • Cuyahoga County Bar Association President's Award for Service

Classes & Seminars

  • Multi-Disciplinary Practice (Speaker/Instructor), Eighth Judicial District Conference, 2000

  • Litigation Basics (Speaker/Instructor), Ohio Women's Bar Association, 2001

  • Professional Ethics (Speaker/Instructor), Federal Bar Association, 2001

  • Professional Ethics (Speaker/Instructor), NBI, 2010 to 2017

  • Presenter on Ethical Issues Related to Multi-State Representation, 2000

Past Positions

  • Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, Staff Attorney, 1980 to 1988

  • Acting Judge, Shaker Hts. Municipal Court, 2004 - present

Languages

  • English

Professional Associations

  • Ohio Metropolitan Bar Association, President

  • Ohio State Bar Association Council of Delegates

  • Cuyahoga County Bar Association, President

  • Cuyahoga County Bar Association, Bar Counsel - responsible for attorney ethics prosecutions, including appearances before the Ohio Supreme Court

  • Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Member

Current Employment Position

  • Sole Practitioner

Contact Me Today to Discuss Your Case.

Reach me at my Beachwood office by calling 216-771-7080 or click the Get Started button below.