Articles - Sharon L. Kennedy

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon L. Kennedy recently spoke to attorneys interested in appellate law during a continuing legal education course presented by Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease, LLP and the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

The Appellate Strategies and Perspectives CLE is a three-part series created to provide Ohio attorneys with the tools they need to achieve success and avoid pitfalls during an appeals process.

Justice Kennedy gave her perspective as a justice on those issues during the third series on November 7, beginning with best practice strategies for having the court grant a discretionary appeal.

"All of the justices come at the question differently," she remarked during the program. "But we're all answering the question of whether it presents a matter of public or great general interest pursuant to the Ohio Constitution, Article 4, Section 2(B)(2)(e)."

She challenged the attorneys to look at their case with fresh eyes.

"Since your case has already been through the appellate system, the issue is no longer whether the appellate court erred," she said.

In drafting the proposition of law to present to the court, she advised them to answer this question: "What is the law you want us to write?"

"When you begin looking at your case from that perspective, you'll know whether it's a matter of public or great general interest, and you'll put forth the framework of how to answer or settle the law for all of Ohio."

Justice Kennedy is serving her first term on the Supreme Court of Ohio. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Justice Kennedy served on the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division from 1999 to 2012. Justice Kennedy served as the administrative judge there from 2005 until December 2012. Justice Kennedy began her career in the justice system as a police officer in Hamilton, Ohio. She received her law degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law.