Members

About the OJARP Members

Each time there is a judicial vacancy in Ohio, five At-Large Panel Members from across the state are joined by six Regional Panel Members to form a group of eleven citizens who review applications and interview applicants before providing their top three recommendations to the Governor.

All at-large panel members are appointed by the governor for renewable two-year terms. Regional Panel Members are appointed to review one vacancy only, although they may be re-appointed should future vacancies arise in their jurisidiction.

Vacancies are alternately assigned to one of the two At-Large Panels; At-Large Panel Members of one panel may also fill in for At-Large Members of another panel when an At-Large Member can not participate in the process due to an illness, emergency or conflict concerns.

The Governor designates one At-Large Panel Member as the Panel Chair, who leads the panel’s operations to make a recommendation as to each vacancy.

Panel Members, who serve without compensation, include lawyers and non-lawyers and reflect Ohio’s diverse citizenry.

At-Large Members - "Jackson Panel"

	The Honorable Janet E. Jackson, Chair (Term Commencing January 29, 2007) Judge Jackson currently serves as President and CEO of United Way of Central Ohio. Prior to leading the United Way, Judge Jackson served for six years as Columbus City Attorney, and for nearly ten years as Franklin County Municipal Court Judge. Judge Jackson is active in the Columbus community, and currently serves on several boards including as vice chair of the Central Ohio Workforce Investment Board. Over the years she has served in leadership roles on many boards and commissions, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club, the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence. In 2001, Judge Jackson was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame.
	Meg Flack, Member (Term Commencing January 29, 2007) Flack is a member of the League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Columbus and serves as President of the board of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. In 2006, she co-authored a white paper on judicial reform for the League’s statewide imPACT Town Hall Meeting project. Flack has a long history of community volunteerism and has held leadership positions with Court Appointed Special Advocates of Franklin County (CASA), VOICES for Children and Families, and the Junior League of Columbus. She has a master’s degree in public policy and management and a doctorate degree in sociology from Ohio State University, where she was an instructor in the Department of Sociology and managed a research project in the Criminal Justice Research Center there.
	Doloris Learmonth, Member (Term Commencing January 29, 2007) Learmonth is the managing partner at Peck Shaffer and Williams LLP in Cincinnati. She is a former member of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Board of Governors and a former president of the Cincinnati Bar Association. She has served on the Ohio Supreme Court’s Citizens Committee on Judicial Campaigns, the Ohio State Bar Association’s Judicial Campaign Advertising Monitoring Committee and is a current member of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Commission on Judicial Candidates. Active in her community, Learmonth has been recognized for career achievement by the YWCA, served on the Ohio Attorney General’s Ethics and Professional Responsibility Advisory Committee, and is a trustee of the University of Cincinnati Foundation.
	Joy Malek Oldfield, Member (Term Commencing January 29, 2007) Oldfield is a partner at Hill Hardman Oldfield, LLC, in Akron, where she is engaged in plaintiff's personal injury and business litigation. She is a current member of the Board of Governors of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers and the chair of the Academy's Insurance Law Section. She has served on the Board of the Community Legal Aid Services and has made pro bono service a priority throughout her young career. Oldfield has also served on the Board of Governors for the Summit County Trial Lawyers Association and the Ohio State Bar Association's New Lawyers Section, and has lectured for the OSBA on ethics and professionalism. She is deeply involved in her community, where she is engaged in numerous charitable organizations. Proud of her Lebanese heritage, Oldfield learned early that hard work and courage can lead to success, from stories of her dad's journey into this country, unaided, at the early age of 17.
	Michael Miller, Member (Term Commencing January 22, 2009) Miller, of Hillard, is currently of counsel at the Columbus law firm of Kegler, Brown, Hill and Ritter. He previously served as the prosecuting attorney for Franklin County from 1980-1996 and Franklin County Municipal Court Judge from 1977-1980. Miller received his bachelor’s degree from the Ohio State University in 1960 and his law degree from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1963.

At-Large Members - "Bettman Panel"

	Marianna Brown Bettman, Chair (Term Commencing April 24, 2009) Bettman, of Cincinnati, replaces Judge James Ray as Chair of one of the two Ohio Judicial Appointments Recommendations Panels. Bettman has served as a professor of law at the University of Cincinnati since 1999. She had previously served as a judge for the Ohio First District Court of Appeals from 1993-1999. Bettman also writes a monthly newspaper column, Legally Speaking, which appears in the American Israelite and the Cincinnati Herald. She received a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati.
	Betty Davis, Member (Term Commencing June 6, 2007) Davis, of Warren County, served more than 20 years as a Mason city councilmember, including two years as mayor and 12 years as vice mayor. Davis received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and a law degree from Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. Davis, who is a licensed nursing home administrator, has served in private law practice and worked extensively to provide services for the mentally handicapped, developmentally disabled and geriatric population. She is currently the president of Community Concepts, Inc., and Community Options, Inc., in Mason.
	Isabel Framer, Member (Term Commencing June 6, 2007) Framer, of Summit County, is a court certified Spanish/English interpreter, translator and consultant; she has worked as an interpreter and translator in the Akron area since 1995. Framer has served the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, state and municipal courts, the Federal Public Defender’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, private law firms and legal advocacy firms. Framer currently serves on the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Advisory Committee on Interpreter Services and is the chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators. Framer was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and grew up in the United States.
	John J. Kulewicz, Member (Term Commencing June 6, 2007) Kulewicz, of Franklin County, is a partner in the law firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. Kulewicz has more than 20 years of litigation experience with an emphasis on corporate and commercial matters. His experience includes involvement in client representation on litigation matters involving contract disputes, business torts, real estate, transfer of corporate ownership and control, oil and gas and financial institutions and securities. Kulewicz received his undergraduate degree from the Ohio State University in 1976 and his law degree from Yale Law School in 1979. He is a member of the Columbus, Ohio State and American Bar Associations.
	Officer Derric D. McDonald (Term Commencing January 22, 2009) McDonald, of Dayton, has served the Dayton Police Department since 1990 and is currently a patrol officer for the 2^nd District. He previously served as a patrol officer for the Germantown Police Department. McDonald received an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Sinclair Community College in 1988

At-Large Alternate Members

Gary J. Leppla (Local Panel Member beginning in March 2007; At-Large Alternate beginning in January 2009)

Leppla, of Montgomery County, is the founder of Leppla Associates and Counselors at Law. A Board Certified Trial Lawyer, Mr. Leppla has served as President of the Ohio State Bar Association (2008-2009), President of the Dayton Bar Association (1998-1999), President of the Out-of-State Practitioners Division of The Florida Bar (1994-1995) and as President of the Dayton Bar Association Foundation (2000-2001). Mr. Leppla served three terms on the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar (1998-2000, 2003-2007) and is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the Ohio State Bar Association. Mr. Leppla further serves as Trustee of the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation, and has chaired the Campaign for Equal Justice on behalf of Legal Aid and the Volunteer Lawyers Project in Western Ohio.

Former Members (2007-2009)

	The Honorable James Ray, Chair (June 2007 - April 2009) Ray, of Lucas County, served as the administrative judge of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, in Toledo from 1989 until retiring in March 2007. He previously served as a referee in the court from 1976-1988 and as the chief referee from 1987-1988. Ray also served in private practice and as a Lutheran Parish Pastor for 10 years. Ray received his bachelor’s degree from Saint Olaf College, his master’s in divinity from Lutheran Theological Seminary in Minnesota, and his law degree from the University of Toledo. Ray is a past president of the Ohio Association of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and is vice-chairman of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council in Lucas County.
	Charles “Rocky” Saxbe, Member (January 2007 - November 2008) Saxbe is a senior partner in the Columbus law firm of Chester, Willcox and Saxbe, LLP. A former Ohio state representative and nominee for Ohio Attorney General, Saxbe also has more than 30 years experience as a civil litigator. While serving as principal special counsel for the State of Ohio in the “national tobacco litigation,” he helped negotiate Ohio’s receipt of a record-setting $10 billion settlement. Saxbe is a recipient of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award.
	Janica Pierce, Member (June 2007 - October 2008) Pierce, of Franklin County, is an associate in the law firm of Chester Willcox and Saxbe LLP, with a concentration in the areas of civil trial and appellate litigation. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee in 1999 and her law degree from Ohio State University in 2002. Pierce received the Franklin County Trial Lawyers Association President’s Award in 2005 and was listed as an “Ohio Rising Star” in 2005 and 2006 by Law & Politics. She is a member of the Ohio State Bar and Columbus Bar Associations, the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.