Terrence O'Donnell, Justice
May 19, 2003 - present
With his re-election to the Supreme Court of Ohio, Justice O'Donnell brings more than 25 years of service to the state judiciary having served on the Court of Appeals and the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
He began his legal career as a law clerk to Supreme Court of Ohio Justice J.J.P. Corrigan in 1971 and then served as a law clerk for Judge John V. Corrigan and Judge John M. Manos on the 8th District Court of Appeals in Cuyahoga County, where he later served as an appellate judge for eight years and prior to that as a judge on the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas for 14 years.
Justice O'Donnell brings a wide array of related service in his position on the Supreme Court: He has served as chairman of the Cleveland Bar Association Law Related Education Committee and the Student Essay Contest. Justice O'Donnell, who is a former schoolteacher, is a founding member and past president of the Legal Eagles, a law fraternity for alums of St. Edward High School in Lakewood and he has been a regular lecturer in the annual seminar.
Justice O'Donnell also has served on the Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on Professionalism and has lectured on topics of professionalism and ethics at continuing legal education programs throughout Ohio. He also served on the Supreme Court Statistical Reporting Committee, which established standards for courts to use in reporting caseload statistics. Justice O'Donnell's efforts in implementing a statewide mentoring program for lawyers have been widely acclaimed.
Justice O'Donnell has also served as chairman of the Ohio Legal Rights Service Commission, which oversees the protection and advocacy of mentally retarded and mentally ill persons statewide. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Our Lady of the Wayside, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the needs of the mentally and physically challenged. His brother, John, is a group home resident at Fairview House, owned and serviced by Our Lady of the Wayside.
He is a past board member of Magnificat High School and the Lawyers Guild of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, and has completed his participation in the Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellows Class of 2005.
Justice O'Donnell has been honored by every school and university he has attended. St. Edward High School presented him with its Alumnus of the Year Award in 2005, Kent State University has recognized him as an outstanding Arts & Sciences graduate, and Cleveland State University has awarded him with its Distinguished Alumni Award. In addition, the University of Akron has conferred an Honorary Doctor of Law degree upon him.
Justice O'Donnell currently resides in Rocky River with his wife, Mary Beth. The couple has four adult children – Terrence, Michael, and Colleen, all of whom are attorneys; and Nora, who teaches English at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland and earned her Master's degree at the University of Dayton.
Last day of current term: Dec. 31, 2012.
