Some people enter the legal profession as crusaders for justice, whether on the defendant or prosecutorial side. Others find the profession interesting and stimulating, enjoying the give and take of forensic argumentation and debate.
For some, like the O’Donnell family, it’s simply in their blood.
When Terrence O’Donnell, former justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, first considered a career in law, he saw it as an avocation — an outgrowth of his passion for argumentation and debate. He never thought it would create a legal lineage that included three of his adult children, Terrence, Michael and Colleen.
“Our fourth, Nora, is also a counselor of sorts,” says O’Donnell, who retired from his position on Ohio’s Supreme Court to later join the law firm of Brouse McDowell in an “of counsel” capacity in August.
Nora, who earned her master’s degree in education from University of Dayton and master’s degree in behavioral counseling from The Ohio State University, is a licensed behavioral juvenile counselor with Cristo Rey in Columbus.
The other three O’Donnells have embarked on impressive legal careers. O’Donnell’s namesake, Terrence, leads Dickinson Wright’s (a Columbus-based law firm) firmwide government relations team, with a focus on public policy advocacy at the Ohio statehouse, administrative law and regulatory compliance.
“Terrence went to St. Ignatius High School and spent his junior year as a page in the Congress of the U.S.,” says the elder O’Donnell, a graduate of St. Edward in Lakewood who admits the two sit on opposite sides of the field when those two rivals play football. “I think that is where he got the flare for how the legislature operated.”
A second son, Michael, who played football for John Carroll University, began working the summer before he headed to law school at Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, graduating summa cum laude. Today, he is a partner in Brouse McDowell, at one time heading up the firm’s litigation practice group, which includes a variety of complex litigation for sophisticated corporate clients, covering areas such as product liability, contract disputes, premises liability, trade secrets and real estate. He has been at the firm for 17 years.
Daughter and Judge Colleen O’Donnell was appointed by Gov. John Kasich to the Franklin County Common Pleas Court in May 2013, winning her retention to the court in November 2014 and again in 2016, most recently running unopposed for another full term. Since taking the bench, Colleen has presided over all manner of civil and criminal cases and conducted numerous jury trials.
“So they have all done their own individual sides of the law, and they have all made me quite proud of what they have done,” says O’Donnell. “But, I am equally proud of Nora. In some ways, her job may be the most difficult.”
While O’Donnell is understandably proud of his family and his marriage to wife Mary Beth, he also recognizes that he has been blessed to have had such a storied legal career.
O’Donnell served on the Supreme Court of Ohio from 2003 through 2018 and is one of Ohio’s longest-serving justices. During his time on the court, he led statewide efforts to promote integrity and professionalism in law, leading to the creation of the nationally recognized Lawyer to Lawyer Mentoring Program. Justice O’Donnell also served on the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for 14 years and the 8th District Court of Appeals for eight years. He previously practiced law at Marshman, Snyder & Corrigan in Cleveland.
Justice O’Donnell was a founding member and past president of the Legal Eagles, a law fraternity for alumni of St. Edward High School in Lakewood. He also was a member of the Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellows class of 2005, past member of the board of trustees of Magnificat High School and serves on the board of trustees of the Lawyers Guild of the Diocese of Cleveland, among other civic and professional accomplishments.
“I have been blessed by God,” says O’Donnell. “I’ve had a wonderful family and career and been blessed to have some great mentors.”