Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody Stewart ’88 offered some words of advice to Cleveland State University Cleveland-Marshall College of Law student Hailey Hillsman and her soon-to-be husband Derek Kuhlman.
CSU Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Adjunct ProfessorKimberly Kendall Corral ’12, a Senior Associate Attorney with Patituce & Associates, LLC., knows what it takes to translate a CSU C|M|LAW education into a successful legal practice and advocate for criminal justice.
CSU C|M|LAW alumnus Thomas Scanlon '63, an inaugural member of our Hall of Fame, has been a staple of the Cleveland legal, Irish-American, and greater Cleveland community during his 57 years practicing law. Honoring his work with each of those communities, Scanlon was named Grand Marshal of the 2020 Cleveland St.
Little did Alumnus Kevin Butler '01 know that his Cleveland-Marshall roots go even deeper than he had imagined. What follows is a truly remarkable story of legacy and love.
Kevin entered a legacy at the law school when he enrolled at Cleveland-Marshall more than 20 years ago. His father Dennis ’69 was a C|M|LAW graduate and his older sister, Gerri ’98, was already attending the College as a night student.
In 2015, Elizabeth Bonham received the Dean’s Learn Law. Live Justice. Award for not only being academically successful in learning law, but for also living justice by being committed to making clients’ lives better and our communities stronger.
Four years after graduation, she continues to embody the motto “Learn Law. Live Justice.”
CMLAA Alumni of the Year recipient Judge John J. Russo ’92 comes from a large, close-knit family where he was one of nine children. Having learned the importance of hard work, giving back family from their parents, all nine siblings went on to unique career paths, with John choosing a career in law. After 12 years in private practice as a civil and criminal litigator, he was elected to the Court of Common Pleas Bench in 2005.
Without Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, CMLAA Alumni of the Year recipient Teresa Metcalf Beasley ’92 would not have been able to attend law school. The University of Alabama graduate and East Cleveland native had returned to her hometown to work but was looking for a profession that would challenge her.
Michael Donnelly '92 loved his 14 years as a Judge on the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court and believed he would one day retire from that position having protected justice in the local community. That was until the opportunity arose for Justice Donnelly to run for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court.
Cleveland attorney and business leader P. Kelly Tompkins has made a $750,000 gift to his alma mater, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University, to establish a substantive leadership education program for law students.
Second straight bar exam in which College leads state
Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law had the highest passage rate for first-time takers of the July Ohio Bar Exam. The school’s passage rate was 93%, well above the state average of 79%.
This is the second consecutive Ohio Bar Exam in which C|M|LAW had the top passage rate, following its 82 percent pass rate for the February 2018 exam.
CNN Legal Analyst Avery Friedman, a C|M|LAW alumnus, Hall of Fame member, and adjunct law professor, and Michael Borden, associate dean of CSU’s Cleveland Marshall College of Law, will be honored for their devotion to legal ethics and professional development in the Great Room of the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, October 20.
The Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Civil Litigation Clinic secured an important victory with the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in early October, reversing a lower court decision and reviving a Cuban immigrant's claim to vacate his sentence.
THE HONORABLE JOHN J. RUSSO is the Administrative and Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Ohio in Cuyahoga County, which serves the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area. It is home to 1.2 million people (2010 census). Judge Russo has been unanimously elected by his colleagues to lead the Court every year since November 2013.
TERESA METCALF BEASLEY’S practice focuses on public finance, real estate development and financing, and economic development incentives. Teresa has represented private entities and local and county government relations, including municipalities, school boards, port authorities, healthcare entities and library systems on various legal and legislative matters.
Civic engagement with Cleveland is second nature to Sunny Nixon ’11. Growing up in Dover, Ohio, 90 minutes south of Cleveland, she first fell in love with the "The Forest City” when her dad brought her family to Cleveland to attend the annual convention for the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association. Nixon recalls being mesmerized by the impressive malls and lakefront that define Cleveland’s downtown.
Rebecca Bennett ’98, a shareholder in the esteemed law firm of Olgetree Deakins, was recently featured in Attorney at Law magazine as the Attorney of the Month.
Ulmer & Berne LLP Partner Joshua A. Klarfeld, was named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under Hot List 2018.” This marks the second year in a row that Klarfeld was included on this elite list, which honors top young litigators in the United States and Canada.
National trial and litigation firm Kaufman & Company, LLC named Robin Wilson '96 as a Partner in the firm’s Cleveland office. Wilson was formerly Chief Trial Counsel, leading the Cuyahoga County’s Executive Litigation Group in complex civil matters.
CSU C|M|LAW alumnus Thomas Scanlon '63, an inaugural member of our Hall of Fame, has been a staple of the Cleveland legal, Irish-American, and greater Cleveland community during his 57 years practicing law. Honoring his work with each of those communities, Scanlon was named 
Little did Alumnus Kevin Butler '01 know that his Cleveland-Marshall roots go even deeper than he had imagined. What follows is a truly remarkable story of legacy and love.
CMLAA Alumni of the Year recipient Judge John J. Russo ’92 comes from a large, close-knit family where he was one of nine children. Having learned the importance of hard work, giving back family from their parents, all nine siblings went on to unique career paths, with John choosing a career in law. After 12 years in private practice as a civil and criminal litigator, he was elected to the Court of Common Pleas Bench in 2005.
CNN Legal Analyst Avery Friedman, a C|M|LAW alumnus, Hall of Fame member, and adjunct law professor, and Michael Borden, associate dean of CSU’s Cleveland Marshall College of Law, will be honored for their devotion to legal ethics and professional development in the Great Room of the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, October 20.
The Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Civil Litigation Clinic secured an important victory with the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in early October, reversing a lower court decision and reviving a Cuban immigrant's claim to vacate his sentence. 
THE HONORABLE JOHN J. RUSSO is the Administrative and Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Ohio in Cuyahoga County, which serves the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area. It is home to 1.2 million people (2010 census). Judge Russo has been unanimously elected by his colleagues to lead the Court every year since November 2013.
TERESA METCALF BEASLEY’S practice focuses on public finance, real estate development and financing, and economic development incentives. Teresa has represented private entities and local and county government relations, including municipalities, school boards, port authorities, healthcare entities and library systems on various legal and legislative matters.
Civic engagement with Cleveland is second nature to Sunny Nixon ’11. Growing up in Dover, Ohio, 90 minutes south of Cleveland, she first fell in love with the "The Forest City” when her dad brought her family to Cleveland to attend the annual convention for the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association. Nixon recalls being mesmerized by the impressive malls and lakefront that define Cleveland’s downtown.
