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Statewide bar foundation names new president and board members

Columbus, OH (Jan. 20, 2011) — The Ohio State Bar Foundation (OSBF) anticipates a productive year as Heather G. Sowald (Sowald, Sowald, Anderson & Hawley in Columbus) takes the helm as board president. 

A longtime supporter of the OSBF, Sowald will lead an accomplished group of 20 legal professionals who are committed to promoting public understanding of the law and improvements in the justice system.

Sowald said that it is a privilege to be elected president of the OSBF Board, adding that she is “excited to continue the momentum.” As past president of the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA), the Columbus Bar Association and the Franklin County Trial Lawyers’ Association, she has years of expertise that will help her lead the OSBF to a successful 2012 year.

Sowald will work closely with the 2012 Executive Committee, including the Immediate Past President Keith A. Ashmus (Frantz Ward LLP); President-Elect and Membership Committee Chair Thomas D. Lammers (Purdy Lammers & Schiavone); Grants and Programs Committee Chair Stephen F. Tilson (Hottenroth, Garverick, Tilson & Garverick Co. LPA); Development and Marketing Committee Chair Thomas J. Bonasera (Dinsmore & Shohl LLP); Awards Committee Chair Kalpana Yalamanchili (OSBA); and Audit and Finance Committee Chair Thomas P. Moushey (Geiger Teeple Smith & Hahn LLP).


In addition to new leadership, the OSBF Board includes three new trustees: C. Lynne Day, Karyn Justice and Judge Patrick Fischer.

  

C. Lynne Day

 

Day joins the OSBF board for a three-year term. She received her B.A. degree, cum laude, from Wittenberg University and her law degree from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. After law school, she joined the Chardon firm of Peterson & Ibold.

 

Day is a member of the OSBA and current chair of its Women in the Profession Committee. She has served as president of the Geauga County Bar Association and the Geauga County Law Library Association. Day is also a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and was named an Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2005, 2006 and 2007. 

 

Karyn Justice

Justice joins the OSBF board for a three-year term. When asked about her new role, Justice replied, “I am excited to have the opportunity to inform Ohio’s lawyers about how they can get involved with the OSBF.”

Justice received her B.A. from Kent State University, summa cum laude, in 1995, and her law degree from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2000 as a Public Service Fellow. She resides in Portsmouth and runs her own firm, The Law Offices of Karyn Justice, LLC.

Justice currently serves as chair of Community Partners of Shawnee Mental Health Center, Inc., which provides grants benefiting the mentally ill in Adams, Lawrence and Scioto counties. Since 2004, she has donated her time as a legal advisor for the Sciotoville Community School (East High School) Mock Trial Team. Justice is also a member of the OSBA and the Scioto County Bar Association. 

Judge Patrick Fischer

Judge Fischer will serve his two-year term ex-officio as he will become president of the OSBA on July 1, 2012.

Judge Fischer received his B.A. from Harvard University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He currently sits on the bench for the First District Court of Appeals of Ohio.

A respected member of the legal community, Judge Fischer was elected to serve as president of the Cincinnati Bar Association for 2006/2007. He has served on the OSBA’s Board of Governors, chaired its Budget and Headquarters Committee, and served on numerous other OSBA committees and task forces. Judge Fischer also chaired the Cincinnati Bar Association's Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee, as well as its Professionalism Committee.

About the Ohio State Bar Foundation

The Ohio State Bar Foundation is a 501(c) (3) public charity that works to advance the law and build a better justice system. Through our grants and programs, we educate and perform outreach to the public to make the law fair for all Ohioans. For more information about the Ohio State Bar Foundation, please visit www.osbf.net.

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