Episode 234 with Judge Michael Newman

United States Magistrate Judge and Federal Bar Association’s Judicial Ambassador for Civics and former national president. The Honorable Michael J. Newman is a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Ohio, former national president of the Federal Bar Association and continues his FBA involvement as the Judicial Ambassador for Civics. The FBA has more than 20,000 members and
is the pre-eminent bar association for lawyers and judges in the Federal Courts. For 2016-17, the FBA is focusing on Civics and Service to Others. To that end, Judge Newman is leading the FBA’s national initiatives regarding civics education, the SOLACE program, legal assistance to veterans, and access to justice.

Judge Newman has a long history of community activities and giving back to others. In 2010, he was honored to receive the Boots Fisher Public Service Award, given annually to one lawyer in the United States for “exemplary community, public and charitable service.” Such involvement continues; in 2014, Judge Newman was instrumental in creating a lawyer referral program for military personnel at Wright Patterson Air Force Base - to assist them in finding affordable counsel. He now presides over the first Federal Veterans Court in the Southern District of Ohio and is an active participant in Reentry Court and the Restored Citizens Project, two Federal Court efforts in Dayton designed to help formerly incarcerated individuals successfully return to society.

Prior to taking the bench, he was a partner in the Cincinnati office of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, where he represented both plaintiffs and defendants, and practiced in the areas of labor and employment, business litigation and appellate litigation. He chaired the firm’s Labor & Employment Appellate Practice Group, created and ran the firm’s pro bono appellate program in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and served on the firm’s Diversity Committee. He was named
a “Leading Lawyer,” an “Ohio Super Lawyer” and one of the “Best Lawyers in America in Labor & Employment Law.” After being appointed as a federal judge, Judge Newman chaired the FBA’s
national Magistrate Judge Task Force. He was recognized thereafter by the Federal Magistrate Judges Association for “valuable and dedicated service to all Magistrate Judges.” The FBA honored him in 2014 with a President’s Award for his “leadership [and] extraordinary service, commitment and guidance.”

Judge Newman attended the Advanced Mediation Program at Harvard Law School and is frequently called upon to mediate complex federal disputes. He was a mediator and arbitrator while
in private practice. Judge Newman graduated with honors from the Washington College of Law at American University, and attended New York University as an undergraduate. He and his wife, Rachel, are the proud parents of triplet daughters now in elementary school.

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