October CBA Report

This section features current news and events of interest to the local legal community. News items may be submitted to communications@cincybar.org. legal community news Congratulations to the 2018 John L. M uething Lifetime Achievement in Law Award Winners KATHLEEN BRINKMAN Throughout her career, Kathy Brinkman has not only devoted herself to becoming an exemplary attorney, she has devoted herself to service through mentorship, pro bono work, advocacy, and community engagement. Brinkman received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Edgecliff College and her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. She spent 24 years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. Her prosecution specialties were complex white-collar and other major economic crimes, public corruption, and envi- ronmental crimes. Brinkman joined the Cincinnati office of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur in 2007 as a white-collar defense attorney. She represents victims and witnesses, corporations and individuals who face investigation or charges by federal authori- ties and those whose property the government seeks to forfeit. She has recently defended clients in environmental, public corruption, gambling and fraud investigations and prosecutions. Brinkman has served as a steering committee member and teacher in the Cincinnati Bar Association Trial Advocacy Insti- tute, a week-long trial training for attorneys taught by experienced lawyers. A retired adjunct professor, she taught trial practice at the University of Cincinnati College of Law and Business Law at Xavier University. She is the author of Federal Criminal Proce- dure Litigation Manual and a co-author of Sixth Circuit Practice Manual. She has served the CBA on a number of committees and by speaking in CLE presentations. She has used her legal skills in a variety of ways to provide greater access to legal services for indigent people. She serves on the board of the Friends to the Indigent, a local nonprofit created by criminal defense lawyers that funds trial training for public defenders and lawyers who accept appointments to represent indigent defendants. She was a member of the Hamilton County Public Defender Task Force and serves as a Commissioner on the Hamilton County Public Defender Commission. Brinkman is currently the secretary of the board of the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP), housed at the UC College of Law, which works tirelessly to free wrongfully convicted innocent Ohio pris- oners. She has provided innovative leadership in many ways for OIP including developing the Law Firm and Corporate Friends of OIP that has raised more than $225,000 in three years. Brinkman is an exceptional person both as a professional and as a volunteer. She is passionate about human dignity and rights and making our community more just and more inclu- sive. She gives her time, advocacy, and financial support to many causes close to her heart. She has lead the boards of the Holo- caust & Humanity Center, opening at Cincinnati Union Terminal on January 27, 2019, and Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio, which she now represents on the Board of the statewide Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio doing political action. She is active politically and serves on the Hamilton County Democratic Party Judicial Candidate Committee for which she recruits and person- ally supports excellent judicial candidates. To multiply her own activism to support women candidates, Brinkman created the “Troops” network of more than 200 women who share her dedication to support outstanding women candi- dates in greater Cincinnati and statewide. Brinkman regularly emails the Troops with opportunities for action, like events to meet and support women candidates and ways to speak up on issues. Brinkman’s work as a lawyer and volunteer has led to several well-deserved honors. She was recognized by the Ohio State Bar Association in 2005 with the Nettie Cronise Lutes Award, which is given to a single Ohio attorney who has improved the legal profes- sion through her own high level of professionalism and who has opened doors for other women and girls. In 2011, the Cincin- nati Bar Association named her the John P. Kiely Professionalism Award winner, as a trial lawyer possessing outstanding trial skills and demonstrating the highest degree of professionalism, civility and ethical standards. In 2015, she received the UC College of Law Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She is deeply passionate about many things that make our community better for all, things that help individuals to live their best lives and contribute to the community. One of her greatest contributions to the profession may be that, in all her work in service to others, she uses her legal training and experience and is a role model and mentor to countless young people who are considering law as a career or are lawyers now. Congratulations to Kathy Brinkman, a 2018 John L. Muething Lifetime Achieve- ment in Law award winner. JAMES LACEY O’CONNELL James Lacey O’Connell was familiar with the legal profession from an early age. The son of James Eversfield O’Connell, later a Judge of Ohio’s First District Court of Appeals, and Mertie May Lacey O’Connell, he graduated www.CincyBar.org October 2018 CBA REPORT l 31