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Yvette McGee Brown receives OSBA Women Lawyers’ Award

Published: May 4, 2016

COLUMBUS––Yvette McGee Brown of Gahanna has been selected as the 2016 recipient of the Ohio State Bar Association’s (OSBA) Nettie Cronise Lutes Award. McGee Brown received the award last week during the OSBA’s All-Ohio Legal Forum in Cincinnati.

The Nettie Cronise Lutes Award, named for the first woman to practice law in Ohio, was created by the OSBA Women in the Profession Section to recognize women lawyers who have “improved the legal profession through their own high level of professionalism and who have opened doors for other women and girls.”

McGee Brown is a partner with Jones Day and a former Supreme Court of Ohio justice. Her life has been punctuated by a number of important “firsts.” A first-generation college graduate, she became the first African American woman to serve on the Franklin County Common Pleas Court (where she served for nearly a decade). She was also the first African American woman to serve on the Supreme Court of Ohio.

A 1982 graduate of Ohio University with a degree in journalism and public relations, McGee Brown went on to earn her law degree in 1985 from The Ohio State University (OSU) Moritz College of Law. She has since received honorary doctorate degrees from Ohio Dominican University, Wilberforce University, Urbana University, and Central State University.

OSBA President John Holschuh Jr. said of McGee Brown, “She is not only a very strong example of how women can make a lasting impact on our profession and the public, but she is also a tireless advocate for children and their families, and has shown all of us how much it is possible for a truly dedicated lawyer to accomplish.”

As lead juvenile court judge in Franklin County, her efforts led to the creation of the Family Drug Court and the SMART Program, a truancy intervention program. She also chaired an interagency task force to improve educational outcomes for foster care children. When she retired from the common pleas bench in 2002, she led the creation of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a child abuse and family violence organization that provides healing and support for children and families.

An active community and corporate leader who has served on many boards of trustees, McGee Brown served on the board of the Law & Leadership Institute, a collaborative program among Ohio’s legal community and eight law schools that provides opportunities for underserved youth to improve academic skills and explore the law. A former chair of the United Way of Central Ohio, The OSU Alumni Association and the YWCA Board of Directors, McGee Brown was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 2008.

Her many honors include the League of Women Voters Democracy in Action Award, the Ohio University Medal of Merit, the Phillip’s Medal for Community Service, The OSU Distinguished Service Award, the Champion of Children Award from the Columbus Montessori Education Center, the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award, the Women of Color Foundation Woman of the Year, and the Girl Scout Great award. She was also recognized as an Odds Changer by the National Children’s Defense Fund.

McGee Brown is married to Tony Brown. They have three children and two grandchildren.


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