ChanceryClubEvent

What professional benefits of active involvement in the bar association would you point to in trying to convince a skeptic to either join or more meaningfully engage with the DBA?

I am not certain how an attorney can fully embrace the practice of law without the support, both professionally and personally, that is provided by membership in a bar association. The opportunity for professional development through continuing education but also networking with others in the same profession to provide for growth in an attorney’s career, or assistance in navigating the demands of being an attorney cannot be overstated.

Education seems to be a theme in your career: you have taught at the University of Dayton School of Law and for the Ohio Judicial College (among other institutions), as well as earned a Master of Arts in Judicial Studies in 2015. In what ways have your teaching and study have prepared you for your new role on the court of appeals? How do you envision using your new position to teach further?

I loved practicing law and connecting with clients. A judge really loses the opportunity to make that connection, and so teaching, for me, has been a way to continue making connections. I have so enjoyed having the opportunity to be a professional colleague of former students and to experience them practicing their craft. The academic aspect of the law inherent in appellate work certainly “appeals” to me. I intend to continue teaching, at least for a few years.

What is your judicial philosophy? How do you think through cases, and in what ways do you think that will change or remain the same as you shift from the trial court to the appellate bench?

Since my experience, up until [February 8, 2023], was in the trial court, my practice in deciding a case there was to first read all of the memorandums or briefs, review the testimony, and then start crafting a decision. Often, I begin writing a decision with one conclusion in mind from what I had reviewed and read, but as I write, the end result changes. I think an important judicial philosophy is to keep an open mind before ultimately reaching a conclusion.

You seem to keep fairly busy with professional and civic obligations. To the extent you have "spare time," how are you most likely to use it?

I have a big family, including grandchildren, and spending time with them is the most important thing to me. My husband and I are huge sports fans, so you can find us at a Flyers game, or cheering on our favorite teams (the Bengals, the Buckeyes, and of course the Flyers). Just about the only thing that is ever on the television in our house is some sporting event. We love to travel and are often planning our next trip. Right now we are finalizing a trip to Amsterdam and London for late spring.

The Honorable Judge Ronald C. Lewis

Judge Ronald C. Lewis was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeals by Governor Mike DeWine and sworn in on January 20, 2022. He was recently elected to his first full six-year term on the court, beginning February 10, 2023. Judge Lewis is the first judge on the court of appeals from Greene County since Judge Herman J. Weber, in 1985. Nathaniel Fouch recently sat down to interview Judge Lewis. The interview has been edited for clarity.

It has been a little over a year since you were sworn in as a judge of the Second District Court of Appeals following your appointment by Governor DeWine. What has surprised you most during that time?

I think my biggest surprise—and the most pleasant surprise—is the collegiality between the judges. Everybody here works exceptionally well together. I think the constituents of the Second District are extremely well-represented by the folks they have selected to represent them. When I first started, [recently retired] Judge Mary Donovan told me the informal mantra of the court: "it's okay to disagree, but it's not okay to be disagreeable." Everybody really seems to live by that code here, so I would say that's been my most pleasant surprise. Whenever you have five judges working together, from an outside perspective, you never really know exactly what to expect. But everybody works exceptionally well together here.

How did your experience as a judge of the Xenia Municipal Court prepare you for your judicial service on the court of appeals?

It's a very different culture, and very different pace. I was a prosecutor for about 19 years before I was elected municipal court judge, so I was kind of used to that pace. I probably averaged 14,000 cases a year for 19 years before I went on the bench. So the pace is incredibly different. You can certainly be a lot more deliberative at the court of appeals than on a municipal bench. You have a lot more time to think about your decisions. That said, I will say that my experience on the municipal bench certainly gave me a broad perspective of the law. Municipal court is kind of what

I call "the people's court": you get everything from a speeding violation to a very serious domestic violence case, and everything in between. So you get to hear a lot of different types of cases and become knowledgeable in a lot of different areas of the law, which certainly has helped me in this endeavor.

What is your judicial philosophy? How do you think through cases?

I'm an originalist so I believe it's a judge's responsibility to interpret the law, not to create it. I may not necessarily agree with the law that I have to apply, but it's not my job to change it. That's the job of the legislature. That's my philosophy. The way I approach cases is first by reading the appellant's brief. Then I read the appellee's brief and any supplemental briefs that may have been submitted. I then go back to the record, and go through it to answer any questions I may have. After what I've read that "third arm of the story," so to speak, the last thing I do is to go and do whatever research is needed as far as the law is concerned, for any questions I may have. After I've done that research, looked at the record, and read the briefs, then I formulate where I'm going to fall in the case.

What do you consider the most important opinion you have authored during your time on the court of appeals and why?

That's a difficult question, because I think they're all important. The reason I say that is that for most individuals, we are the court of last resort.

There are so few cases that go to the Ohio Supreme Court. Realistically speaking, we are the last stop for most people and for them, the most important case that's here is their case. So I think they're all important. The ones that give me pause are permanent custody cases, because essentially, it's the death penalty of parenthood. I take this very seriously and I think they need to be reviewed very closely. Also anytime anybody's liberty is restricted, I think those cases need very close attention—not that they don't all need close attention, but those are the two weightiest types of cases we hear.

You began your career as a judicial law clerk to Justice Alice Robie Resnick of the Ohio Supreme Court. How did that experience spark your interest in appellate law?

I was fortunate to work with Justice Resnick and through that experience, I became very fascinated by the whole appellate process and how it works, and I've always been interested in it ever since. Those decisions and the mental process that was necessary to formulate those decisions and the impact that they have, particularly at the supreme court level, and really, on any level—it doesn't matter if you're a municipal judge, common pleas judge, appellate judge, or supreme court justice—all of your decisions have profound impacts on the people that are in front of you. One of the cases that I worked on during my time there was a case that involved zoning, for Yankee Trace, and ordinarily, zoning might not be the most interesting case to work on, but since I was familiar with the area and knew the impact that the case was ultimately going to have, it really kind of hit home as to how your decisions have a direct impact on your community. Once you realize that everything you do has a distinct impact on a broad community—sometimes much broader than just the folks involved in the case—it really makes you stop and think. It's easy to conceptualize the law, but it's a lot more difficult when you personalize the law.

What experience with appeals did you have as the Xenia City Law Director and prosecutor?

The overwhelming majority of appeals I was involved in were criminal in nature. So I did a gamut over the years of criminal appeals. I was fortunate to have worked with some very competent judges, so I learned a lot from them. Their decisions weren't appealed often (maybe some more than others), but I did learn how to draft an appeal and evaluate the law for an appeal through that process.

Your family has deep roots in Greene County. In what ways does your perspective as a Greene Countian adds value to the Montgomery County-centric Second District?

First of all, I think that the six counties that make up the Second District are all unique. They all have their own character, and they all have their own unique communities. But ultimately, I think that those six counties have more in common than they do differences, and I think they share a common core set of values, whether you're from rural Darke County or downtown Dayton, from eastern Greene County or Bellbrook, from the suburbs or a farm. I was fortunate to grow up on a family farm, and still live on that farm. So I do think some of those things are in the back of my mind sometimes, but ultimately the law applies equally and should apply equally to everybody in that district, no matter where you live. That said, I do think growing up on a small farm in eastern Greene County definitely has an impact on the way I evaluate things, especially as opposed to if I grew up in a different environment.

You have a long history of community, civic, and professional involvement. How would you describe the value of those experiences to young attorneys or other attorneys wary of taking on additional obligations?

I think as an attorney we have responsibilities to serve not just our clients but also our community and to be community leaders. And it only helps our profession to be seen helping others in the community. Selfishly, it helps you in your practice, because you can better serve your clients as you become aware of the services available in the community, and you might even help create new services. So while it does take part of your most precious commodity—your time—it is always time well spent to serve your community and to make sure that the services and organizations that you think are important thrive, because they do not thrive unless you get involved.

To the extent you have "spare time," how are you most likely to use it?

I became a grandparent approximately one month ago, and for the past month that has consumed all of my spare time and I think it will probably consume a lot of my spare time in the near future! It is something that I have enjoyed immensely and I'm very fortunate that my daughter, son-in-law, and now my grandson live very close to us. So I get to spend a lot of time with them, which is time well spent.