Second District Choose Ronald Lewis hears his first Supreme Court docket instances.
Second District Choose Ronald Lewis hears his first Supreme Court docket instances.
Second District Court docket of Appeals Judge Ronald C. Lewis has been delving into authorized points for 30 years. His first responsibility as an lawyer was serving to the household enterprise his grandfather began in excavation.
“I started working in ditches once I was 13,” mentioned Choose Lewis. “Quite a lot of the initiatives developed water and sewer traces by municipal and state contracts. Early on, I noticed how a lot enforcement there was with the constructing codes and legal guidelines. I was all the time fascinated how these authorized interpretations affected the enterprise.”
Choose Lewis recommended companies and households as a personal lawyer. He represented varied purchasers together with people, municipalities, and businesses on an area, county, and state degree. His work mixed prosecution, protection, and appeals instances. He turned the legislation director in Xenia and metropolis prosecutor representing 15 completely different legislation enforcement businesses.
“All these duties elevated my understanding and expertise as an lawyer as a result of who and what you’re defending varies. As an advocate of individuals, we should present that we care and are working to assist somebody by a authorized problem. When representing a neighborhood or company, we glance to the legislation for accountability,” mentioned Choose Lewis.
He took that perspective to the bench, first as a Xenia municipal decide and in January 2022, he was appointed to serve on the Second District Court of Appeals.
Choose Lewis lately heard his first oral arguments as an assigned decide on the Supreme Court of Ohio. He sat for Justice Joseph T. Deters, who recused. The Ohio Structure provides the chief justice authority to pick an appellate decide to sit down for a Supreme Court docket case when there’s a justice recusal.
His task included three instances. The primary case, State v. FirstEnergy Corp., Randazzo, et al., examined if the state correctly seized the property of the previous public utilities fee chair. The second case, Disciplinary Counsel v. Hunter, includes a former decide who was convicted of a felony and is difficult a proposed indefinite suspension from the apply of legislation. And the third case, State v. Toran, examines whether or not an officer’s search of a truck after a visitors cease was constitutional.
Choose Lewis sifted by case information, examined authorized claims, and requested questions throughout oral arguments to unearth extra particulars. It’s an intensive course of that Choose Lewis acknowledged is required to use the legislation and ship a call.
Understanding the arguments of the opposing events generally is a problem, Choose Lewis famous. He mentioned he presses the attorneys for extra data in order that he can totally grasp their positions.
“That’s why you retain digging,” he mentioned.
Choose Lewis emphasised the importance of the instances coming earlier than the Supreme Court docket, and the significance of the Court docket’s choices.
“You’re ready to supply order and accountability for everybody within the state” mentioned Choose Lewis.
