CONTACT: Ken Brown – 800-282-6556 or 614-487-4426 (cell phone: 614-746-2457)
Columbus, Ohio (Friday, May 15, 2009) – The Ohio State Bar Association’s (OSBA) Legal Education Committee has named Judge Jeffrey E. Froelich as the recipient of the 2009 OSBA Friend of Legal Education Award. This award is given to the bar member who has contributed most to legal education. The award announcement comes during the OSBA Annual Meeting in Cleveland.
Judge Froelich served on the General Division of the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court for 14 years and is currently on the bench of the Second District Court of Appeals. While on the common pleas bench, Judge Froelich was instrumental in establishing the drug court as well as the court’s victim-offender restorative justice programs.
Prior to common pleas court, Judge Froelich served on the county court for 16 years, as an assistant county prosecutor and was in private practice. From 1976 to 1980, he was an assistant professor of law at the University of Dayton Law School and was the first director of its clinical law department. Since 1996, Judge Froelich has been an adjunct professor at the university, teaching mostly in the criminal procedure area. Many of his classes involve real-world experiences, including inmate panels at local penal institutions.
Of his current involvement with legal education, Froelich said, “It’s invigorating. Not only does it help you to stay absolutely current on the law and to profess the benefits of a logical, fact-based approach to problems and the impact of the law on human beings, but it is an opportunity to learn from the students—the people who will be shaping the law for our children and grandchildren.”
Judge Froelich is a past president of the Dayton Bar Association and makes frequent presentations to the bar, schools, community organizations and at the Ohio Judicial College. He has judged innumerable moot court and mock trial competitions at the law school and has had the opportunity to have several of his former students argue actual cases before his court.
In nominating Judge Froelich, Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Katherine Huffman wrote, “My experience observing him interacting with attorneys, litigants, families, students and the community has led me to the conclusion that there is no finer example of an individual dedicated to selfless service to others.”
Judge Froelich is a graduate of Miami University and the University of Michigan Law School. He is active in the community, and has served on the boards of the Family Service Association, DayMont Mental Health Center, A Special Wish Foundation, Legal Aid Society and the Miami Valley Alzheimer’s Association.
The Ohio State Bar Association, founded in 1880, is a voluntary association representing approximately 25,000 members of the bench and bar of Ohio as well as nearly 4,000 legal assistants and law students. Through its activities and the activities of its related organizations, the OSBA serves both its members and the public by promoting the highest standards in the practice of law and the administration of justice
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EDITORS AND NEWS DIRECTORS PLEASE NOTE: Click here for photo of Judge Froelich.