Governor Appoints New Summit County Judge

Akron attorney Tamara A. O’Brien will take the bench as a judge in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, General Division, after her appointment today by Gov. John R. Kasich. O’Brien, who takes office on April 11, 2011, must run in November 2012 in order to serve out the remainder of the unexpired term ending Jan. 1, 2015. She replaces Judge Brenda Burnham Unruh, who retired on Feb. 28, 2011 and died about two weeks later, on March 13, 2011.

O’Brien earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Akron and her juris doctor from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University. She has been admitted to practice law in Ohio, the U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Since 2000, O’Brien has been a partner at Roderick Linton Belfance, LLP in Akron. Prior to joining this firm, she was an associate attorney at the Akron firm of Scanlon & Gearinger Co., LPA, as well as a judicial clerk and staff attorney for the Ninth Appellate District Court of Appeals and an adjunct law professor at the University of Akron’s School of Law.

O’Brien is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Akron Bar Association and the Ohio Women’s Bar Association, and was recognized as a “Super Lawyer/Rising Star” in Cincinnati Magazine’s 2005/2006 list of top lawyers in Ohio under 40. O’Brien is active in her community, currently serving on the Board of Trustees for the Summit County Chapter of the American Red Cross. She also is a past Board of Trustees member for H.M. Housing, Inc.’s Multi-State Low Income Housing Program.