Two former Ohio Supreme Court Justices, both of whom are Cleveland State University College of Law graduates and members of the school’s Hall of Fame, Michael P. Donnelly ’91 and Melody J. Stewart ’88, have been appointed as the law school latest Leaders-in-Residence.
“We are very fortunate to welcome Justice Donnelly and Justice Stewart to this role where they can share their vast expertise with our students and faculty,” said CSU|LAW Dean Lee Fisher. “Both have maintained active roles within our law school community throughout their time on the bench and our law school is extremely lucky to call upon their experience having just serve the highest court in our state.”
CSU|LAW’s Leader-in-Residence program, founded in 2017 by Dean Fisher, is designed to closely connect students, staff and faculty with volunteer community leaders from whom they can learn and benefit.
Justice Stewart became the first Black woman to serve on the Ohio Supreme Court in 2019. Prior to that, she served three terms on the Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals. Justice Stewart has previously worked at CSU|LAW in various capacities—as a lecturer, adjunct instructor, assistant dean and full-time faculty member. She also taught at the University of Toledo College of Law and Ursuline College and was director of student services at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. She earned her doctorate as a Mandel Leadership Fellow at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at CWRU.
“In my legal career, second to the amount of time I've spent in the judiciary is the time I've spent working in legal education,” said Justice Stewart. “I've had the pleasure of working in administration and teaching, and have worked at three of Ohio's nine law schools. So having the opportunity to be involved with legal education again is a pleasant return for me.”
Justice Stewart describes returning to CSU|LAW as a full-circle moment and is excited to connect with the current students and faculty to add real time and practical educational components to the students' learning experiences.
Justice Donnelly began serving on the Ohio Supreme Court in 2019. Prior to his tenure on the state’s highest court, he served for 14 years as a trial court judge on the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, General Division, including seven years on the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Court. Earlier in his career, he worked as an assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor and later practiced civil litigation, representing both defendants and plaintiffs in a variety of matters including personal injury, asbestos litigation, and workers' compensation claims.
“I feel a great debt of gratitude to CSU|LAW and my educational experience here for allowing me to forge my legal career,” said Justice Donnelly. “Our law school’s alumni were always there for me when I was a law student, and I want to continue to pay that back.”
As an Ohio Supreme Court Justice, Donnelly spoke at every law school in the state of Ohio and served as a guest lecturer at CSU|LAW multiple times in several courses. His talks frequently focused on the topics of plea-bargaining reform, sentencing reform and increasing public confidence in the judicial system.
“I find the prospect of influencing the next generation of law students appealing,” explained Justice Donnelly. “I stand ready to join arms with the CSU|LAW community and student body to make sure we uphold the foundational principles of our country.”
Justice Donnelly will also serve as an adjunct professor, teaching a new course he developed, “Power and the American Judicial System.” Through the lens of his real-world experience, the course will examine how power is exercised—sometimes responsibly, sometimes abusively—by key stakeholders within the justice system: judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement, and policymakers. The course will analyze the justice system’s structural vulnerabilities, persistent inequities, and long-standing norms that often go unquestioned.
Justice Donnelly has also developed an Ohio Court Watch Program which will be offered as a pop-up practicum which he will supervise. This student-run initiative will train law students to observe, analyze, and report on judicial proceedings across Ohio. Students will function as investigative legal journalists, gaining firsthand exposure to trial and appellate court processes, while shining a light on judicial behavior, systemic inefficiencies, and the protection of constitutional rights. The program will maintain a public-facing database tracking claims of innocence, including information on pending post-conviction cases, case status, and judicial actors. Justice Donnelly believes this database will be a valuable resource for Journalists, scholars, lawyers and hopefully will incentivize the courts to expedite cases that otherwise may languish in the justice system.