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An arresting career
Lynne Callahan’s unusual path from cop to 9th District judge

TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter

Published: April 28, 2017

Lynne S. Callahan gives new meaning to the term multi-tasker.

While studying at The University of Akron School of Law, she had her first two children.

“I had my babies in law school on purpose because I thought it would be easier than doing it once I started work,” she said with a laugh. “Most people read their babies nursery rhymes. Mine got put to sleep by Constitutional law!”

But Callahan hasn’t missed a beat balancing motherhood and her legal career.

On Feb. 13, she became the newest judge on the 9th District Court of Appeals, replacing retired appellate Judge Beth Whitmore.

The 59-year-old Akron resident previously served as a Summit County Common Pleas Court judge since 2009.

While there, she participated in the Summit County Common Pleas Court Re-entry Court Program. Under the program, judges refer eligible offenders for judicial release, and clients are either released from custody or transferred to residential programming at Oriana House.

The re-entry program has a 69 percent success rating and is a “model” under the Ohio Supreme Court.

For 11 years, she was also a judge on Akron Municipal Court, where she helped create the Family Violence Court, a domestic violence diversion program for first time domestic violence offenders.

Family Violence Court won several state and national awards under Judge Callahan’s leadership.

“I loved municipal court,” Judge Callahan said from her new downtown Akron office. “I was happy there. You’re much more up front and personal.

“Common pleas court was much more challenging. The stakes are much higher. Sentencing a man to death was not a high point in my life. That burden is heavy.”

A lifelong Summit County resident, Judge Callahan attended Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.

She was born in Akron to an electrician father and schoolteacher mother.

The youngest of three children, the judge credits her parents with her work ethic.

“My dad came to this country at age 5 from Italy,” said the judge. “Akron is where the rubber factories were. My dad worked at Firestone for 42 years. My mom was the pusher of education.”

She majored in English and minored in sociology at

The University of Akron, where she was named “Outstanding Senior Woman.”

But Judge Callahan didn’t know what she wanted to do with her degree.

“I just knew I didn’t want to teach,” she said.

She decided to become a lawyer after a professor suggested it based on her test scores.

But that career path got put on hold after Judge Callahan decided to join the Akron Police Department after law school.

She stayed with the department for five years, first as a police officer and then as a narcotics detective.

“I loved the work,” she said. “Being a police officer gives you a better perspective as a lawyer, and I like helping people.”

After leaving the force, she became an assistant Summit County prosecutor and also worked in the private sector at Davis & Young.

She and her husband, attorney Michael Callahan, now have three children and four grandsons.

She has also taught at The University of Akron and at the Supreme Court of Ohio Judicial College.

Judge Callahan was named by Chief Justice Thomas Moyer to serve on the Ohio Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Domestic Violence and recently re-named by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor.

So far, she is enjoying her latest role on the appellate court.

“We sit Tuesdays and Thursdays. My goal right now is just to get a feel for this job,” Judge Callahan said.

Ninth District Court Administrator C. Michael Walsh called Judge Callahan’s enthusiasm for the law exciting.

“I have known (her) for many years,” Walsh said. “Her guidance and approach when I appeared before her in the Akron Municipal Court made me a better lawyer. I look forward to working with her at the 9th District Court of Appeals and helping her to achieve her goals, just as she helped me over the years.”

Ninth District Judge Thomas A. Teodosio, who also joined the appellate court recently, said he thinks Judge Callahan is an ideal addition to the five-member court.

“I think we both have a lot in common in that we’re both Italian and we bring a nice perspective as former common pleas trial court judges,” Judge Teodosio said. “She’s very outgoing, very easy to talk to and very pleasant. I value her opinion. She’s a smart lawyer and a smart judge. I think she’s a good fit. She’s not going to be offended if I disagree with her, and likewise. We can have those discussions without anyone taking it personally.”


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