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New justice brings wide variety of experience to state’s highest court
KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News
Published: April 20, 2017
The impression one gets of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Patrick Fischer - before his two terms as an Ohio appellate judge and before joining the highest court in the state - is that of a lawyer's lawyer.
An honors graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College and a clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge William Bertelsman, Fisher joined the corporate law firm Keating Muething & Klekamp in 1987.
Four years later, he was named a partner in the firm's trial department.
Fischer represented plaintiffs and defendants while working as an attorney, allowing him to recognize the importance of seeing and listening to both sides of an issue.
He also developed a keen sense of the importance of properly applying the law in each case.
As an attorney, he served two terms on the Ohio Supreme Court's Commission on Professionalism, including serving as vice chair. He also chaired the Cincinnati Bar Association's ethics and professional responsibility and professionalism committees.
Recognizing Fischer's abilities, the late Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer named him to co-chair a task force that made the Ohio judicial system more efficient and just.
Fischer was elected by his peers to serve as president of the Cincinnati Bar Association from 2006 to 2007 and subsequently served as president of the Ohio State Bar Association from 2012 to 2013, while seated on the First District Court of Appeals.
He previously had served on the state bar's Board of Governors, chaired its budget and headquarters committee and served on numerous committees, task forces, and its House of Delegates.
The justice recently completed a second tenure on the board of the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program and he continues to serve on the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission, and is vice chair of its committee on the judicial branch.
A dedicated public servant, Fischer has served on numerous local boards, including Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, Visions Community Services Board, St. Ursula Villa, and the Pleasant Ridge Community Council.
He is a founding member of the Cincinnati Children's Museum and served on its board. A St. Xavier High School alumnus, Fischer is an active, long-time member of St. Xavier Catholic Church in downtown Cincinnati, serving as both a Lector and Eucharistic Minister.
Fischer resides in Cincinnati with his wife Jane and their dog. They have a grown daughter, who is married and practicing law in Ohio.
He became the 157th Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio Jan. 1. His term expires Dec. 31, 2022.
A biography published by the Ohio Supreme Court was used to supplement this story.
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