Patrick F. Fischer

Candidate Details

• Residence
  Cincinnati
• Email
  FischerForOhio@gmail.com
• Website
  fischerforohio.com
• Social Media
  facebook.com/JusticePatFischer
  twitter.com/JudgePatFischer
• Occupation
  Justice, Ohio Supreme Court, January 1, 2017-present
• Education
  

  J.D., Harvard Law School, 1983; cum laude
  A.B., Harvard College, 1980; cum laude

• Work Experience
  

  Justice Fischer’s entire adult career of nearly 40 years has been in the legal system. Before becoming a private practitioner, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable William O. Bertelsman, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 1983 to 1984. In 1987, Justice Fischer began working for the law firm of Keating Muething & Klekamp in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the trial department; four years later, he became a partner.

  On December 24, 2010, Justice Fischer was sworn in as a judge on Ohio’s First District Court of Appeals in Hamilton County. During his years on the appellate bench, Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor appointed then-Judge Fischer to hear cases on the Supreme Court of Ohio on two occasions. He also sat as a visiting judge in Ohio’s Second, Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, and Twelfth appellate district courts. On December 30, 2016, Justice Fischer was sworn in and became Ohio’s 157th Supreme Court Justice and began his term on January 1, 2017.

  Justice Fischer’s former practice was concentrated in the field of commercial and complex nationwide litigation, with some emphasis on financial services, securities, antitrust, ERISA, and related disputes. He litigated matters in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, New York, California, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Alabama, and Oklahoma, and in numerous federal courts throughout the country, including in the U.S. Supreme Court and the Second, Fifth, Sixth, and Tenth federal circuits.

  Justice Fischer formerly and frequently advised lawyers on legal ethics matters and is still a regular speaker on lawyer ethics and professionalism.

• Family
  Married with one adult daughter
• Affiliations
  

  The late Chief Justice of Ohio, Thomas J. Moyer, named then lawyer Fischer to co-chair the Task Force on Commercial Dockets, a committee which has made the Ohio judicial system more efficient and just, as well as helping to support economic development in the state. Justice Fischer has always had a deep and abiding interest in ethics and professionalism matters and served two terms on the Ohio Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism, including serving as Vice Chair. Justice Fischer, as an attorney, also chaired the Cincinnati Bar Association’s Ethics and Professional Responsibility, and its Professionalism, committees.

  A respected member of the legal community, Justice Fischer was elected by his peers to serve as President of the Ohio State Bar Association for 2012-2013, and then served as Immediate Past President. He chaired its Transition and Search Committee, which oversaw the nomination of the OSBA’s current executive director. He served on the OSBA’s Board of Governors, chaired its Budget and Headquarters Committee, and was a member of its Audit committee and its Task Forces on: Legal Education, Judicial Selection, OSBA-Ohio State Bar Foundation Relations, Masters at the Bar, and Organizational Structure. He was a long-time member of its Advisory Council on Diversity Initiatives. In 2014, Justice Fischer chaired the OSBA’s Special Committee on the OSBA Calendar. He also is a past president of the Cincinnati Bar Association (2006-2007) and chaired many Cincinnati Bar Association committees.

  Justice Fischer served on Ohio’s Constitutional Modernization Commission, including its Judicial Branch and Administration of Justice committee as vice-chair, and as a member of its Coordinating committee and Bill of Rights committee. He also served, on two occasions, on the board of the Ohio Lawyers’ Assistance Program.

  In his free time, Justice Fischer has been a dedicated public servant who served on numerous local boards (a license plate even reads: “2 Serv U”) including the Hamilton County Mental Health & Recovery Services Board, and as a founding Trustee of the Cincinnati Children’s Museum Board. Justice Fischer and his wife Jane still live in Pleasant Ridge where he served as President of the Pleasant Ridge Community Council. He is an active member of St. Xavier Catholic Church in downtown Cincinnati, serving as a Eucharistic minister and Lector.

• Endorsements
  

  Ohio Chamber of Commerce

  Ohio Business Roundtable

  NFIB

  Ohio Farm Bureau

  Fraternal Order of Police Ohio

  Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association

  Buckeye Firearms

  Toledo Chamber of Commerce

  Teamsters Ohio

  Ohio Manufacturers Association

  Ohio Right to Life

  A1S4 Protection PAC

  Local 18 of the International Union of Operating Engineers

  Cleveland Area Middle East Organization

  Ohio State Medical Association