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Stow attorney recertified as an OSBA specialist
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: February 16, 2017
When a potential client wants to find out if an attorney is an expert in his or her field, the person may look to see if the lawyer has been certified as a specialist by the Ohio State Bar Association or another agency charged with issuing such an accreditation.
Ohio State Bar Association President Ron Kopp said certification is a good way for lawyers “to distinguish themselves and to help clients better understand their qualifications.”
Kopp, administrative partner at Roetzel & Andress, said it also “helps attorneys strengthen their practice skills in a particular area of the law.”
According to Melissa Quick, manager of continuing legal education certification and specialization at the OSBA, there are nearly 700 lawyers in the state certified as specialists, including 27 newly certified attorneys that were added in 2017.
Longtime Stow attorney Ron Alexander is among eight lawyers across the state to be recognized as a specialist in administrative agency law. In his case, he was recertified as a specialist in the area for a six-year period that began Jan. 1, 2017.
“I spend about a third of my time practicing in this area,” said Alexander.
“Administrative agencies are very unique to our country. They have some of the same powers as all three branches of our government.
“They have the power to write and adopt legislation, they can conduct adjudicatory hearings and issue orders.”
Born in Piqua, Ohio, Alexander received his bachelor’s degree in history and his juris doctor from The Ohio State University.
He immersed himself in the area of administrative law shortly after his 1971 graduation from The Ohio State University College of Law.
Alexander began his career by serving as the Ohio Legislative Service Commission’s counsel to the financial institutions committees of the Ohio Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives. He drafted legislation and prepared a legislative analysis for each bill that was assigned to those committees.
After working for the legislature for one session, he accepted a 12-month resident fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Study of Financial Institutions, moving to Philadelphia. He later earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in securities law from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
In 1973, Alexander began teaching at The University of Akron School of Law. He taught administrative law as well as courses like corporations law.
“I think I fell in love with administrative law when I was a professor,” said Alexander, who lives in Stow with his wife Janice and has three adult children and seven grandchildren.
He took a leave of absence in 1974 to serve as superintendent of Ohio’s Division of Building and Loan Associations, the agency that regulated the state’s 315 Ohio-chartered savings and loans.
He returned to Akron Law in 1975 and remained on the faculty until 1984.
Prior to becoming a solo practitioner in Stow in 1993, he was a partner and served as of counsel at two different northeast Ohio firms, where he focused on administrative law.
Alexander serves as a hearing officer for several Ohio agencies, including the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio Casino Control Commission, the Ohio Division of Securities and other agencies within the Ohio Department of Commerce.
Since 1976 he has conducted the Ohio Department of Education’s adjudicatory hearings involving disputes that arise under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
“The parents who have children with disabilities are often not aware that they have rights under the federal IDEA and state statutes,” said Alexander. “Prior to the early 1970s children with disabilities were sometimes not allowed to attend public schools. Now children are not only entitled to attend but they must receive special education and other services to allow them to receive a ‘meaningful’ education.
“The hearings I preside over involve disputes between parents and school districts over education and related services,” said Alexander. “It is my job to serve as an impartial hearing officer. My decisions can then be appealed in Ohio or federal courts.”
Alexander said he first sought certification from the OSBA as an administrative agency law specialist in 2010.
“I did so because I enjoy the challenge posed by the certification exam,” said Alexander.
Quick said the bar association is one of four agencies accredited by the Ohio Supreme Court to certify attorneys as specialists in Ohio.
“We certify 11 of the 18 designated specialty areas,” said Quick. “Once attorneys are certified they receive a logo that they can put on their letterhead and business cards or on their webpage to market their credential.”
The process begins when an attorney files an application.
“There are four areas in which attorneys must satisfy requirements,” she said. “Generally speaking, at least 25 percent of the attorney’s practice must be in the specialty area. For some specialties the requirement is higher.”
The lawyer must also take an additional 36 hours of CLE in the specialty during the three years prior to certification. The courses must be intermediate to advanced in nature.
“The applicant also has to submit to peer review, have professional liability coverage of not less than $500,000 (per loss) and be in good standing with the Supreme Court of Ohio or any court in which he/she is licensed to practice,” said Quick.
An OSBA specialty board reviews the application and determines whether the lawyer meets the requirements, Quick said. If approved, the attorney must pass a comprehensive written exam that is given once a year. In 2017 the exam will be given on Nov. 10.
An attorney who is seeking recertification is not required to take the exam, she said. The lawyer still has to file an application and is mandated to complete 12 hours of requisite specialty CLE per year.
“Certifications last for four to six years depending on the specialty,” said Quick.
Alexander’s six-year recertification expires Dec. 31, 2022.
“Once you are a certified specialist you have the opportunity to discuss administrative law issues with other attorneys who share your appreciation of this complex area of the law,” said Alexander.
“I would encourage all attorneys who enjoy administrative law to join the OSBA’s administrative law committee and attend our quarterly meetings and annual administrative law seminar,” said Alexander, past chairman of the OSBA’s administrative law committee and current program planner for the committee’s annual seminar.
This year’s seventh annual administrative law seminar will be held in Columbus on Friday, Sept. 8. For more information about the seminar go to ohiobar.org.