Gary J. Leppla, an out-of-state representative on The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors, has became the Ohio State Bar Association’s president-elect.
Leppla, who practices in Dayton, will take office as president of the OSBA on July 1, 2008.
As president of the Ohio State Bar Association, Leppla plans to focus on energizing participation through outreach to under-represented member groups, including promotion of the membership services available through the OSBA. Leppla also said he will aggressively engage the public and media in a dialogue concerning the nature of the work undertaken by attorneys and judges in Ohio’s system of justice.
“Troubling issues for the profession include the manner in which we select judges in Ohio, the public perception of the legal system and its professionals, and the burdens that our members labor under in their everyday practices and jobs,” he said. “The OSBA needs to continue to be proactive by engaging in the public and private debate of these issues.”
Leppla’s professional activities include active casework for the Volunteer Lawyers Project (including chairing the Campaign for Equal Justice for Legal Aid and VLP), as an initiator of the Dayton Bar Association Diversity Dialogue, as a co-founder of the Equal Opportunities Law Section of The Florida Bar, and as special counsel to the Ohio attorney general. Leppla is also a member of The Florida Bar’s Out-of-State Practitioners Division and Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section.
Leppla obtained both his undergraduate and law degrees from Ohio State University.
Leppla and his wife Patricia, a speech pathologist, reside in Germantown, Ohio, and have three adult children.
The Ohio State Bar Association, founded in 1880, is a voluntary association representing approximately 25,000 members of the bench and bar of Ohio, as well as nearly 4,000 legal assistants and law students.
— Courtesy The Florida Bar News