Michael J. Newman

Hon. Michael J. Newman is a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Ohio. His chambers are in Dayton, Ohio. He was appointed to this position in July 2011.^[1]

Early life and education

Newman grew up in Hightstown, New Jersey. While in high school, he attended the American Legion's Boys State and was elected a Senator. He received an undergraduate degree from New York University before graduating with honors from the Washington College of Law at American University. Newman has also attended the Advanced Mediation Program at Harvard Law School.^[2]

Professional career

After graduating from law school, Newman served as a law clerk for Judge Jack Sherman, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and then for Judge Nathaniel R. Jones of the Sixth Circuit United States Court of Appeals.^[1]

Newman worked in private practice before joining the federal judiciary. He was a partner at the Cincinnati law firm Dinsmore & Shohl and practiced in the areas of labor & employment, business litigation, ERISA litigation, and appellate litigation.^[1] While at Dinsmore, Newman represented a diverse group of clients that ranged from individuals to Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, Newman chaired the firm’s Labor & Employment Appellate Practice Group, created a pro bono appellate program through which firm attorneys argued civil rights and criminal appeals cases in the Sixth Circuit, and served on the firm’s diversity committee. Newman’s work at Dinsmore & Shohl earned him recognition as a Leading Lawyer, an Ohio Super Lawyer, and one of the Best Lawyers in America in Labor & Employment Law.^[1]

Judicial career

On July 25, 2011, Newman was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, with chambers at Dayton.^[1] Newman is frequently called upon to mediate complex civil disputes, and has a high settlement rate. Lawyers often consent to his jurisdiction, and he has a large number of published opinions.^[3]

From 2013-2014, Newman chaired the Federal Bar Association’s national Magistrate Judge Task Force, which was responsible for the special issue of The Federal Lawyer devoted to Magistrate Judges and the FBA’s White Paper on the history and role of Magistrate Judges. Newman wrote the introduction to the White Paper. Newman was recognized thereafter by the Federal Magistrate Judges Association for “valuable and dedicated service to all Magistrate Judges” in the United States.^[4]

After becoming a Federal Magistrate Judge, Newman led the effort to create the first Federal Veterans Treatment Court in the Southern District of Ohio, and has served as its presiding judge since the fall of 2015.^[4] More than fifty veterans have graduated from the Treatment Court, which assists veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, mental health issues, and substance abuse concerns. He is also active in the Federal Re-Entry Court in Dayton, run by the United States District Court, and is involved in other local second-chance initiatives for restored citizens.

Involvement with the Federal Bar Association

For over twenty years, Newman has worked extensively with the Federal Bar Association (“FBA”), an organization with membership of over 19,000 attorneys (including over 1,500 federal judges) which serves as the premier bar association serving federal practitioners and the federal judiciary. He served as president of both the organization’s Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and Dayton chapters. During his tenure as president in Dayton, the chapter was one of two chapters nationally to be recognized as an FBA Chapter of the Year. Newman has also held many national elected positions within the FBA – including Sixth Circuit Vice President, member of the national Board of Directors, and national Treasurer. Finally, Newman was elected to serve as the FBA’s national president from 2016-2017.^[1]

As national FBA president, Newman created and presided over a national program, Civics & Service to Others. The program had multiple components: (1) implementing a national civics initiative in conjunction with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; (2) taking the SOLACE program (a volunteer effort seeking to help those in the legal community with dire needs) to a national audience; and (3) engaging in multiple, national efforts to help others (including legal assistance to veterans, updating the Magistrate Judge White Paper, encouraging mentoring and the undertaking of pro bono work, focusing on diversity & inclusion, and creating an Access to Justice Task Force, among other acts). He also led the effort to create a Special Committee on Diversity and an Appellate Courts Task Force. Thousands of young people have met with a Federal Judge, in a classroom or courtroom, as a result of the FBA’s civics initiative he started. Additionally, as part of the civics initiative, more than twenty civics teachers were honored nationally; the FBA began a civics collaboration with the National Constitution Center, I-Civics, and the Civics Renewal Network; and the FBA created a nationwide civics essay contest for middle and high school students.^[4]

Newman has remained active in the FBA following his term as the organization’s national president. In 2017, following the end of his presidential term, Newman was named the FBA’s first Judicial Ambassador for Civics. That same year, Newman, along with Judge Curtis Collier (E.D. Tenn.), was appointed by the Hon. R. Guy Cole, Chief Judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, as co-Chair of the Sixth Circuit’s newly-created, circuit-wide civics initiative, Connections: You, Your Courts, Your Democracy.^[1]

In 2007, the FBA presented Newman with an Outstanding Service and Recognition Award – for Leadership within the Sixth Circuit and Nationwide. In 2010, he received the Boots Fisher National Public Service Award, given annually to one lawyer in the United States for “exemplary community, public, and charitable service.” In 2014, Newman was presented with an FBA President’s Award for “leadership [as well as] extraordinary service and guidance.”^[1]

Other Honors and Activities

Newman has extensive writing and editing experience and has been published regularly. In the late 1990s, Newman co-edited The Bench-Bar Handbook, a leading guide to federal practice and judicial procedures in the Southern District of Ohio. The book’s successful publication, and its distribution to pro se litigants throughout the Southern District of Ohio, led to the Shaw Award for public service. Moreover, for many years, Newman co-authored a monthly column on labor and employment law for The Federal Lawyer magazine, and also served as the magazine’s Judicial Profiles Editor. Further, Newman is on the Editorial Board of the Federal Courts Law Review. Finally, Newman has authored more than fifty articles or columns published in The Federal Lawyer magazine and other bar association publications.^{[5] [6]}

In addition to his involvement with the Federal Bar Association, Newman has been an active member of local bar associations. He served as Board Secretary for the Cincinnati Bar Association Board of Trustees, Chair of the Dayton Bar Association’s Federal Practice Committee, and chair of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Federal Courts & Practice Committee. In the latter role, Newman served in 2011 as Statewide Chair of the Federal Court/Ohio State Bar Association’s Sixth Biennial Federal Bench-Bar Conference for the Northern & Southern Districts of Ohio. For his leadership and service to these organizations, as well as his accomplishments as a lawyer and judge, Newman has been named a Fellow by the Ohio State Bar Foundation, the American Bar Foundation, the Dayton Bar Association Foundation, and the Federal Bar Association Foundation (Life Fellow).^[4]

Newman has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. To this end, Newman served as secretary of Roundtable, a joint effort by the Cincinnati Bar Association and the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati (“BLAC”), with the purpose of fostering opportunities for minority law students and lawyers. Newman, along with several others, also helped to create a scholarship for minority students who want to pursue a career in public service, and was honored by BLAC for that effort in 2004. Newman serves on the Ohio Board of Directors of the Law & Leadership Institute ("LLI"), an organization which encourages minority high school students to attend college and law school. He has also been honored by the Summer Work Experience in Law ("SWEL") program for his “significant commitment” to assisting minority students. Newman currently is a co-creator and organizer of the Dayton Diversity and Inclusion Roundtable.

Both before and after his appointment to the federal judiciary, Newman has been involved in a wide array of community activities and efforts to mentor young people. Newman was a mentor in the Ohio Supreme Court’s Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring Program. Further, Newman has engaged in a variety of volunteer work – including service as a Big Brother for many years, volunteering for the Red Cross, chairing the Friends of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and serving on the Board of Directors for Cincinnati Public Radio. Newman currently serves on the board of the Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project, and has been named a Master in Dayton’s Carl D. Kessler Inn of Court as well as Cincinnati’s Potter Stewart Inn of Court. Finally, Newman has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Dayton School of Law, the University of Cincinnati College of Law, and the Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. Courses Newman has taught include Interviewing, Counseling, & Negotiation and Federal Courts.^[1]

Personal Life

Newman and his wife, Rachel, have triplet daughters, now in elementary school.^[1]

Notes and References

Further reading

• http://www.ohsd.uscourts.gov/bionewman