Susan spent 32 years as an attorney with the Ohio Disability Rights Law and Policy Center, the state of Ohio’s federally designated Protection and Advocacy Agency for people with disabilities. Susan advocated for the special rights of children. She was instrumental in convincing the State Department of Education to issues rules restricting the use of restraint and seclusion in Ohio’s schools. Susan was lead counsel in state-wide class action in seeking adequate and equitable funding of special education services to support students in the least restrictive setting, regardless of the wealth of the school district. She also successfully litigated on behalf of children with autism so that they could receive critical behavioral health services through Medicaid and settled a state-wide lawsuit filed on behalf of voters with disabilities who needed accommodations in the voting process. Susan was involved in a number of institutional conditions and community integration matters and also, worked on a number of legislative and policy matters during her career. She served as Chief Legal Counsel in her final years at Disability Rights Ohio.
In 2013, Susan became Vice President, Assistant General Counsel- ADA for JPMorgan Chase & Co. In this role, she provided expertise and advised the business units, Compliance and ADA team on the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and other accessibility requirements. She was chair of the Central Ohio regional pro bono committee and a member of the global pro bono and legal diversity committees at JPMorgan Chase.
In 2010, Susan was awarded the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law’s Public Service Award. In 2014, she received the Diane Lipton Award for Outstanding Advocacy from the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA). In 2015, she accepted an award from the Legal Aid Society of Columbus in behalf of JPMorgan Chase for outstanding pro bono service by a law firm or corporation. In 2016, she received the Excellence in Public Service Award from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Public Interest Law Foundation.
Susan holds a J.D. from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a B.A. from Kenyon College where she graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa.
Bar Admissions
- Supreme Court of Ohio, November 1981
- US District Court, Northern District of Ohio, November 1981
- US District Court, Southern District of Ohio, January 1982
- US Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, February​ 1988
- US Supreme Court, January 1991