Page 84 - ACTL_Sum23
P. 84
Enter Kathleen. She took on the jurisdictional issue of whether the federal courts had the authority to enjoin the State’s on-going investigation of the teacher’s termination under its civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination and retaliation. The State prevailed at the district court level, but lost at the 6th Circuit, which declared the Ohio Civil Rights Law unconstitutional as applied to a religiously affil- iated school. Just six years after finishing law school, Kath- leen headed straight to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kathleen was terrified up until the minute she got to the podium. And then there was just something about the set- ting – “it’s such an intimate conversation, maybe history overtakes you.” Buzz said Kathleen was scared to death, nearly pet- rified, because the issues were so import- ant and here she was carrying the load on behalf of the State of Ohio. But an American Lawyer Courtly Manners arti- cle about the argument a month later de- scribed her as “poised and confident as she strode to the podium.” That appar- ent poise and confidence and her legal arguments carried the day, and she won the case, 9 to 0. See Ohio Civil Rights Comm’n v. Dayton Christian Schools, Inc., 477 U.S. 619 (1986). She remembers the Ohio Attorney General sending her a bouquet of flowers after the argument, a “really nice” thing to do. It was also during her stint at the Attor- ney General’s office that Kathleen fortu- itously was asked to represent the State of Ohio in a case involving the collapse of seventy savings and loan institutions in Ohio, which resulted from one of the institutions having been the victim of a huge government securities fraud. Des- tiny again came calling. Ohio’s Superin- tendent of Savings and Loans was sepa- rately represented by Robert W. Trafford. It was Buzz and Kathleen’s shared re- sponsibility to sue those responsible and get the institutions re-opened (Buzz) and to defend the State itself from nu- merous counterclaims (Kathleen), a process that took three to four years. The State eventually recovered hundreds of millions of dollars, and Kathleen and Buzz “got to know one another” in the course of the prolonged litigation. After the litigation ended, Buzz finally asked Kathleen on a formal date, plan- ning dinner and a movie one Friday night. She agreed and walked from her office at the Attorney General’s to Buzz’ office about six that evening. “Typ- ical of our marriage,” he says, something happened in one of his cases that day, and he continued to work until 11 p.m. Kathleen waited for him in the library while he drafted emergency documents, and instead of a real dinner, they ended up at a White Castle, the only place downtown that was still open. Why then was there a second date? Kathleen said she was “pretty smitten.” “He’s quite a fellow. I grew to respect and admire him so much when we were working together on the savings and loan litigation.” Neither remembers what or when the second date happened, but they were engaged in October 1988, about the time Kathleen decided it was time to leave the Attorney Gener- al’s office for private practice. She interviewed at three firms, but Buzz and Kathleen ultimately decided it would be easier to be at the same firm so they wouldn’t have to worry about competition or the attorney client privilege. Buzz says he was attracted to Kathleen because he had watched the way she worked and interacted with others. She was obviously very capable and they shared a lot of common interests, values and politics. Both loved what they were doing. They agree it has been remarkable to be able to work together. Kathleen adds it is “nice to work with your best friend, your spouse, and your partner, as you can bounce ideas off each other and also fully understand what the other is doing.” And at the end of the day, they could walk down the hall and ask: what are we doing for dinner, and who’s going to cook? She says he is the better cook, but she is faster. It has always been an equal partnership, in every way. As for Buzz’ intense work habits, Kathleen says it continues today. She already knew his habits from having observed his work ethic in the savings and loan cases, and she knew that as long as there was something in his brain he was worried about, that was all he would think about. The two recently planned a month-long vacation in Florida, although Buzz warned Kathleen he might have to spend “some time” working while there. She was fine with that in prin- ciple, but nevertheless was disappointed when the first thing Buzz did upon arrival in Florida was to head to Walmart to buy a table so that he could rear- range one of the spare bedrooms into an office. He spent the month, from 8 to 5 daily, working in his Florida office, while Kathleen enjoyed the beach. 83 JOURNAL