Judge Linda Teodosio to speak at School of Law graduation ceremony

Summit County Juvenile Court Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio will be the keynote speaker at the 2019 Commencement of The University of Akron School of Law on Sunday, May 19, at 2:00 p.m. at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall. This year's ceremony marks the law school's 95th commencement.

"We are honored to have Judge Linda Teodosio speak to our graduates and their families at the 2019 commencement as the students embark upon their legal careers,” said Christopher J. (C.J.) Peters, dean of the law school. “She offers a wonderful example of a lawyer who has advanced through different roles in the justice system on her way to becoming an esteemed judge, all the while devoting her time and talent to more than 50 professional, civic and volunteer organizations, most often in a leadership role.”

A native of Canton, Teodosio is a graduate of The University of Akron (B.A.) and the University’s School of Law (J.D.), where she met her husband, Tom, now a judge in the Ninth District Court of Appeals. She began her legal career at Nukes and Perantinides Co., later going into solo practice after the birth of her two children, one of whom, Christopher Teodosio (Akron Law ’12), is now a practicing attorney. She served as a staff attorney for the 9th District Court of Appeals and then became a magistrate in Akron Municipal Court. She was elected judge in the Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court in 1997 before being elected to the juvenile division of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas bench in 2002, where she continues to serve.

Progressive approach

Teodosio has received local, statewide and national recognition for her innovative programming and progressive approach to juvenile dispositions and rehabilitation. The common thread woven through these programs is her penchant for integrating mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse issues, and bringing community collaborators to the table to help shape and implement evidence-based programs.

She has received the MacArthur Foundation’s “Champion for Change” Award for her work in the Models for Change Mental Health Juvenile Justice Action Network, as well as the prestigious Award for Innovation from the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation. She received a fellowship in the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute’s Center for Juvenile Justice Reform and was member of Columbia University’s National Advisory Commission on Substance Abuse at America’s High Schools.

Teodosio has been honored by both the Ohio Juvenile Court Judges and Magistrate’s associations with their Judicial and Distinguished Services Awards, respectively. She was named Ohio’s Public Official of the Year by the state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, and she was named an Outstanding Alumna of the University of Akron’s School of Law in 2007. In 2016, she was honored by the Diocese of Cleveland with the St. Thomas More Award in recognition of the virtues of integrity and public service that reflect those of Thomas More, the 15th-16th century English lawyer, Roman Catholic saint, and noted Renaissance humanist. In 2016 she received the Chief Justice Thomas Moyer Award for judicial excellence from the Ohio State Bar Association.

Teodosio has been president of the Akron Bar Association (ABA), president of the Board of Governors for the Akron Bar Foundation, president of The University of Akron School of Law Alumni Association, and a member of the Criminal Justice Advisory Board and the Summit County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board. She has been a member of the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) for more than 30 years and served on its Board of Governors.

Last September, the ABA Board of Trustees endorsed her candidacy for the position of OSBA President-Elect. She is seeking election to serve as a three-year term beginning July 1, 2019 as president-elect, president, and immediate past-president. Results of the contested election will be announced in May.