Candidates
Candidate Profiles
Hon. Jessica G. D'Varga
Candidate for:
Franklin County Municipal Court
Undergraduate Education:
University of Dayton, BA in History, 2002
Legal Education:
The Ohio State University Mortiz College of Law, JD, 2005
Legal Experience:
Franklin County Municipal Court, Columbus, Ohio
Judge, General Division, January 2020
Saia & Piatt, Inc., Columbus, Ohio
Associate Attorney, March 2010-December 2019
- Represent privately retained and court appointed clients charged with traffic, misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses across the State.
- Participate in all aspects of client's criminal and/or traffic case, including arraignment, pretrial, motion hearing, and trial and draft all pleadings and pretrial motions.
- Conduct extensive research for and draft Appellate Briefs on behalf of clients and participate in Appellate oral arguments in various counties.
- Plan, organize, market, and speak at Continuing Legal Education seminars across the State.
Associate Attorney, February 2007-March 2010
- Participate in all aspects of labor and employment litigation and consumer law practice: interview clients, research legal issues and draft legal memoranda; draft discovery requests and responses; prepare for and participate in deposition taking and defense.
- Develop trial preparation and mediation strategies, negotiate settlement terms and draft settlement and release agreements.
- Draft pleadings, motions, responsive memoranda, and legal briefs in Federal and State Court, including the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals, and the Ohio Supreme Court.
Law Clerk, August 2003-October 2005
Associate Attorney, November 2005-January 2007
- Conducted automobile dealership compliance audits and responded to client queries regarding the same.
- Drafted lease and sale agreements, motor vehicle dealer agreements, general release and settlement agreements, and all other legal documents as requested by clients.
- Monitored legislative activity affecting the automotive industry and drafted regulatory and legislative summaries and updates for the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association; drafted Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communication Commission comments on proposed rules and regulations.
Candidate Statement:
(In response to the question, "Please explain why you believe you are qualified for the judicial position for which you are seeking election.")
Serving Franklin County as a Municipal Court Judge for the last six years and as the Administrative and Presiding for the past two years, has been the honor of my lifetime. Every day I have an opportunity to work with the public and our local bar to help effectuate justice and ensure that our court is operating in the most efficient, effective, and transparent way possible.
In 2022, I took over the court's Recovery Court Specialized Docket, which is focused on polysubstance drug and alcohol abuse. I am also part of our drug court diversion program which gives those with F4 and F5 drug offenses the opportunity to have their cases vacated and dismissed if they complete educational programming and sober support meetings.
Between 2021 and 2022, I created Unleashing Potential (UP), a diversion docket for emerging adults between the ages of 18-24 that assists those young people in reaching specific goals to reduce recidivism. That docket is now thriving and we just received funding for an additional two years.
I ran on a promise that my goal was to get on the bench and help those who need it most, and leading Recovery Court and UP has truly helped me do just that. At the end of the day, our community is only as strong as those who need us most. I continue to be committed to ensuring that our community is safe, our system is efficient, and that we are focused on restorative rather than punitive justice. Of course, when necessary, our judges must protect the community by fashioning appropriate jail and community control sanctions for the individuals who violate the law. My number one priority is balancing these important interests in a fair and impartial way.
Running Against:
(unopposed)