Judge Denise Martin Cross

CLEO 1975

“CLEO significantly impacted my legal career by providing the jump start needed to prepare me for law school. I am the first member of my family to attend law school (my younger brother is now an attorney and I have a daughter planning to attend law school.) I had no idea what to expect, and as great as my undergraduate program was, it did not prepare me for the rigors of law school, CLEO did! CLEO helped me learn to ‘think like a lawyer.’

I was raised by my father who was a preacher and my mother who was a nurse, both helping professions that taught me to look for the ‘good’ in everyone. Lawyers are taught to help people by looking for the potential ‘bad’ in every situation. To ward off any potential problem by preparing an ironclad contract with every conceivable ‘foreseeable situation.’

Fortunately, CLEO got me prepared to think like a lawyer without me losing myself in the process. I have enjoyed a wonderful legal career. With CLEO as a guide, I have always made myself available to students at every level to help them learn more about the legal profession and to help them navigate the system to join this illustrious profession.

I am truly thankful for the guidance CLEO provided me and countless other attorneys. CLEO helped us all to know there is definitely a place or everyone in the legal profession, some of us just need a jump start. Thanks for all you do!”

Judge Denise Martin Cross, the Administrative Judge of the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in Ohio, has been on the bench since being elected in the fall of 2000. She is currently serving her third term as a judge. She is a proud alum of the 1975 class of CLEO in Madison, WS. During her 36 years as an attorney, she has been in private practice, was an Assistant Public Defender, an Assistant Prosecutor, and served as a Legal Administrator prior to taking the bench.