Hon. Brendan J. Sheehan Elected Administrative and Presiding Judge
Cleveland: Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Brendan J. Sheehan has been elected by the four divisions of the Common Pleas Court to act as Presiding Judge for two years.
In October, Judge Sheehan was elected the General Division’s 2020-2021 Administrative Judge during the monthly meeting of the Court’s judges. He was then named Presiding Judge of all four Common Pleas divisions (General, Probate, Domestic Relations, and Juvenile) at the combined Common Pleas Judge’s meeting on Wednesday, December 11.
Judge Sheehan begins his two-year term in January, taking over from Judge John J. Russo, who did not seek re-election after six years as Administrative and Presiding Judge.
The Administrative Judge is responsible for overseeing Court operations, appointing committees, presiding over the Court’s docket, and speaking about Court policy. As Presiding Judge, Judge Sheehan will speak for all four divisions in matters of shared concern.
Judge Sheehan has been on the Common Pleas Court Bench since January 2009. He received his law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1994 and earned a Master's in Judicial Studies from the University of Reno, Nevada, in 2013. Prior to assuming the bench, Judge Sheehan practiced as a civil and criminal litigator for 14 years.
Judge Sheehan is currently the chair of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judicial Case Flow Committee. He is also an appointee to the Ohio Supreme Court Committees on Professionalism and Ohio Jury Instruction. Judge Sheehan is a trustee for the Ohio Common Pleas Judges’ Association and a former trustee of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. Judge Sheehan was recently sworn-in to a two-year term as the as 4th vice-chair of Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association.
He also presides over the Court’s Violence Intervention Program (VIP), a pilot program designed to change thinking when it comes to the potential use of guns.