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A graduate of Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio, Susan Fornof-Lippencott has served the citizens of Ohio’s Champaign County as a Municipal Court Judge since 1996.
Beginning college at 27, then a single mother with a 9-year-old son, Judge Susan Fornof-Lippencott of Ohio’s Champaign County Municipal Court enrolled at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where she balanced a full course load each quarter with her maternal responsibilities in order to obtain her degree. After graduating, Susan Fornof-Lippencott accepted a Business Administrator position at the Mercy McAuley Center in Urbana, Ohio, and later at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB). While at WPAFB, Susan Fornof-Lippencott enrolled in law school, starting as a night student at Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio, Susan Fornof-Lippencott graduated with her Juris Doctor in 1988 and passed the Ohio Bar Examination on her first try. After several years in the legal field, Susan Fornof-Lippencott ascended to the position of Judge for the Champaign County Municipal Court in 1996. As a judge in a court responsible for around 10,000 cases a year, Susan Fornof-Lippencott presides over legal matters such as small claims suits, trusteeships, civil suits, and traffic offenses. One of Susan Fornof-Lippencott’s most notable achievements since taking the bench was developing a Probation Department without expense to the local government or the taxpayers. Susan Fornof-Lippencott also holds responsibility for swearing in elected officials, such as mayors and city council members, and performing weddings. Active in the Ohio legal community, Susan Fornof-Lippencott belongs to the Champaign County Bar Association, Ohio Municipal Judges Association, and the Ohio State Bar Association. Supporting her locality, Susan Fornof-Lippencott volunteers with the local 4-H club, lectures at schools, and performs pro bono work for the Mechanicsburg Area High School Alumni Association. She has also performed charity work for the Cancer Association of Champaign County, once serving as a celebrity waitress for a fundraiser. A member of the Champaign County Arts Council, Susan Fornof-Lippencott also occupies her time with gardening, pottery, sewing, and other crafts.
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The United States Court System, Susan Lippencott's Blog on Bigsight
March, 2011
An accomplished legal professional with more than 20 years of experience, Susan Fornof-Lippencott currently serves as a Judge in the Champaign County Municipal Court in Urbana, Ohio. The court system in the United States consists of two tracks. Every state in the union has its own network of courts, which functions independently from those of other states and the federal court system. On the other hand, the federal court system addresses mostly cases that involve federal law.
A majority of state cases begin in local trial courts, which function under the jurisdiction of the state. These courts decide more than 95 percent of the court cases heard in the nation and range from petty offenses such as traffic violations to the more serious felonies. Less formal trial courts, which handle minor offenses, rely on a single judge and rarely use a jury. Family courts, which address issues of child custody, divorce, and estate disputes, are also part of the state level. Appeals at the state level must go through all available state appellate courts before entering the federal court system. This is a very rare occurrence, however, as fewer than 200,000 of 88 million total cases in 1990 were appealed at the next level.
At the bottom of the federal court system are the district courts, which make rulings according to precedents established by the U.S. Supreme Court. Appeals from both state appellate courts and federal district courts make their way to federal courts of appeal. These courts, presided over by panels of three judges, do not use a jury or witnesses and base their decisions solely on a review of lower court rulings. The United States currently maintains 13 general appeals courts, each of which serves a “circuit” of three to nine states. Appeals from federal courts of appeal go directly to the Supreme Court, which hears between 100 and 150 cases per year, out of about 7,000 applicants. The Supreme Court also considers appeals from special courts such as the Court of Military Appeals, Court of Claims, and Court of International Trade.
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