Join Our Speakers Bureau

The courts impact nearly every aspect of our daily lives and yet most people have little understanding of how the courts work, how judges are selected, or how we can take action to make our courts more fair and impartial. We’ve decided to create a speakers bureau with three goals in mind:

1. Explain in everyday language how our court system works in Ohio,
2. Provide a forum for members of the legal and non-legal community to exchange views about common concerns about our justice system, and
3. Motivate citizens to take action to strengthen our courts.

We will give our presentations to schools, community groups, and organizations around the state that are interested in learning more about our justice system.  Of course, to be successful, we’ll need to recruit speakers with varying levels of familiarity with the courts. That’s where you come in!

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Curious about what a Speakers Bureau entails? Not sure you’re up for the job?

You can totally do this! We’re looking for a wide range of people to lead presentations and discussions with groups. Don’t have legal experience? No problem. We can team legal professionals with non-legal volunteers to give presentations. We will provide you with all materials you will need to become comfortable and guide you through a practice session. Training is approximately 90 minutes. We will review the basic training curriculum and leave plenty of time for questions.

What would I be asked to talk about?

Organizations may request presentations tailored to fit between 15 minutes to an hour, including a question and answer portion. Our training will get you prepared to tackle all the basics, including:

• The overall structure of the court systems in Ohio
• The difference between state and federal courts
• Which types of cases are handled in which courts
• What are the minimum qualifications for judge
• How judges are elected
• Why do we need fair and impartial courts
• What are some challenges and opportunities facing Ohio’s justice system
• What can the public do to improve our courts

Contact Camille Wimbish at camille@ohvoice.org if you have questions.