About Me

Originally from outside of Pittsburgh, PA. I was always a pretty active child and was involved in a wide variety of activities while in high school. I joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard the Summer between my Junior and Senior years of high school, which I stayed in until after I graduated from college.

The Army National Guard was certainly a good growing experience for me. I was a Human Resources Specialist for the vast majority of my time, and I switched to a Field Artillery Cannon Crewmember my last year enlisted.

I attended Clarion University of Pennsylvania for my undergraduate degree (now Pennsylvania Western University- Clarion). This was probably the beginning of my interest in the law. Once again, I was very active all throughout my time in college. I participated in Kappa Kappa Psi, Phi Mu Alpha, marching band, orchestra, Eagle Media Productions (where I hosted my own TV game show, the news, and my own radio show), and founded the Student Veterans Association. I didn’t just keep busy with activities, I also always had a job. My favorite had to be a work study in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs office on campus. I obtained a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations, Advertising, and Corporate Communications with minors in Political Science and Speech Communication. I also obtained a certificate in Advanced Paralegal Studies which helped give me background in the law before going to law school.

From there, my legal career really got its start. I moved to Jackson, MS with my fiancée and our dog and attended Mississippi College: School of Law. Despite all the negative media law school as a whole gets, I actually enjoyed it. I made sure to take classes in a wide variety of courses so that I could get as good of an understanding in order to better prepare myself to be a good lawyer. I was pretty active in the International Law Society, ACLU, Mississippi Defense Lawyer’s Association, and Phi Delta Phi International Legal Honors Society. I held jobs in a few different areas of the law in order to better solidify my understanding of those areas, including personal injury, capital post-conviction relief, education law, and immigration. I also worked as a Teaching Assistant for the Property class.

Being away from family and a rough job market led my wife, our dog, and I up to outside of Dayton, OH. I published a paper called Then and Now: Pestilence, Police Powers, and Private Property in the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review which discussed the police powers to regulate and protect the health, safety, and welfare during a pandemic as they relate to private property. Other publications are listed below.

After law school I began working in the Shelby County (OH) Public Defenders Office where I was assigned all misdemeanor, traffic, preliminary hearing, and appellate cases assigned to the office. In Summer 2023 I also became an Adjunct Professor at Sinclair Community College where I taught Criminal Justice courses in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. I have served on the Legal Studies Advisory Board at Pennsylvania Western University- Clarion as well.

Now, I am a full time tenure-track Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at Sinclair Community College. I serve on the Tax Review Board for the City of Huber Heights and on the Ohio State Bar Association’s Council of Delegates. I still take legal cases on the side, and if you are interested you should check out the Areas of Practice page for more information.

Law License Jurisdictions:

Languages:

  • English (Native)
  • Français (Intermédiaire)

Publications:

  • Barrister of the Month: Kathleen Lenski Montgomery County Juvenile Court, Dayton Bar Association Bar Briefs magazine, Vol. 75 No. 5 (Jun/Jul 2026)
  • Rising Star Profile: Derek Muncy, Esq., Dayton Bar Association Bar Briefs magazine, Vol. 75 No. 2 (Nov/Dec 2025)
  • Rising Star Profile: Kristie Gotwald, Esq., Dayton Bar Association Bar Briefs magazine, Vol. 74 No. 2 (Nov/Dec 2024)
  • Appellate Review and Consecutive Sentencing: Another Change, Dayton Bar Association Bar Briefs magazine, Vol. 73 No. 3 (Jan/Feb 2024)
  • Murder, Treason, and Other Felonies Excepted: The Conflicting Oaths of the Masonic Defense Lawyer, Ohio Lodge of Research (September 2022)
  • Then and Now: Pestilence, Police Powers, and Private Property, 36 Thomas M. Cooley Law Review 1 (Summer 2021)

Honors and Awards:

Organizations: