Psychology Alum Works with Chief Justice of Ohio Supreme Court

Pierce J. Reed

Pierce J. Reed is a summa cum laude graduate of Ohio University, with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, who worked for several years as a counselor and advocate for victims of child abuse, domestic violence and hate crimes in the Boston area before going to law school at Northeastern University School of Law.

• Meet him at the Alumni & Student Networking Reception, Feb. 2.

During law school, Reed’s focus was on the interrelatedness of law, public health and infectious diseases. He was the first Northeastern student selected as a graduate fellow by the prestigious Echoing Green Foundation in New York City. During his fellowship, he did policy and litigation work related to privacy, the implementation and use of the Americans with Disabilities Act, “throwaway” and runaway adolescents, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

After his fellowship, Reed practiced for several years as a litigator with two Boston firms. His practice focused on appellate, products liability, employment and insurance law, and included representation in federal and state courts across the country.

For the last 15 years, Pierce’s career has focused on judicial service.

While in Boston, he was a career law clerk to former United States Magistrate Judge Joyce London Alexander Ford, one of the first African-American women to serve in the federal judiciary.

After moving to Columbus in 2005, he was hired by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor of the Ohio Supreme Court and became her senior judicial attorney.

In his current position, he assists the chief justice in the analysis and disposition of merit cases, as well as the creation and implementation of law student and civic education initiatives, and hiring staff whose positions directly support the chief justice and her colleagues.

Reed is an adjunct professor at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University, where he teaches appellate advocacy, and Center for Professional Education at Boston University, where he teaches litigation.

He serves as the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees for the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Columbus Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society, and served many years as the president of the chapter.

He also serves in several mentoring programs and frequently judges moot court competitions.