“Achieving Justice” with Judge Marilyn Zayas, candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court.

From engineer to IT professional to lawyer to judge to candidate for Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, Judge Marilyn Zayas of the Ohio First District Court of Appeal has walked a unique path that she sees as serving Ohio well on the state’s high court.

In this latest installment of Justice Jennifer Brunner’s “Achieving Justice” video series, Judge Zayas reflects on how her experiences as an engineer and IT manager shaped her perspective and approach to her role as jurist. Her “engineering brain” seeks to understand the the logical flow of an argument and a resulting legal conclusion and helps her consider even the finest of details as they affect a determination.

“When I was an undergraduate, I struggled to simply earn a B in classes like philosophy and history, but in my science, engineering and computer classes, those were my A’s,” Judge Zayas said. This gave her a love of minutia and detail that she says gives her special perspective and ability as a judge, along with her love of community and public service.

Her upbringing in a lower-income neighborhood in New York City is where she discovered her love of people and a passion for the pursuit of justice and equality for all. Spending the last 34 years of her life in Ohio, Judge Zayas speaks fondly of raising her three children here with the collective sense of community Ohioans possess.

Judge Zayas was elected to the Ohio First District Court of Appeals in 2016 to fulfill an unexpired term, and she was re-elected in 2018. She is running for election to the Ohio Supreme Court in the upcoming November 8 election.

Judge Zayas worked as an IT manager at Procter and Gamble, went through law school with three small children, and worked as a private lawyer in intellectual property, labor, and employment law. She served as a public defender and opened her own private federal practice. With the experiences each of those roles gave her, Judge Zayas said she has always aimed to serve the people.

Justice Brunner started "Achieving Justice" in 2020 during her campaign for the Ohio Supreme Court. The program educates individuals about Ohio's judicial system and the judges and candidates for judge who serve and wish to serve their state and community. A new Achieving Justice interview is to be released each week. All of the 2022 Achieving Justice interviews can be found here: https://www.justicebrunner.com/news.   

“Serving the people and the cause of justice is one of the most important callings in our democratic system,” Justice Brunner said. “I believe that the more information the public has about the courts, their judges, and judicial candidates, the stronger our system is.”

Justice Brunner is a candidate for Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court in 2022.