Nicole believes that a fair and balanced judicial system is best when it works for everyone. A qualified judge is someone who not only knows the law but also knows how and when to temper justice with mercy and compassion.
Nicole’s Story
Nicole is a mother, grandmother, legal professional and lifelong resident of Hamilton County Ohio. She was raised in the Madisonville neighborhood and worked her way out of poverty to earn a Juris Doctorate from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. She currently lives in Springfield Township.
Nicole earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Cincinnati and received her J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. After graduating, Nicole joined the City of Cincinnati Prosecutor’s office as an Assistant City Prosecutor handling municipal criminal, vehicular homicide, and traffic cases. Nicole was promoted to an Assistant City Solicitor position handling general civil litigation, contract law, income tax, personal injury defense, administrative law, and employment law cases. Nicole was also the Prosecutor for the Mental Health Court, a specialized docket in Municipal Court focused on treatment and compliance.
Shortly thereafter, Nicole was again promoted to Chief Counsel with the City of Cincinnati’s Solicitor’s office. Nicole was Chief Counsel, a section that she both created and managed. Under Nicole’s leadership, the section became a very successful section of the Cincinnati Law Department. In April 2013, Nicole was appointed as a Common Pleas Magistrate in the Hamilton County Juvenile Court. As a Magistrate working in the Hamilton County Juvenile Court, she frequently interacts with people who are fighting the battle of addiction. It is here that she realized the magnitude of the drug problem in Hamilton County, Ohio and the need to address the crisis head on with rehabilitation and treatment.
Commitment to Service
Nicole is active and engaged in the Hamilton County community. She served on the Winton Woods Community Coalition Board, a non-profit organization, where the goal was to reduce the onset of youth alcohol, tobacco and drug use in the community. She was a board member of the New Orphan Asylum Scholarship Foundation, a non-profit organization that awards graduate and undergraduate scholarships to deserving traditional and non-traditional students. She served on the Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers as a Steering Committee member, Chair and Co-chair for the Ethic, Justice, and Values section of the program for eight years. She worked on the Cincinnati Bar Association Pro-Kids fundraiser for several years, and was a Cincinnati Bar Association’s Black Lawyers of Cincinnati Scholarship Committee member.
Currently Nicole, mentors young lawyers through the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Lawyer to Lawyer program and has done so for six years. Nicole is also an active and very proud member of Cincinnati Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
Nicole is a proud Cincinnatian and has the proper balance of life and legal experience needed to bring a fresh perspective and approach to the Drug Court. Nicole believes that the Drug Court should be more than a feel good criminal justice reform innovation. Nicole also believes that doctors are wiser than judges regarding the treatment of those battling substance abuse and that drug addiction is a disease and not a crime.
Treatment is compassion because it’s time for “Justice Not Politics.”