Chief Justice Eric Brown has spent his career in public service focused on protecting our community and families.  For more than 30 years, Chief Justice Brown has demonstrated his passion for serving the community, based upon values derived from his parents and his Jewish faith.  He has had broad and extensive experience, from owning his own businesses to serving as a school board member to presiding over the busiest courts in our state.  As a former Ohio Assistant Attorney General, Chief Justice Brown fought to protect consumers from fraud and to protect children and minorities from tobacco marketing.

Chief Justice Brown started his legal career engaged in a private law practice in his hometown of Cleveland, handling a wide variety of legal matters in both a small firm and solo practice.  Not only did he handle civil and criminal litigation, but he also handled business, real estate, and probate law matters.  Chief Justice Brown was one of the first lawyers in Ohio to develop a law practice serving the needs of the elderly and their families.

Chief Justice Brown served for nearly 15 years as an elected public school board member for Mayfield City Schools.  For a decade, he served the bar association as treasurer, chair of the budget & management committee, and as an elected trustee.  Chief Justice Brown owned and operated several businesses, and was honored by his local chamber of commerce as Business Person of the Year.

Chief Justice Brown was appointed by Gov. Ted Strickland to serve out the remainder of the term of Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer, who died in office on April 2, 2010.

Prior to his appointment, Chief  Justice Brown most recently served as the Judge for Franklin County's Probate Court where he presided over the largest single-judge probate court in Ohio, serving as both judge and clerk of the court, overseeing a staff of 50 employees, including seven magistrates.

Before serving as Probate Court Judge, Chief Justice Brown served as a Judge and Magistrate on the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, General Division where he presided over a large caseload consisting of criminal felony cases, substantial civil disputes, administrative appeals, and a wide variety of other matters, including serving as the probate judge in a significant guardianship case.  As a common pleas court judge, he handled more than 5,000 cases on his docket, nearly 3,000 of those civil and more than 2,100 of those criminal cases.

In June 2009, Chief Justice Brown was named an ASTAR Fellow after completing the two-year Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource program, which is designed to prepare judges to preside over cases involving complex science and technology issues and to serve as a resource to other judges.

Chief Justice Brown's service on judicial related organizations also includes: his appointment to the Ohio Judicial Conference Probate Law & Procedure Committee, his appointment to the Supreme Court Commission on the Rules of Practice & Procedure, and his appointment to the Franklin County Criminal Justice Planning Board, which provides oversight for criminal and juvenile justice programs funded through Franklin County.

Chief Justice Brown also served 11 years as an Assistant Attorney General for Ohio Attorneys General Lee Fisher and Betty Montgomery, where he worked as both a lawyer and as a manager.  As Assistant and Acting Chief of the Consumer Protection Section, he successfully managed a staff of 70, including lawyers, investigators, consumer specialists, and support staff.  As Tobacco Litigation Counsel, he helped lead the largest litigation in Ohio history, coordinating the work of six law firms serving as outside counsel, supervising a core team of eight staff attorneys, and coordinating Ohio's efforts with more than 40 other states.

Brown received a bachelor's degree in history from Cleveland State University in 1975 and a law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1979.   Chief Justice Brown shares his passion for public service with his wife of more than 36 years, Marilyn.  They are members of Congregation Tifereth Israel in Columbus.

After decades of public service, Marilyn now serves Franklin County as a Member of the Board of Commissioners.  Juctice and Commissioner Brown share two wonderful and independent daughters: Daryn, who is a stage manager and event planner in New York City, and Beryl, who is a lawyer at the Ohio Industrial Commission and graduate of the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University.  Beryl and her husband, Andy Piccolantonio, reside in Gahanna and are the proud parents of the Browns' three grandsons, Vincent, Max, and Alex.