From top: Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Sean C. Gallagher and Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge Patricia A. Delaney

From top: Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Sean C. Gallagher and Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge Patricia A. Delaney

Two district appeals court judges served as visiting judges on the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday and heard oral arguments in a case concerning a workers’ compensation claim by a Girl Scouts employee.

Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Sean C. Gallagher and Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge Patricia A. Delaney substituted for Justices Patrick F. Fischer and R. Patrick DeWine in Clendenin v. Girl Scouts of W. Ohio.

The judges joined Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Terrence O’Donnell, Sharon L. Kennedy, Judith L. French, and William M. O’Neill in hearing the third of three cases on the docket.

Each judge has heard oral arguments previously on visiting judge assignments at the Supreme Court. According to the Ohio Constitution, in the event of a recusal by a justice, the chief justice can select any of the 69 sitting Ohio appellate court judges to sit temporarily on the Supreme Court.

Judge Gallagher has sat on the Eighth District since 2002. He served on the Cleveland Municipal Court from 1997 to 2002 and was an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor from 1991 to 1997. He also has served as president of the Northern Ohio Municipal Judges Association, as an instructor for the Supreme Court’s Judicial College, and as a member of the Ohio Judicial Conference Criminal Law and Procedure Committee and Supreme Court Rules Advisory Committee. Judge Gallagher received his law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.

“It’s always a memorable experience to join the Supreme Court Justices on deciding a case as a temporary member of the state’s court of last resort,” Judge Gallagher said.

Judge Delaney began her term on the appeals court on Feb. 11, 2007 after her election in 2006. She was re-elected in 2012. She serves as chair of the Supreme Court’s Commission on the Rules of Superintendence and as an instructor for the Judicial College. Before joining the bench, Judge Delaney served as Columbus assistant city attorney for nine years, practicing in complex civil litigation in both state and federal courts. She also has served as an assistant attorney general, staff attorney for the Franklin County Common Pleas Court and in private practice with Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease. Judge Delaney received her law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law.

“It is always an honor to serve as a visiting justice on the Ohio Supreme Court,” Judge Delaney said. “It provides appellate judges with an opportunity to decide cases that have a statewide impact and often involve significant legal issues.”

The Eighth District serves Cuyahoga County, while the Fifth District serves 15 counties in the central and eastern half of Ohio. Each court hears cases from county, municipal, and common pleas courts as well as original actions in habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, procedendo, and quo warranto.