This “A Look Back” may be a little different than others-I’m going to walk you through an exciting (at least to me!) chapter in metropolitan bar leadership-with only a sidenote on the practice of medical malpractice and health law in the 1980s and 90s. 

It was 1976 and I was working as a registered nurse at The General Hospital, now UC Medical Center.  By 1984, I had graduated from the UC College of Law and accepted a position as a trial attorney in a firm specializing in representing physicians in medical malpractice cases across southern Ohio.  I discovered that law and medicine/nursing gave me the perfect background to connect with my clients and with juries. 

 This joint expertise was not new, The American Society of Law and Medicine, The American Association of Nurse Attorneys, The American Health Lawyers Association and health law practice groups at the national, state, and local level existed and still exist today.  The CBA and the Academy of Medicine collaborated over the years on programming and joint projects. My mentors, notably, Bea Larsen, the first female President of the CBA, were engaged and available. However, the courtroom was unwelcoming. Being mistaken for a court reporter or a litigant and continuously being ignored during case reports was not what I expected. The hostility and stress of contested litigation was taking a toll on my family and personal life.  I exchanged litigation for in-house practice involving broader health law issues and risk management in 1992. I worked with Mercy Health System, The Health Alliance/Christ Hospital and HealthSource of Ohio over the years and lost some of my connection with the CBA.

That changed when Bea called me with a request for help regarding a committee issue at the CBA.  That opportunity to re-engage with them led to my increased involvement and ultimate honor to serve and represent the CBA as President in 1998 and my return, briefly, to litigation.  Not surprisingly, my focus in 1998 was improving civility in litigation.  

Amazingly, in 1998, Heather Sowald became President of the Columbus Bar Association.  Heather was a small firm owner/practitioner managing domestic relations clients and cases.  The same year, Barbara Smith became President of the Cleveland Bar Association. Barbara was a school teacher who went back to law school and was a health care practitioner. She was also President of the Ohio Women’s Bar Association that was formed in 1991.  We were known as the “Triumphant Triumvirate,” leading Ohio’s largest metro bar associations with almost 15,000 members combined. Together we collaborated and celebrated our leadership year with joint presentations and programs across Ohio and the country.

The CBA continues to remain a vibrant and relevant association with a tremendously talented staff, bringing attorneys together from every practice specialty throughout the area to collaborate, educate, serve and provide leadership for the benefit of its members and the citizens who serve, live and work in the community we call home. 

CBA Past President Pamela Popp is a retired nurse-attorney with a BSN and JD from the University of Cincinnati Colleges of Nursing and Law.  She specialized in defense medical malpractice litigation with several firms, including Rendigs, Fry, Kiely & Dennis and practiced as in-house counsel with Mercy Health System (now Bon Secours-Mercy), The Health Alliance/Christ Hospital and HealthSource of Ohio.