Athens attorney Susan Gwinn usually works 15 to 18 hours a day, splitting her time between her private law practice and politics - being the chair of the Athens County Democratic Party, the chair of the Athens County Board of Elections and a member of the Ohio Democratic Party executive committee.
Busy does not adequately describe the 51-year-old's schedule.
No one ever talks about my law practice
Gwinn said, laughing. They only talk about what I do politically but law is my bread and butter here. I have to make money somehow.
Gwinn said she practices nearly every kind of law but she does not take workers compensation cases, Social Security disability cases or bankruptcy cases. I really do everything she said. I do estate planning
trial work
wrongful death cases and criminal work.
In the political arena, Gwinn works very closely with the Ohio University College Democrats and recently had a training event at OU for College Democrats from across the country. The purpose of the event was to teach College Dems how to lead a successful campus program, Gwinn said.
But her work with OU students is not limited to her involvement with the College Dems.
I was instrumental in getting the Center for Student Advocacy [now the Center for Student Legal Services] created
and I have probably been the number one advocate for students voting
Gwinn said In fact, in 2000, Gwinn made the OU campus the only campus in the state to have a provisional voting location, at Baker Center. That means any registered voter can vote in Athens - regardless of the county where he or she is registered, Gwinn said.
Gwinn was born and raised in Athens and returned to the area after graduating from law school at the University of Toledo in 1979.
I was very instrumental in setting up the cat shelter
Gwinn said. I did all their legal work for free
and I used to do adoption hours every Saturday.
Lately, Gwinn also has been instrumental in local hurricane relief efforts because she has family members in Biloxi and Gulfport, Miss., which were affected by the hurricane disaster.
Gwinn's favorite thing about living in Athens is that she does not have to drive a long way to get to any thing.
I thought that this would be a good place to build a law practice because it's all about connections
Gwinn said. I didn't want to start a practice where I didn't know anyone.
-Emily Vance
