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OFFICE ADDRESS
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Magistrate Judge Sharon L. Ovington was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1978, she received her B.A. degree, cum laude, from the University of Cincinnati. She received her J.D. degree from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1981.
From 1981 to 1988, Judge Ovington served as an Assistant County Prosecutor in the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office. Her work included misdemeanor and felony prosecutions, representation of Montgomery County officials in civil litigation, and approximately two years of work in the appellate division.
From 1988 to 1992, Judge Ovington served as a Referee in the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. Her work involved a total of more than 400 civil cases addressing a wide variety of issues under Ohio law. She graduated from the Harvard Negotiation Project in 1991, and thereafter contributed to the formation of the Common Pleas Court's Alternative Dispute Resolution Program.
In 1992 Judge Ovington entered private practice, becoming an Associate at the firm of Bieser, Greer & Landis where she worked in the area of general commercial litigation until 1994. From 1995 until her present appointment, Judge Ovington was a Law Partner at the firm of Greger & Ovington. Her practice focused on general civil litigation, misdemeanor and felony defense litigation, and death penalty and habeas corpus litigation.
Judge Ovington received an Outstanding Lawyer Award for her support to the Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project in 1992. She served on the Montgomery County Public Defender Board from 1996 to 2000. In 1988 she became the Chairman of the Alternative Dispute Committee of the Dayton, Ohio Bar Association, and in 1999 she became the Chairman of the Civil Trial Practice Committee of the Dayton Bar Association.
On October 28, 2002, Judge Ovington was sworn in as United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division at Dayton, Ohio.