Among other ABA leadership positions, Barbara has served as Chair of the ABA Day in Washington annual grassroots lobbying event in 2023 and 2024 and as Chair of the ABA standing committees on membership, meetings and travel, specialization, substance abuse, and constitution and bylaws. She was a member of the ABA Journal Board of Editors from 2005 to 2011. She has also served most recently as advisory commission member of the ABA’s Task Force on American Democracy and as a member of the ABA Strategic Planning Committee. She has served on the board of the ABA Fund for Justice and Education and as a liaison to the Commission on Women.
Barbara is an elected member of the American Law Institute and served on the National Council of Bar Presidents Executive Committee and American Judicature Society Board of Directors. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
In addition to her service to the ABA and related organizations, Barbara has also served in numerous other capacities in both her profession and her community. She is a former president and board member of the Ohio State Bar Association and of the Cincinnati Bar Association. Barbara is Chair of the Board of the Ohio Bar Liability Insurance Company, a board on which she has served since 2008. She has been a member of the OSBA Council of Delegates since 1985 and a Fellow of the Ohio State Bar Foundation since 1998. She has been a member of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor Foundation since 1986, including service as its President from 1991 to 1994. She has served as a Board member and President (2011-2013) of the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program and remains a special advisor.
She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Xavier University where she served as Board Chair from 2014 to 2019. She chaired Xavier’s Presidential Search Committee from 2019 to 2021. Barbara was a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (2003-2008) and a trustee of the board of the Athenaeum of Ohio (2000-2013). She has been a member of the University of Cincinnati College of Law’s Dean’s Advisory Council (previously Board of Visitors) since 1992.
Barbara received the Ohio Bar Medal, the OSBA’s highest honor, in 2013. She received the Cincinnati Bar Association’s Themis award (its highest honor) in 2025, having previously received its Trustee’s Award in 2010. She has also received Xavier University’s Distinguished Alumna Award (2010) and its Paul L. O’Connor Leadership Award (2019), along with the University of Cincinnati College of Law’s Nicholas Longworth Award (1999), its Distinguished Alumnus Award (2014) and the St. Ursula Academy (Toledo) 2010 Alumna Achievement Award (2010).
Barbara and her associates focus on the practice of family law including custody, parenting matters, complex property matters and support issues. She is a board-certified specialist in family relations law by the Ohio State Bar Association. A significant portion of her practice is in collaborative law, and she is a member of the Cincinnati Academy of Collaborative Professionals.
A native of Toledo, Ohio, Barbara graduated magna cum laude from Xavier University with a BA in political science. She earned her JD from the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
