Jennifer Branch

Judge Branch denied Briana Benson's request for a new trial in a fatal dragging case after reviewing her claim that trial counsel had not properly submitted an expert report.

October 19, 2023

Source: wlwt.com

Judge Branch granted Cincinnati a preliminary injunction against Ohio's firearm-regulation preemption law, allowing the city to pursue local gun ordinances while the case continued.

September 14, 2023

Source: wvxu.org

Branch and the Innocence Project negotiated a settlement with Cincinnati for Joshua Maxton after his acquittal on a murder charge. The agreement provided compensation and an independent review of homicide cases for possible nondisclosure of DNA evidence.

September 14, 2020

Source: innocenceproject.org

Branch was among the lawyers who submitted the petitioners' Supreme Court brief in Obergefell v. Hodges and Henry v. Hodges, challenging Ohio's refusal to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

February 27, 2015

Source: acluohio.org

Branch and Al Gerhardstein represented Everette Howard Jr.'s family in a case against the University of Cincinnati after a campus police officer used a Taser and Howard died. A settlement provided $2 million, tuition assistance for Howard's siblings and steps concerning police Taser policy.

January 23, 2013

Source: fox19.com

Branch represented Tracie Hunter in litigation over provisional ballots in a Hamilton County judicial election. The Sixth Circuit upheld an order to investigate whether poll-worker errors caused ballots to be cast in the wrong precinct, while changing part of a later ballot-counting order.

January 27, 2011

Source: opn.ca6.uscourts.gov

Branch and other lawyers represented Miami University faculty members and their partners against a challenge to the university's same-sex domestic-partner health benefits. An Ohio appeals court upheld dismissal of the challenge because the plaintiff lacked standing.

August 27, 2007

Source: lambdalegal.org

The First District Court of Appeals reversed Judge Branch's preliminary injunction against Ohio's firearm-regulation preemption law and sent Cincinnati's case back for further proceedings. It held that the state law controlled the injunction issue.

June 26, 2024Unfavorable on Legal Competence

Source: supremecourt.ohio.gov

Judge Branch issued an opinion in State v. Booker concerning a firearms disability based on a juvenile offense. Another Common Pleas judge later adopted her reasoning in a similar case; the appeals court affirmed that other judge's ruling, not Booker's ruling.

December 19, 2023Favorable on Legal Competence

Source: supremecourt.ohio.gov

Branch was among Anthony Lemons's lawyers when an Ohio appeals court reversed and remanded a decision rejecting his wrongful-imprisonment claim. The ruling allowed the claim to continue; it did not declare him entitled to compensation.

July 20, 2017Favorable on Legal Competence

Source: supremecourt.ohio.gov

Branch was class counsel with Al Gerhardstein in a settlement over conditions at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center. The agreement proposed a $1.65 million fund for eligible prisoners and changes to security and medical care; the court preliminarily approved it.

March 1, 1999Favorable on Legal Competence

Source: clearinghouse-umich-production.s3.amazonaws.com