The courts are where people most directly interact with government, on the best and worst days. Judges owe tremendous responsibility to the lawyers, defendants, victims, witnesses and families that appear before them. They must apply the laws fairly, with dispassion, but also a measure of compassion. It's hard work. But Carl has known hard work his whole life.
Carl Aveni grew up in a working-class city that was built on the strength of industry and manufacturing. A city that was built by immigrants from the world over, proud of its heritage of hard work and grit. By the time Carl was in high school, however, it had become a city where the factories had been closing and leaving for decades. There were fewer jobs, and fewer opportunities for a rise into the middle class. A proud, resilient city, but one with a deeply uncertain future.
Many of Carl's classmates had three choices, join the military, learn a trade, or they could follow a path that led to prison or the morgue.
But from an early age, Carl's parents knew that his talents and his deficits would push him either to college or to trouble. The question then was how to pay for college on the salaries of a public school teacher and civil servant. The answer was that the whole family went to work, holding day jobs, and night jobs, and weekend jobs. Carl started saving for college when he was 5 years old, by working as a professional clown at children's birthday parties on evenings and weekends. He did that work throughout his childhood and teen years, and it shaped his drive as much as his sense of humor. He also worked as a paperboy, swim instructor, lifeguard, grocery clerk, and spent one memorable summer working on a pig farm. Hard work has been a theme of his life.
After college and law school, Carl set about learning his craft as a litigator and courtroom lawyer. Twenty-two years later, he serves as the Co-Chair of the Litigation Department at a well regarded Columbus law firm. His career has taken him to courtrooms across Ohio, to our courts of appeals, and even to the Ohio Supreme Court, where he won not only for his clients but for the safety and benefit of the public. It's has been quite a road from that difficult hometown, the clown act and the pig farm.
A road that will serve him well as a Judge. A road that has taught him respect for hard work, and an appreciation for diverse life experiences. That has taught him humility in service, and gratitude for the opportunity to serve.
