Meet Our Mediator

Mary T. (Schoelwer) Minnillo is the Mediation and Conference Attorney for the First District Court of Appeals. She has extensive appellate court experience and unique insight into the process of deciding appeals. In private practice, she represented clients before the courts of appeals and trial courts in both civil and criminal matters.  As a staff attorney at the First District Court of Appeals for over 20 years for multiple judges, she analyzed procedural and substantive issues for purposes of making recommendations to the judges and assisted the judges in reaching consensus before drafting opinions deciding appeals and original actions.

Ms. Minnillo trained as a mediator through the Ohio Supreme Court and is excited to offer mediation services to parties and attorneys in the First District Court of Appeals.  The mediation process provides an opportunity to evaluate a case with a neutral third party, before incurring the time, cost, and uncertainty of an appeal, and to direct a resolution chosen by the parties rather than the Court.

Ms. Minnillo is a Cincinnati native. She earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Cincinnati in 1992. In 1995, she earned her J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where she served on the Law Review Executive Board. 

Ms. Minnillo is a recipient of the Cincinnati Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Volunteer Award. She has served as a member of the ProKids Board of Directors, president of the St. Ursula Academy Alumnae Board, co-chair of the Walnut Hills High School WalnutFest Great Gatherings Committee, volunteer at Easterseals Redwood Building Value, and member of Turner Farm Community Supported Agriculture. She enjoys travel, yoga, gardening, cycling, walking and spending time with her large family.