Background
Robert E. Leach was born December 18, 1911 to Charles A. and Hazel K. Leach, and earned bachelors and law degrees from the Ohio State University and its Law School.
Robert E. Leach was born December 18, 1911 to Charles A. and Hazel K. Leach, and earned bachelors and law degrees from the Ohio State University and its Law School.
The Ohio State University (Bachelor of Arts, 1935. Juris Doctor, cum laude, 1935). Delta Theta Phi; Order of the Coif.
Chairman, Board of Editors, Ohio State Law Journal, 1934-1935.
Assistant City Attorney, Columbus, Ohio, 1946-1950. Chief Counsel, Ohio Attorney General, 1951-1954.
Judge, Franklin County Common Pleas Court, 1954-1968. Adjunct Professor, Capital University College of Law, 1965-1970.
Faculty Advisor, National College of State Trial Judges, 1966 and 1968.
Graduate, Appellate Judges School, New York University, 1968. Judge, Tenth District Court of Appeals, 1968-1970. Justice, 1970-1972 and Chief Justice, September-December, 1978, Ohio Supreme Court.
Instructor, Appellate Judges School, Louisiana State University, 1971.
He was Delta Theta Phi, and was the first editor of the Ohio State Law Journal, 1934-1935. Leach entered into private practice of law in Columbus, until 1942, when he entered the United States. Army, serving with the military police and in overseas service as special agent of the Counter Intelligence Corps, until 1946. After the war, Leach served as assistant city attorney.
In 1951 he became chief counsel for Ohio Attorney General C. William O"Neill.
In 1969, Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes appointed him to the 10th District Court of Appeals. On September 25, 1970, John M. Matthias resigned from the Ohio Supreme Court, and Governor Rhodes named Leach as his replacement.
He had to run for election for the remainder of Matthias"s term in November 1972, and lost to Democrat Frank Celebrezze. Celebrezze"s election was certified and he took office December 8, 1972.
Leach returned to private practice in 1973 in Columbus with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease.
On August 20, 1978, Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court C. William O"Neill died. Rhodes again appointed Leach, and he chose not to run for the remainder of the term in November of that year, believing he was not up to the rigors of a statewide campaign. Leach married Marie East. Chumbley on November 29, 1940.
They had no children.
Leach died in Columbus, November 21, 1993, and is interred in Union Cemetery.
Columbus, Ohio State and American Bar Associations. Appellate Practice (Appeals).