McGown & Markling is proud to announce that Matthew John Markling has been appointed to the Ohio State Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Specialty Board (“Specialty Board”).
The Specialty Board is composed of between eight and twelve individuals, the majority of whom are attorneys generally recognized as experts in the field of labor and employment law. Attorney members of the Specialty Board are divided between attorneys generally recognized as representing labor or employee interest and attorneys generally recognized as representing employer 
interests. Specialty Board members are appointed by the Ohio State Bar Association president upon the recommendation of the chair of the Labor and Employment Section.
In appointing Mr. Markling, Ohio State Bar Association President John D. Holschuh, Jr., wrote, “In recognition of your outstanding service to the bar, it is a privilege to appoint you to serve as a member of the Ohio State Bar Association Labor and Employment Specialty Board.”
Ohio State Bar Association President Holschuh explains that, “The Specialty Board sets standards for eligibility, reviews applications, determines eligibility, prepares written exams, and hears appeals for licensed attorneys who seek to become specialists.”
As among the less than one percent of Ohio attorneys who have earned the prestigious distinction of being renowned as an Ohio State Bar Association Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment Law, Mr. Markling knows just how important it is to serve on the Specialty Board.
“Serving on the Specialty Board is an important job,” says Mr. Markling. “In setting the standards by which the Ohio State Bar Association will certify attorneys as specialists in the field of labor and employment law, the Specialty Board must (1) ensure that an attorney certified as a specialist in the field of
labor and employment law possesses an enhanced level of skill and expertise as well as substantial involvement in labor and employment law; (2) set standards designed to foster professional development and expertise and to enable the Ohio State Bar Association to thoroughly evaluate the credentials of attorneys seeking certification; and (3) facilitate public access to appropriate legal services, which is the ultimate function and most important goal of these standards.”
Specialty Board members serve on a volunteer basis, without pay. Each Specialty Board member serves a term of four years and is subject to a lifetime limit of two four-year terms. Mr. Markling will serve his first four-year term on the Specialty Board beginning May 1, 2016, and ending on June 30, 2020.