Cleveland-Marshall Law Alumni Association
’93 Grads
Michelle & Brendan
Sheehan Met & Married at C|M|LAW “Our children have learned that there are rules, and if you break the rules there are consequences. But they’ve also learned that there are mitigating circumstances.”
Brendan Sheehan eventually earned the love of Michelle Joseph. But he didn’t do it on his first try. A night student at C|M|LAW, Brendan served as a bailiff by day in the court of then-Northern District Judge Donald Nugent. It was on a Friday evening in October 1991 that he encountered day student Michelle with a friend at a popular downtown nightspot. And he moved in quickly. “His pickup line was, ‘You should come by and meet my judge,’” Michelle says today, with a roll of her eyes that’s practically audible. “I’m like, seriously? I didn’t even know what a bailiff was. Cheesiest pickup line ever.” Brendan remembers the evening somewhat differently: “From that moment on she chased me.” The two had met through a mutual friend at the Cleveland-Marshall library a year earlier, but it wasn’t until a few weeks after that fateful Friday night that Brendan and Michelle finally clicked—on a dinner date…with Michelle’s father. Though their career paths diverged— Brendan studied criminal law, Michelle chose the civil route—they grew close through their studies, and even took a couple of classes together. It was a dilapidated Ford that finally cemented their love.
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Cleveland State University
“Nobody is interested in a serious relationship in law school,” Michelle recalls. “But when my old car broke
down, he pushed it from the law school to the mechanic. I said, ‘This has to be the one.’” By the summer of 1995, they were married. In the years since, both have seen their careers blossom as their dedication to Northeast Ohio remains unwavering. Brendan rose through the ranks of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and has served since 2009 on the bench of the Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas. Michelle specializes in appellate law with the Cleveland office of Reminger and remains active with the Cleveland-Marshall Law Alumni Association. They live in Rocky River, where the guiding principles of their profession are never lost on their three children, 15- and 13-year-old daughters and a 9-year-old son. “Everything’s in mediation in our house,” says Michelle. “Our children have learned that there are rules, and if you break the rules there are consequences. But they’ve also learned that there are mitigating circumstances.” That’s why when trouble arises in the Sheehan household, the children settle easily into the roles of defendant, prosecutor, and witness. Mom can’t help but take up counsel for the defense, and Dad—at home, just like at work—handles judicial duties.