LaRose names former Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof as Chief Legal Counsel
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Tuesday that former Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof has joined the Secretary of State’s office as Chief Legal Counsel and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.
“We’re incredibly fortunate to have someone of Larry’s caliber take on this critical role in what’s becoming one of the most historic presidential elections in our nation’s history,” said LaRose. “Larry is both an experienced litigator and an accomplished legislator with a well-deserved reputation that transcends partisan politics. I’ve relied on his counsel many times over the years, and it’s an honor to have him step back into public service on behalf of the citizens of our state.”
A summa cum laude graduate of The Ohio State University and a JD graduate of Yale Law School, Obhof is an accomplished trial and appellate litigator and a widely respected constitutional law expert. He served for nearly a decade as a member of the Ohio Senate, where his colleagues unanimously elected him to serve as the presiding officer of the 33-member chamber from 2017-20.
During his time in the Senate, Obhof successfully sponsored a wide range of legislation, from education and fiscal policy to election administration and a comprehensive update to Ohio’s corporate code and limited liability company law. In 2018, he received the Ohio State Bar Association’s Lawyer-Legislator Distinguished Service Award.
Obhof has also taught courses on Civil Procedure and Legislation as an adjunct law professor and has published legal scholarship on a range of issues, including constitutional law, education, law and economics, and securities. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and has since worked at some of the nation’s largest law firms.
From 2018-20, Obhof was a Rodel Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a program designed to bring greater civility to public discourse. He is also a former member of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission, the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission and the Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee.
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