The Janet Abaray Scholarship Fund Supports Students at the University of Cincinnati.

The Janet Abaray Scholarship Fund Supports Students at the University of Cincinnati.

Janet Gilligan Abaray, the managing partner of Burg Simpson Ohio, has been donating personally to the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Cincinnati since 2012.  The funds are dedicated to the English Department, which allocates the donation as a scholarship fund in her name to deserving undergraduate students.

The English Department awards the scholarship funds to several students annually.  Over the years the scholarship recipients have written many heartfelt letters to Ms. Abaray to express their gratitude for her contribution to their education. Often the students face personal and financial obstacles which the scholarship helps alleviate.  The students describe how the scholarship provides encouragement and relieves financial stress, allowing them more time to focus on their educational goals at the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Kenneth Petren, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Cincinnati, acknowledged the importance of alumni support in a letter he wrote to Janet this year, saying:

“Thank you for supporting scholarships in the College of Arts and Sciences. You are helping create tomorrow’s leaders. Because of your gift, students can finish their degrees on time, with less debt, and knowing that they have the support of the UC community behind them.”

The University of Cincinnati honored Ms. Abaray with the College of Arts and Science Distinguished Alumni Award for the 2018-2019 academic year, in recognition of her support to the College and her successful career as a trial attorney.  Ms. Abaray received the award at the Alumni Bicentennial Celebration held in April of 2019, honoring the 200th anniversary of the founding of the University of Cincinnati.

Ms. Abaray is the managing shareholder for the Cincinnati office of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, P.C.  She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Cincinnati, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude.  She graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Cincinnati School of Law where she was Business Manager of the Law Review.  She is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Ohio, and United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Sixth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits and the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio and the Southern District of Illinois.

In 2018, the Ohio Diversity Conference and the National Women’s Conference chose to honor Janet as one of the Top 15 Businesswomen in Ohio at the National Women’s Conference last year. The award honors “outstanding leaders and highlights high-ranking female executives in various industries. They have reached the top of their profession and are respected and successful leaders within their organization. They drive change, innovate and inspire others to succeed while contributing to business growth and the strategic direction of the organization.

Ms. Abaray was the featured attorney in Ohio Super Lawyers magazine in 2017.  Cincinnati Magazine recognized Ms. Abaray as one of Cincinnati’s best litigation attorneys in 1995, and she has been named an Ohio Super Lawyer, 2005-2018. She was named Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Carl B. Rubin Legal Society in 2013. Ms. Abaray has achieved the highest rating from her peers for the quality of legal work, professionalism, and ethics by receiving an “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell. Ms. Abaray is also listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers. Ms. Abaray has also met the standard of excellence for selection as one of The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 100 Lawyers, and The Mass Tort Trial Lawyers Top 25.  She has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Mass Tort Litigation since 2011.

Ms. Abaray has served as a faculty member of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and lectures frequently in the areas of products liability litigation, trial techniques, and epidemiology. She has published articles in journals of the American Bar Association, Litigation Section, the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice Trial Magazine, the University of Cincinnati Law Review and the University of Dayton Law Review.

Burg Simpson knows that communities are made great by those who give, and all of us at Burg Simpson are grateful for the support that Janet Abaray is providing to the students and future leaders from the University of Cincinnati.