Judge Robert M. Gippin is a lifelong resident of Akron and graduated from Buchtel High School in 1965.  He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1969 and received a Juris Doctorate degree from Harvard Law School in 1973.  Following graduation, Judge Gippin worked as Special Assistant to the Director of the Ohio Department of Commerce in 1973-1974 and as Secretary of the Ohio State Real Estate Commission.  He was a Prosecutor for the Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court in 1975.  Judge Gippin was a Summit County Council member from 1981-1984 and during that time he served as Vice President in 1981 and President in 1982-1984.  

With more than 30 years of legal experience in the legal field, Judge Gippin was a partner with the law firm of Goldman & Rosen from 2004 to April 2008.  He was previously a member of the firms of Thompson Hine, LLP in Cleveland from 2000-2003 and Buckingham, Doolittle and Burroughs Co., LPA in Akron from 1975-2000.  His law practice involved mainly complex civil litigation for businesses, government agencies and some individuals in state and federal courts in Ohio and other states. 

Judge Gippin is active in the community, having served on many boards and committees.  He served as a member of the Summit County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board until being appointed Judge to the Summit County Common Pleas Court.  He also served as a trustee for the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio and a member of the board of Project Learn of Summit County, an adult literacy agency.  He is an active member of the Akron Bar Association and has served on the Federal Courts Committee, the Common Pleas and Court of Appeals Committee and the Certified Grievance Committee. 

Judge Gippin is married and has three children and one grandchild due in September of 2008.

On April 5, 2008, Judge Gippin was appointed Summit County Common Pleas Judge by Governor Ted Strickland to finish the term of retired Judge Marvin A. Shapiro.   

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