My BarStory S02E01 - Hon. Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons and Matthew Fitzsimmons

Rocky River Municipal Court Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons December 31st, 2023. Among her most notable accomplishments was serving as the lead prosecutor in   a three-month trial in federal court that resulted in the conviction of former Cleveland Mafia boss Angelo Lonardo and five of his subordinates. This was the time when Cleveland was called "Bomb City" because of organized crime bombings, and the Judge talks about dealing with death threats.

Matthew Fitzsimmons is Partner at Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper, LLC and an adjunct professor at Cleveland State University School of Law. Matt is well known for his career as a business litigator, and his advice for lawyers, especially the newest lawyers, is pure gold. This couple’s story of a life shared in the law will make you laugh and warm your heart.

Transcript

Becky Ruppert McMahon (00:05):
Hello, I'm Becky Rupert McMahon, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. Welcome to a new year and to a new season of my Bar Story podcast. We began this project to create an oral history of the bar for our 150th birthday in 2023. The response has been tremendous. We've got many more great bar stories to share this year and beyond. So let's get started with another my bar story.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (00:33):
I am Judge Donna Connie Fitzsimmons of the Rocky River Municipal Court. I have been in the court as the judge for 30 years, and that will all end as I am retiring in 13 days, December 31st, 2023.

Matt Fitzsimmons (00:49):
My name is Matt Fitzsimmons. I'm Donna's husband. I'm a partner at the law firm of Nico, Nicola Good Branson and Cooper, where I've practiced to business and commercial litigation for 34 years.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (01:04):
We have been married for 37 years, and they have been wonderful years, and we wanted to tell our story because we believe the Bar Association helped to bring us together. Matt, would you like to talk about that?

Matt Fitzsimmons (01:19):
Well, yeah, but for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, we probably would never have met each other. I, I remember in 1985, they used to have the swearing in dinner of the president during the week at a dinner. I know now they do it at a lunch. And I was, I, I was fairly new to Cleveland. I had come up here to Cleveland. I had, I had clerked at the Ohio Supreme Court for Chief Justice, former Chief Justice Frank Rezi. And so I'm, I'm, I'm at the dinner in the cocktail hour and I'm speaking to two guys that, that I know. One was John Cooney, who was one of my fellow law clerks at the Supreme Court, and the other fellow was Fran Gardner, who lived in, I knew from Notre Dame and lived in the same dorm with me at Notre Dame. And as I am chatting with them, Donna, who knows both of them, but obviously not me, came over and said hello to them. And that's, and that's how we met. So I would say that the CNBA has played a big part in our life.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (02:23):
And what was fortuitous about this was we were actually both at large law firms. I was at Arter Manhattan. He was at Jones State. We literally worked in the same building, but almost everybody worked in that building at that time. So you didn't necessarily meet people very easily. And I almost was not able to attend the dinner because I was scheduled in a jury trial that morning. And, but for the fact that that jury trial settled and then there was an extra seat at the Arter and hand table, I probably would not have been there. So again, many things came together to bring us together and we are very happy about that. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>, it's a wonderful marriage to be both in law. He totally understands everything that goes on in my life. And sometimes I like to refer to him as my guardrail, because I am Italian, a hundred percent Italian. He's Irish. And we sometimes disagree. Sometimes my Italian passions come together and I think I'm gonna do this or say that I run everything by him. And he says to me, Nope, you can't do that. And usually, almost a hundred percent of the time, happily, I have followed his advice, and it has served me well in my career.

Matt Fitzsimmons (03:38):
Well, why don't you talk a little bit, you have had significant involvement with the Bar Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association going back some time. So why don't you speak a little bit about what that was? Okay.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (03:50):
And I'm the native Clevelander here who is just totally in love with this city. I've always been. And Matt, I got him to move here from, he was from Staten Island, New York. And what I did the re the way I became a lawyer or wanted to become a lawyer, my dad was the carpenter in the Justice center. And as a young girl, as young as 14 or 13 years old, I would go sometime with my dad. When he went to work and watch trials. I knew immediately that I wanted to be a prosecutor. The cases that I saw just convinced me, this is the way to live. This is great. My other brothers, I have three brothers, they all went into medical fields, doctors. But that was not for me because I wanted to do this. So one of my ways I got involved in the Bar Association, when I went to the prosecutor's office, there were five women, a hundred men, five women.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (04:44):
So we were a rare commodity. I ended up in a jury trial with Andrew Johnson, who was then the president of the Cleveland Bar Association. And we got along very well. The case you know, went well. And he asked me at that point, would I like to be on the Judicial Selection Committee, which was an, a fabulous committee of the bar. And I would be very fortunate to be, I believe, the only woman on the committee at that time, and very young. So that got me started in my bar engagement. And it, it was just a wonderful experience. And after we were married, we have continued to be very involved in the bar, and it's been really great. Before I even met my husband, Matt, I went from the county prosecutor's office to a federal prosecutor. And in that capacity, thank goodness I wasn't married at that time because I, I worked very hard on a case that was in trial for three months, which brought down the Mafiaa family in Cleveland, including the boss of the family at that time, Angelo Leonardo.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (05:51):
And the case was very significant. We also were able to convict some very bad guys that had committed eight murders as part of their, their drug ring that they were running the largest string ring in the whole state. We used a Ricoh conspiracy theory to do that. And the biggest thing about the trial that made everybody famous was that Angelo decided to become a government witness. He was the highest ranking member of the Mafiaa to become a government witness, and went on to testify in all the major cities, including Matt City, New York to bring down Mafiaa families everywhere. And that is why I'm in the Mob Museum. So I had to explain all of that to Matt when we first met, because I, I didn't know if he would still wanna marry me. Did you have any concerns about that, Matt? Well,

Matt Fitzsimmons (06:43):
When we met and got married, that was many, many years later. I <laugh> it's a tough question to answer as to what, what my thinking process would've been during the middle of your death threats

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (06:55):
<Laugh> that I had during the trial. Well, you always did worry about the bomb. You said We were gonna have someone check our car. Yeah. Make sure there were no bombs. 'cause We had been bomb Cleveland was known as bomb city USA when I was doing those cases. So it was an interesting time and an incredible experience for me. And what I say about it is it was the most teamwork I've ever been involved in. It was every federal law enforcement agency, great people. And it, it wasn't what I did. I was the lead prosecutor, but it was all the work everyone did together. Cleveland Police, the sheriff's office, all the federal agencies that led to the success of this trial.

Matt Fitzsimmons (07:36):
Well, I've participated in a lot of the Bar Association activities a couple of times. I have taught at the Litigation Institute. I've, I've done some, some seminars on a palate practice, but I certainly don't have anything as colorful as prosecuting the mob, that's for sure. Mentioned earlier. I started out after law school clerking at the Ohio Supreme Court for two years, which was, you know, a great job. Probably my most favorite job ever. But that's largely research and writing in a very isolated environment. And then I came up to Cleveland. I worked at Jones Day for five years in in litigation, was gone quite a bit, was out of town, working on cases, and then moved to a smaller firm 34 years ago where I continue to do business in commercial litigation. And I, I'm, I'm, I'm happy to say, and actually proud to say that, you know, 34 years later, a good chunk of my work has come on referrals from Jones Day.

Matt Fitzsimmons (08:41):
I also teach, I teach a class since 2008, judge Dan Pollster and I judge pollster from federal court. We teach a full semester course on mediation over at Cleveland State Law School. And it's quite interesting to do that, you know, being around young lawyers and young people, you know, keeps you tuned into what's going on. One of the reasons that we teach it is when I was in law school and when he was in law school, the only framework for dispute resolution in civil matters was you sue somebody. And I sometimes feel like a traitor to my profession is that at some point along the way, if you're doing litigation, the thought occurs to you that litigation is, is not necessarily the best way to solve disputes or solve problems. And now, now law schools have these classes, mediation being one of them.

Matt Fitzsimmons (09:43):
But that's one thing that has changed a lot about the profession in, in the last 35 or 40 years, is the extent to which clients are looking for alternative ways to resolve their disputes. It's not just the fact that litigation can be prohibitively expensive. I mean, that's a factor as to why people do mediation. It also helps corporations and their clients or people and their families repair relationships and work through a problem to come up with a negotiated resolution that litigation can't give you. I mean, litigation either moves money from the defendant to the plaintiff, or does not move money from the defendant to the plaintiff. As mediation, you can craft your own resolution. Oftentimes with big companies involved in a civil lawsuit, it gets in the way of them doing further business together. So if they have a lawsuit, it has been my experience in the last 25, 30 years that corporate people want to find ways to get things resolved without killing the other side.

Matt Fitzsimmons (10:50):
And if there is a way to solve a business dispute by crafting a resolution, you know, taking a haircut on this contract, but we'll agree to extend our contract for two or three more years with you, it, it works out better for everybody. There are two things that TV shows about lawyers don't show. They never show anybody doing research and writing. Okay, <laugh>, the other thing they don't show is the lawyer presenting a bill to the client, <laugh> and the client saying, what? I'm not paying that. And so mediation is cheaper, but it's, it's not the only advantage to mediation. Judge Polster and I, you know, enjoy our time. In fact, we're about to start up in a couple of weeks in January. We teach from January to May. One of the most satisfying things is when we, occasionally I rule, run into a former student who's now out in practice and they will say, ah, now I get it, <laugh>. Now I get it.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (11:48):
So you can see from hearing from Matt that in the 37 years we've been together, we've changed our way. We practice law quite a bit. One thing that hasn't changed is we're very social within the legal community. And so we've really enjoyed many things here at the bar. I was a trustee after we were married Jerry Gold was the president. So you can only imagine how much fun we had back in those days. And so we both have, have come to really love this. And when Matt says he loves to make an impact on the young people, I was able to be one of the presenters for several years at the bootcamp that they do here for the new lawyers, which is a great thing. But when I say we've changed a lot, I went from being when we met, I was at a big law firm doing medical malpractice defense.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (12:38):
I had all that prosecution history behind me, and I ran for judge, I ran for Judge Mo. I had been downtown the whole time. I go out to the suburbs where my court is. And I really came to love that job so very much. And I can tell you more about it, but one thing I can tell you never changed between Matt and me is when I met him, and many people don't believe this because he, he is quite serious about his practice of law, I would say more serious than me, for sure. But in any event, I didn't know. But that he was a standup comedian who went places to do standup. And so we had a lot of fun with that. Our first few years of marriage. We actually, once we had our first child, we were so busy he couldn't keep up with that.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (13:27):
But I will say that one of the keys to success of our relationship, and probably most relationships, is the fact that we find ourselves able to laugh in the really good times and in the bad times. And, and just being able to laugh through things is really, you know, a great way to get through it. We have three kids. One, our oldest has gone into law. We didn't really encourage the people to go into law and our of our kids, but one is in the civil section of the prosecutor's office. We're very proud of him. He's, he's really seems to enjoy his job a lot, which is great. My change has led me to a job that I love so much because I go in and I'm able to help people, the people that I see in a municipal court rather than a higher court, the types of court.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (14:17):
So I had practiced in before, especially federal and the state common police court. Many of the people that come to us are seeking protection. They may be in a domestic violence situation, a stalking, or they're seeking help from a problem like a addiction In the 30 years, spent a lot of my time just trying to convince people that came in front of me to make the day that they're in front of me, the best day in their life, instead of a bad day. By changing what they're doing that gets them in trouble. And as I'm cleaning my office out right now, I'm, I'm finding so many letters and, and different people telling me that they did make this change in their life and how valuable it was. So Matt has been very supportive of we, the, the campaign that I had to run for judge, we never realized what running for judge was like in our suburbs. Five suburbs is what the court covers. We had to be every single day out about walking door to door at every single event you could ever go to. And that was where I saw that Matt was like a perfect partner for someone in that situation. I think you even give advice, don't you give advice to new newly <laugh> friends who become married in there. And he gives advice to the, the husband of the role they have to play sometimes, right? Oh,

Matt Fitzsimmons (15:36):
And the campaign trail. Yeah.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (15:38):
Mm-Hmm.

Matt Fitzsimmons (15:38):
<Affirmative> when the candidate is the wife and is female, or gets elected, if you become a judge, I always tell the husband, the non-public official, just learn these seven words and you'll never go wrong. And those are, don't talk to me, talk to her.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (15:59):
<Laugh>. They always wanna talk. They always wanna get the inside scoop.

Matt Fitzsimmons (16:03):
I mean, the oth, I mean, I, I assume that some younger lawyers listen to these podcasts and maybe are looking for some kernels of advice. The first thing I always tell young lawyers, and this is surprising to some of them, 'cause a lot of people don't realize how much writing lawyers do. Thi this doesn't show up on TV shows, <laugh>. Yeah. But I always tell them, particularly, particularly if you are at a large firm or a larger firm, never turn in anything in writing unless it's your absolute best work product. Because that work product gets passed around and people form opinions of you based on your written work product. Sometimes there is an assumption in town, or really any, any city that Irish people want to hire Irish lawyers only, or Italian people want to hire Italian Italian lawyers, or, you know, fill in the blank.

Matt Fitzsimmons (17:01):
And, and that has not been my experience in Cleveland at all. Your clients don't rule out anybody you know, as a potential client as you're dealing with them. Cleveland is a, is a great legal town, but it's, it's a relatively small town. People, you know, most lawyers and generally know most other lawyers, and most lawyers are known by most judges. That's not a hundred percent the case, but generally speaking, so, you know you know, just as bad reputations can circulate around town. So, so can good reputations circulate around town. If you do a good job and if you are professional in your demeanor, and, and if you don't dunk on somebody, if you win a case and gloat about it, you, you might be surprised other lawyers who have been your adversaries or maybe even other judges you have appeared before, give out your name as somebody to hire.

Matt Fitzsimmons (17:54):
If a friend of theirs or somebody asks, you know, I've got this particular problem. Who who do you recommend? So, I know there are affinity groups, but I'm just saying in Cleveland, it seems to me it's a, it's, it's a, it's a very much more open town, and people should keep that in mind as they're searching to build their careers. There, there is no one way, there is no one way to develop work. There are many ways to develop work, and everybody is different. You know, some people have family members who are own businesses and give them legal work or provide referrals. Some people just have that knack going to a Christmas party or a Chamber of Commerce meeting and just working the room and making connections and making friends. Some people do it by doing a very good job on the work that's in front of them for existing clients. And those, those clients recommend them. There's a million ways to develop clients, but at the end of the day, whether it's a a, a big client or a small client, clients are looking for somebody to help them solve a problem. I mean, I've never said to a client, well, your issue is this. You've got a great issue for the eighth District or the Supreme. I know that's not what they're looking for. They, they've got a problem with a non-compete, or they've got a problem with a neighbor. They, they want the problem solved.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (19:19):
Well, I'm glad I've never had to every job I've had, and every single one I've loved, I couldn't even tell you which one I love the most. But I've never really had to develop clients. I, I was a prosecutor in the state. I was a prosecutor of federal, then went to President Reagan's commissioner on organized crime where I was deputy counsel. And then when I came back to Arin Hadden I had primarily hospital clients that were already clients of the firm that I then, you know did cases for or pharmaceutical companies. So that's a big, a big difference when you don't have to do that. But I will say that it's one of the best ways you can move forward. And the greatest compliment is when you have someone you've been in an adversarial relationship with IEA trial such as what happened to me with Andrew Johnson.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (20:14):
Andrew Johnson and I are in a, a difficult case that we took to trial. And at the end of it, he's the bar president, and he says to me, you know, I think that we need you on the Judicial Selection Committee. And what a feather in the cap of a young woman lawyer who's just been basically practicing law about one year. And so I met so many people through that and, you know, learned about all the judges because they all appeared in front of that committee. I just highly recommend participation in the Bar Association. Some of the best things that I have attended at the bar that I think are my favorites, and Matt frequently attends with me I think the memorial program, it, it's absolutely, I'm moved by it every single time I save that booklet, because somehow when they tell us about a lawyer who has passed away, they don't tell us what they did as a lawyer, but they tell us something about their life and, and things that are unusual.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (21:16):
And I, I just love it. Every single year, I find just gems in that presentation made by the Bar Association. The other, one of my very, very favorite programs that I've been able to participate in is the public servant luncheon. Unbelievable. They let me have two people honored this year somewhat against the rules, but because two women have served our court for so many years, and these are generally people that do not get that kind of recognition. And to be in a big auditorium where everyone's being honored that way, I like to say sometimes when I get accolades about my work or what I'm doing as a judge, I like to say that, you know, I, I surround myself with extraordinary people that allow me to do extraordinary things. And I would definitely say that about the people, especially my bailiff Melissa Riley and Kate Patton and my probation department.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (22:12):
They're, they're the unbelievable people. And it's hard to leave when you're with people like that and working, and everything's going so well. But I feel that most of them will be staying with the court so that it will be a really, hopefully, a seamless transition into the new judge sometimes. Don't you feel like we know like every lawyer there is? I, I sometimes feel that way, and it's partly because of things we do here at the bar, but, and we also Matson Sci Prius where and we meet many lawyers through that. He we already know them, but we get to know them better. We've, for example, as a young, when I was a young lawyer, I was one of the people that started the, the bar run and some of those other programs that I just seemed to be flourishing. But it does, and that's a really good feeling to know that. And, and I felt that definitely when I ran for Judge is you know, I knew so many lawyers between the fact Matt had been at a big law firm and a small law firm, then I had been a prosecutor and a person in a law firm. It, it was just an a, a, a tremendous number of people that we knew that really what, that's what really came together to help me get elected.

Matt Fitzsimmons (23:21):
That is precisely why it is important to be straight with people, to be professional with people, to be truthful with people. 'cause You're, it's a small town. Reputations travel really quickly around a small town. And if you get a reputation for being slick or somebody cannot be trusted, that reputation is gonna, you know, precede you. The next time you go into court. Somebody with a schlocky reputation is, is not gonna get the benefit of that doubt.

Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons (23:53):
Matt, I would like to one, since we have an audience. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> I like to say something that addresses the fact that in the 30 years since I've been a judge, obviously, you know, judges, we get complimented often. I can't, I'll remember when I first took the bench and we have a, a jurisdiction that's just five suburbs and people from Cleveland or Palmer or different places would say, Hey, I voted for you. They wanted me to know, which they couldn't have, but I said, oh, thank you. But whenever anyone compliments me Matt is right there next to me to say, check your docket <laugh>. They're just saying this 'cause they want a good turn on the docket. So I'm telling everyone that after January 1st, 2024, if you see me, especially with Matt, I want you to come over to me and give me the biggest compliment you possibly can because I'll be able to, to really put him in his place on that comment. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>,

Becky Ruppert McMahon (24:57):
Thank you for joining us for another My Bar story. You can still sign up to record your own bar story@cmetrobar.org slash podcast. Watch your podcast feed for a new episode coming soon. Have a great week.