Marilyn graduated from Villanova University in Philadelphia, PA in 1989 with two Bachelor of Arts degrees, one in English Literature and the other in Honors. She graduated magna cum laude for both degrees. After moving to Ohio and pursuing other career opportunities, Marilyn attended the University of Toledo College of Law from 1994-1997, when she graduated in the top 20% of her class. She received awards in Legal Ethics and Legal Drafting and was a pupil of the Morrison Waite Chapter of the American Inns of Court. She was a published member of the University of Toledo College of Law Review. While in law school, Marilyn interned at a municipal prosecutor’s office and also with the Court of Appeals for the 6th District of Ohio, Judge Peter Handwork. She joined Allotta and Farley in May 1997 and worked exclusively in Labor and Employment Law. She became Managing Partner in December 2003, and left to begin Widman & Franklin in 2013, where she serves as CEO. Marilyn’s areas of Practice include Private and public sector employees in Contract Negotiations, Arbitration, Mediation, Protection of State and Federal Laws, Disciplinary hearings, Administrative proceedings, Discrimination issues, Separation agreements, and Non-Compete agreements.
Bar Admissions
- Supreme Court of Ohio, 1997
- Sixth District Court of Appeals, Ohio, 1997
- Supreme Court of Indiana, 1998
- United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio, 1997
- United Stated District Courts, Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana, 1998
Activities, Honors & Professional Associations
- Featured in The Best Lawyers in America annually since 2013
- The National Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Ohio
- Featured in Super Lawyers 2021
- Toledo Bar Association, Employment & Labor Law Committee
- Indiana Bar Association, Employment Law Committee
- Toledo Area Jobs with Justice Member
- Ohio Employment Law Association
- Ohio Bar Association
- AFL-CIO LLC
Legal Publications
- “Blazing the Trails of Judicial Tort Reform” The University of Toledo Law Review, Volume 28, Number 2, Winter 1997.
- “To Bargain or Not to Bargain? Identifying Mandatory and Permissive Subjects of Collective Bargaining in Ohio after SERB v. Youngstown City School District Board of Education” The University of Toledo Law Review, Volume 30, Number 2, Winter 1999.
- The Developing Labor Law. Cumulative Supplement, 1992 to the present and the annual supplements, Bureau of National Affairs, Contributing Editor.
- Discipline and Discharge in Arbitration Works, 6th Ed., Bureau of National Affairs (2003), Contributor.
- Elkouri: How Arbitration Works, 6th Ed., Bureau of National Affairs (2003), Chapter Contributor