Judge Wende C. Cross
Judge Wende Cross serves on the Court of Common Pleas in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. She is a proud alum of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and the Salmon P. Chase College of Law. After law school, Judge Cross began her legal career as an Associate of the law firm Landrum and Shouse LLP in Lexington, Kentucky, where she practiced insurance defense litigation. A few years later, she was recruited by the U.S. Department of Justice to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney, serving in both the Eastern District of Kentucky, and the Southern District of Ohio at Cincinnati.
After 10 years of service as a federal prosecutor, Judge Cross re-entered private practice as the principal of Cross, Smith & Associates, LLC, where she focused on civil rights litigation, family law and criminal defense. After having managed a successful small firm practice, Judge Cross was appointed as a Magistrate of the Hamilton County Juvenile Court, where she served children and families of Hamilton County.
Judge Cross was elected to the bench in November 2020 by an overwhelming majority vote in Hamilton County. Her lifelong dream of becoming a Judge is rooted in her personal values of justice, fairness and rehabilitation. She believes that “we cannot simply continue to do business in the court system as usual. The lives of victims, defendants, families and communities are at stake”. Her experience, compassion and uncanny sense of fairness is what Hamilton County enjoys today.
Judge Cross lives in Cincinnati. She is a member of the Ohio and Kentucky bars. She is a member of a host of organizations and serves on several boards, including Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Bar Association and is a member of the CBA Professionalism Committee. She volunteers with various organizations that serve at-risk youth and families.