“Achieving Justice” with Attorney Bill Sperlazza, candidate the Franklin County Court of Common General Division

In this latest installment of Justice Jennifer Brunner’s “Achieving Justice” video series, Bill Sperlazza reflects on his experiences as an attorney with the Columbus City Attorney’s Office, a basketball coach and mentor, as well as a husband and father to his three children.

Sperlazza is running for election to the Franklin County Common Court of Common Pleas, General Division in the upcoming November election.

Spending time with his family and coaching for the past 13 seasons are among Sperlazza’s most valued memories and experiences. He says his time as a coach gave him the opportunity to truly be involved and give back to his community, teaching young people how to better themselves and each other, helping give them tools to be successful as they grow.

After suffering an ACL injury in college, he focused on academics to pursue his dream career of being an attorney. Soon after, he was hired into the Columbus City Attorney’s Office, where he has worked for the past 17 years, with the bulk of that time being spent practicing before the Environmental Court. Attorney Sperlazza said what he enjoyed most was the work within the community, meeting with key groups and leaders, developing relationships and troubleshooting the issues plaguing some of the most affected areas.

Sperlazza said he is impressed with the elected officials he has worked with in his career and sees their roles as public servants to be noble ones, not affected by the word that is often stigmatized—"politician."

Justice Brunner started "Achieving Justice" in 2020 during her campaign for the Ohio Supreme Court. The program educates individuals about Ohio's judicial system and the judges and candidates for judge who serve and wish to serve their state and community. A new Achieving Justice interview is to be released each week. All of the 2022 Achieving Justice interviews can be found here: https://www.justicebrunner.com/news. 

“Serving the people and the cause of justice is one of the most important callings in our democratic system,” Justice Brunner said. “I believe that the more information the public has about the courts, their judges, and judicial candidates, the stronger our system is.”

Justice Brunner is a candidate for Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court in 2022.