Fund seeks to support female law students, honor memory of Jodi Tomaszewski

Aug. 21—Jodi Tomaszewski was the first female partner at the Dworken & Bernstein law firm in Painesville, and in her memory, her husband Jeff and others are working to fund a scholarship for female law students at her alma mater.

The Jodi Littman Tomaszewski Memorial Scholarship Fund, or JLT Fund, was established shortly after the 48-year-old wife, mother and practicing attorney died in June 2021. Jeff said that the fund is looking to raise $300,000 in order to create an annual $15,000 scholarship at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. The scholarship will be awarded to a female L2 or L3 law student.

"The scholarship is designed to be given to a female law student who exhibits the skill, dedication and qualities that Jodi so ably represented during her time as a lawyer," said Richard Selby, an attorney at law at Dworken & Bernstein.

Selby, who worked with Jodi for more than 20 years, added, "I am proud to have called her my partner and am excited to be able to help create a scholarship fund that will carry her legacy forward for many years to come."

"We're just looking for somebody who's very passionate about, not only law, but more importantly about changemaking, because Jodi, like I said, was the first female law partner," Jeff explained. "She was very independent, very outgoing, but she knew what she wanted and she was very driven."

Jeff said that Jodi grew up in New Athens, a small town in Southeastern Ohio. In high school, she was the valedictorian from a class with 99 students and was also involved in mock trial, where Jeff said she developed her love for the law.

After high school, she moved to Cleveland to attend Case Western, where she met Jeff during what was her junior year and his freshman year. Jeff noted that she began pre-law studies during her freshman year and graduated with her bachelor's degree in 1995. She then spent a year as a law clerk before continuing with law school, graduating with her Juris Doctorate degree in 1999.

After law school, Jodi began working with Dworken & Bernstein, where Jeff said she was involved with real estate and business transactions. She became a partner in 2007.

"Now there's multiple female law partners, but she was the first," Jeff said. "Growing up in a business of, you know, mostly male-dominated, opinionated, high level, you know, attorneys, she really set her path going through that, so that was awesome."

"She was one of the finest lawyers, finest person and best friend I've had the pleasure of knowing," Selby said. "She was the epitome of professionalism...Working in that business world, the vast majority of her clients and the people she worked with on the other side of deals were men, most of whom were significantly older than her. She invariably won their respect with her skill and work ethic."

Outside of her work as an attorney, Jodi also loved concerts and Cleveland sports, as noted on the fund's website. She had three daughters, and because they played volleyball in the Riverside Local School District, she volunteered as an officer for the Riverside Volleyball Booster Club.

Jeff said that, following Jodi's unexpected death in 2021, the idea for a scholarship fund came from Dione DeMitro, then the funeral director at DeJohn Funeral Home and now the CEO of United Way of Lake County.

Jeff added that they raised around $34,000 in their first week.

So far, the JLT Fund has already awarded $160,000 to the school. Jeff said that individual and corporate donors have contributed, including Dworken & Bernstein and Jeff's company, Max Strength Fitness.

He added that the scholarship's organizers have also been involved with two fundraising events. In September 2021, they received support from Riverside High School's Volley for the Cause, where they presented Case Western's law school with a $100,000.

In July 2022, the JLT Fund organized a golf scramble and casino night at Little Mountain Country Club. Jeff said that the fund raised $105,000 at the event and presented a $60,000 check to the law school.

The fund's next major event will be on Nov. 5 at Nuevo Modern Mexican & Tequila Bar, located at 1000 E. 9 St. in Downtown Cleveland. According to Jeff, the event will include "a dinner, dancing, auction, baskets and different things just to celebrate Jodi again."

His goal is to present another $40,000 this year to bring the total committed funds to $200,000. He then hopes to fund the final $100,000 next year.

Once the scholarship is ready, Jeff said that a panel consisting of himself, Selby and individuals selected by the university will review applications.

"It'll be a female law student who's very altruistic and very, you know, looking to make an impact in people's lives and who is very philanthropic, very outgoing," Jeff said.

He added, "Jodi was unlike anybody else where I know she could cultivate relationships all the way from elementary school to high school to college to professional to attorney to neighborhood to boosters to anything and just have a tremendous amount of people around her."

Jodi was also recently honored by the Lake County Bar Association, where Jeff said she served on the Law Day Committee. For the 2022 Law Day breakfast, the association's President's Award was renamed the Jodi Litman Tomaszewski Award.

The JLT Fund is overseen by a board of directors including Jeff, Selby and a group of nine people described by Jeff as "independent, strong-minded, strong-willed, entrepreneur-minded business women...[in] the same vein as Jodi."

Individuals interested in learning more about the JLT Fund can visit thejltfund.org.