Meet the Honorees

Janet is a member of a CSU/LAW legacy family that consists of her sister, Nona M. Burney, PhD, CSU/LAW Class of 1981 and 2017 Hall of Fame Inductee. Nona has been her lifelong role model.

Since 2022, Janet has been the General Counsel, Deputy General Manager for Legal Affairs, and Chief Legal, Ethics and Safety Officer for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA). She joined GCRTA in 2012 as Senior Counsel for Contracts and Real Estate and later that year became Deputy General Counsel for Administrative, Labor and Transactional Law.

Janet’s “superpower” has been amassing extensive legal experience in various areas – litigation, labor and employment, contracts and real estate, public sector law and administrative matters. She has criminal and civil jury trial experience in both state and federal courts and has argued before the Ohio 8th District and U.S. Sixth Circuit Courts of Appeals, as well as before the Ohio Supreme Court. Janet served the City of Cleveland as Chief Assistant Director of Law for the Labor and Employment Litigation Section.

In 1998, Janet became the first African American female elected as Judge to the Juvenile Court bench in Cuyahoga County.

Janet earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Skidmore College.

Her commitment to the community is demonstrated through her history of service on various boards and commissions including the St. Luke’s Foundation, the Fund for Our Economic Future, the Health Trustee Institute, Caritas Health System, the Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Bar Associations and Public Defender Commission. She is a life member and honorary trustee of the CSU Law Alumni Association. Janet is also a member of Alpha Kappa Sorority. Inc.

Janet is the recipient of the 2003 “Spirit of Women” award from the National Council of Negro Women, Inc., Cuyahoga County Section. In 2000, she received the Ebony Rose Award for Civic Affairs from the Murtis H. Taylor Multi-Service Center.

Peter Klein is in private practice in South Florida, where he specializes in mergers and acquisitions and executive compensation. Prior to starting his practice in 2015, Peter spent 15 years as a partner and general counsel at Brockway Moran & Partners, a private equity firm based in Boca Raton, Florida, and he continued in that role until Brockway Moran & Partners was wound up in 2020. Before that, he was the general counsel and a Managing Director at Trivest, a Miami-based private equity firm, where he spent 14 years. After graduating from CSU|Law, Peter completed an LL.M. in Taxation at New York University, and then joined Guren, Merritt, Feibel, Sogg and Cohen as a tax associate in their Cleveland office. Peter grew up in Cleveland and Lorain and both he and his wife, Jennifer, have family roots in Northeast Ohio. His late cousin, Sylvia Klein Adler, was a 1943 graduate of the then Cleveland Law School and inspired Peter to attend CSU|Law. The late Steve Steinglass recruited Peter to serve on the predecessor body of what is now the Board of Visitors in 2007 and he has served since then alongside various other members of the Class of 1981 – a class that is strongly represented on the Board of Visitors. Peter has been a speaker and panelist at various professional conferences relating to mergers and acquisitions, has been a guest speaker in business school classes teaching private equity and in law firm associate training programs, and has actively mentored many young private equity professionals and lawyers. Peter and Jennifer live in Gulf Stream, Florida, with their small army of cats.

Becky became President and CEO of the Cleveland Leadership Center in July 2024, where she leads civic education, leadership development, and engagement programs that strengthen Greater Cleveland’s leadership capacity. A graduate of Leadership Cleveland 2018 and Cleveland Bridge Builders 2008, she is guided by a mission to live with purpose, build meaningful relationships, and champion the possibilities of tomorrow. Previously, Becky served a decade as CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. Her legal career includes roles as General Counsel for Cuyahoga Community College, Deputy General Counsel for KeyBank National Association, and litigation associate at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff. Her commitment to service extends to board leadership. Becky is Chair of the Board of Directors for First Federal Lakewood and a founding Director of First Mutual Holding Co. She has also contributed to nonprofit boards including the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital Foundation, Lake Ridge Academy, and the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.

Elmer J. Whiting Jr. (Cleveland-Marshall Class of 1955) was a pioneering attorney-CPA whose trailblazing career expanded opportunities in both the legal and accounting professions. In 1950, he became the first African American Certified Public Accountant in Ohio. After earning his law degree from Cleveland-Marshall in 1955, he became one of the nation’s earliest African American attorney-CPAs. In 1971, he achieved another historic milestone as the first Black partner at Ernst & Ernst (now Ernst & Young).

Elmer’s influence extended far beyond his own professional accomplishments. In 1980, he served as President of the American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants (AAA-CPA), helping to shape the profession on a national level. Colleagues remembered him not only for his excellence, but also for his generosity as a mentor who opened “doors we did not know were closed” and removed obstacles “we did not know were there.” His commitment to service was equally evident through his leadership with the Eliza Bryant Center, Cleveland Play House, Karamu House, and Blacks in Management.

At the heart of Elmer’s life was his family. He was devoted to his wife, Carmel Whiting, and their sons, Elmer III (Jerry), David, and Steven. His legacy lives on through the generations of professionals he inspired, the institutions he strengthened, and the enduring contributions of the Whiting family. Elmer Whiting’s life remains a testament to excellence, integrity, and the enduring power of opening doors for others.

Robin Wilson is a business litigation partner at UB Greensfelder LLP with 30 years of experience as a trial lawyer. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Robin spent a decade as a television journalist, covering high-profile trials and government proceedings. During that time, Robin also worked as a private detective with a Baltimore-based investigative firm and later handled media relations for a Chicago law firm; experiences that helped shape the decision to pursue a legal career. Robin graduated with honors from CSU|Law in 1996. Since then, Robin has built a distinguished litigation career, serving as a Stark County Assistant Prosecutor, a litigation partner at Thompson Hine, and as Chief Trial Counsel for the Cuyahoga County Executive. A recognized leader in commercial and real estate litigation, Robin has been named to The Best Lawyers in America for multiple years and twice honored as “Lawyer of the Year” in Cleveland for Real Estate Litigation. Robin is an Ohio Super Lawyer, a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, and a recipient of the Law360 Burton Award for Legal Achievement in Writing. Deeply committed to CSU|Law, Robin has remained actively engaged through leadership in the Alumni Association, the CSU|Law Board of Visitors, and teaching First Amendment law as an adjunct professor.

Ashley Jones is a co-owner and partner at Cleveland’s premier woman owned criminal defense law firm, AJLJ Law. She is dedicated to representing individuals accused of crimes with the utmost dignity, diligence and tenacity and handles criminal defense matters across Northeast Ohio and beyond. Ashley founded Ashley Jones Law upon her graduation from CSU Law in 2011 and was honored to form AJLJ Law in 2022. She was the Coordinator of the Solo Practice Incubator at CSU Law for several years and is passionate about helping lawyers launch a law practice. Ashley is past member of the Board of Directors for the Cleveland Metropolitan Board of Directors as well as a past Chair of the Solo/Small Firm Section. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation. She is also a past President of the CSU Law Alumni Association and is the current President of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.