Alonda Bush

Alonda Ann Bush joined Ohio Legal Group in May 2025, bringing nearly a decade of criminal defense experience and a deep commitment to advocating for underserved and vulnerable populations. 

 

Ms. Bush serves as a criminal defense attorney, with a career distinguished by high-stakes litigation, appellate advocacy, and dedication to justice reform.

Ms. Bush is licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio and is admitted to all Ohio state courts. She has appeared in Municipal, Common Pleas, and Appellate Courts throughout the state.

 

Experience.

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Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Bush served as an Assistant Public Defender in Portage County, where she managed a felony court docket and the Drug Court docket.  Her caseload included trial litigation in matters involving murder, rape, felonious assault, weapons charges, DUI/OVI, domestic violence, and trafficking offenses.  She also researched, briefed, and argued appellate issues before the Eleventh District Court of Appeals.

From 2018 to 2020, she worked as an Assistant Public Defender in Cuyahoga County, where she managed both municipal court and felony arraignment dockets, focusing on domestic violence, DUI/OVI, and vehicular homicide.  Ms. Bush also worked in academia, serving as an Academic Support Specialist at Cleveland State University’s College of Law, assisting law students with legal skills and academic development.

Earlier in her legal career, she operated a solo practice focused on criminal defense, child custody, and small business litigation.  She also previously served as a Senior Law Clerk at Milano Attorneys at Law, preparing motions and legal memoranda in both civil and criminal matters.

Before practicing law, Ms. Bush worked in social services as a Case Worker for Frontline Services, where she provided outreach and care coordination for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use diagnoses.

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Education & Training.

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Ms. Bush earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University in 2016, where she served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Gavel and received the Suggs I. Garber Award. She also received  CALI  Excellence for the Future Awards for her performance in Taxation of Business Enterprises and Agency and Partnership.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice with dual minors in Psychology and Sociology from Baldwin-Wallace College.

Ms. Bush is certified in Standardized Field Sobriety Testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2019) and is a trained mentor through the Ohio Supreme Court Mentor Program.

 

Selected Speaking Engagements & Involvement

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- 2022–2023 – Driver Intervention Program Instructor, Streetsboro, Ohio

- 2018–Present – Chair of Publications Committee, Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (OACDL)
- Frequent presenter at OACDL seminars across Ohio on DUI/OVI defense, motion practice, and trial tactics

 

- 2024 – Recipient of the President’s Award, OACDL

 

- 2018–Present – Member, Cuyahoga County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

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- 2022–Present – Board Member, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries (LMM)
  - Member of the Housing & Shelter and Governance Advisory Boards
  - Works on budgeting, policy, and criminal justice reentry programs

 

Notable Appellate Cases

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- State v. Turner, 2025-Ohio-892 – Pre-indictment delay; dismissal affirmed on appeal

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- State v. Tyers, 2024-Ohio-5436 – Trial court lacked jurisdiction; reversal obtained on appeal