The Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law will host its annual Goldman Lecture featuring acclaimed attorney Bobbi Sternheim, lead counsel in United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell and current counsel for music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs on Wednesday, April 3.

The event is free and open to the public and will be held in ONU’s Tilton Hall, Room 129 at 11 a.m. Her speech is titled, “Time Served: Reflections on a Career in Criminal Defense.” 

Described as “fearless,” Sternheim is the first (and only) woman recipient of the New York Criminal Bar Association's Award for Excellence in the Profession. She holds Top Secret/SCI Clearance and has represented many high-profile defendants charged with heinous crimes. For example, in 2015, she defended al-Qaeda member Khalid al-Fawwaz, who was charged with participating in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa that killed 224 people. Then in 2016, she represented another member of al-Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate who was accused of plotting to bomb Heathrow airport in London. 

Among her other notable criminal cases, Sternheim has tried international organized crime and racketeering conspiracies, international terrorism offenses, international telemarketing fraud, capital murder, and interstate transport of pornographic media. She has represented federal defendants charged with death-eligible offenses as both lead and learned counsel, and persuaded the Attorney General of the United States to deauthorize a federal death penalty case. 

Her notable civil cases include a gender discrimination suit against the Mission of Saudi Arabia, a financial interpleader action against Imelda Marcos, and a medical malpractice suit against the United States Bureau of Prisons.

In addition to her law degree, Sternheim holds a master's in forensic psychology and an LL.M in Advocacy. She has been named a New York Super Lawyer and is "AV" peer-review rated by Martindale-Hubbell. She is also a fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers. 

Sternheim has taught advocacy on a local, national and international level, including as director of Cardozo Law School's Trial Advocacy Program. In addition to adjunct professorships at Stetson College of Law and Pace Law School, she has served as a faculty member of the Federal CJA Trial Skills Academy, a supervisor in Cardozo's Criminal Appeals Clinic, and has taught at Stetson's Oxford, UK Program. 

The Goldman Lecture is the second of three spring lectures hosted by the College of Law. The final lecture, the Kormendy Lecture, is slated for Thursday, April 25th and will be a Sports Law Symposium entitled, “Beyond the Field: Navigating the Changing Legal Landscape of College Athletics.”