Judge Sara Lioi, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, announced that Michael J. Hendershot began his service as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Judge Hendershot was nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the Court. He replaces District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan, who assumed senior status in October 2023.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Hendershot served as Chief Deputy Solicitor General in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. His practice focused on matters before the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, he was in private practice with the Vorys law firm, where he practiced appellate and general litigation. Before Vorys, he clerked for Justice Terrence O’Donnell at the Supreme Court of Ohio, worked at a law firm in Phoenix, and clerked for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Hendershot is a past chair of the OSBA Appellate Practice Committee and served on the board that certifies lawyers as appellate specialists. He earned his B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University (Valedictorian) in 1997, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia (Order of the Coif) in 2001.