About Douglas A.
Douglas A. Ball earned his law degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1990 after completing a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting at the University of Cincinnati in 1986. Earlier training included a diploma in drama, music and performing arts in 1982. His educational background mixes communications and performance training with formal legal study.
He began working in legal settings while still early in his career, serving as a law clerk, legal intern and lawyer at the firm Schuh & Goldberg beginning in 1989. In 1991 he was appointed as a referee and magistrate in the Clermont County Domestic Relations Court, a role that placed him in the middle of family law disputes and courtroom procedure. By 1993 he joined the Clermont County Public Defender’s Office as an assistant public defender and that same year opened his own practice, doing business as Douglas A. Ball, Lawyer at Law.
Ball’s career spans public service and private practice. He has maintained continuous memberships in the Ohio State Bar Association and the Clermont County Bar Association since 1990. He joined the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 1993 and the National Highway Safety Transportation Association in 2000. He added American Bar Association membership in 2017. Since 2012 he has served as chairman of the Domestic Relations Committee of the Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations. Outside the courthouse he works as a docent at the Cincinnati Museum Center.
He holds a certification in field sobriety testing from the National Highway Safety Transportation Association. That credential supports work involving impaired-driving allegations and can be relevant in cases that turn on the reliability of roadside testing.
Ball’s time as a magistrate and as an assistant public defender informs how he approaches courtroom work. The magistrate experience exposed him to the mechanics of family law litigation and the realities judges and court staff contend with. Public defense work provided front-line experience in criminal matters and client advocacy at trial and plea stages.
He continues to practice privately in Clermont County. His office handles matters tied to criminal defense and domestic relations, drawing on experience from both the bench and public defense practice. His current practice focuses on criminal defense and family law matters.
