News

Divorce Court

Judge Toler became the host of "Divorce Court" in 2006.  "Divorce Court" delivers powerful human drama, suspense and resolution, making for a compelling 30 minutes of television.  Each half-hour show features real people and real stories about couples who have already filed for divorce, and agree to have Toler mediate disputes, including household expenses and division of property.  Toler's decisions are legally-binding.

Prior, Judge Lynn Toler graduated from Harvard University and The University of Pennsylvania Law School. She began practicing law in Cleveland in 1984. In 1993, at the age of 33, she was elected judge of The Cleveland Heights Municipal Court. Judge Toler volunteered actively in her community creating innovative programs for young offenders such as Woman Talk, a program designed to intensively mentor young, at-risk girls.

At the same time, Judge Toler also headed the Cleveland Heights Coordinated Community Response to Violence against Women, a countywide initiative for the coordination of community resources to assist women who are victims of violence. She was also active as an advisory board member for Templum House, a battered women's shelter. As a result of her work in the area of domestic violence in 2002, she was awarded The Humanitarian of the Year Award from The Cleveland Domestic Violence Center.

In 2001, Judge Toler became the host of the nationally syndicated show Power of Attorney. During this time Judge Toler started work on her first book and served as a retired judge sitting by assignment in multiple jurisdictions throughout Ohio. In addition, as an adjunct professor at Ursuline College, Judge Toler created and taught courses on Civil Rights Law, and Women and the Law. She was also a frequent instructor for the Ohio Judicial College, where she helped create and taught continuing judicial education course for other judges.

Judge Toler is the author of two books. Her first, "My Mother's Rules: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Emotional Genius" published in 2006, is a humorous memoir in which Judge Lynn recounts a childhood lived in the shadow of mental illness and provides a practical guide to the emotional lesson learned from that experience. Her second book, "Put It In Writing," coauthored with Deborah Hutchison, was published in September, 2009. It gives readers concrete, conflict-free solutions to the difficult situations that arise between family and friends.