Dean Mina Jones Jefferson, Esq. is the Assistant Dean and Director of the Center for Professional Development. Dean Jefferson, a former hiring partner at a National Law Journal Top 250 law firm, is one of the few law school career services professionals in the country who has been on both sides of the table. Dean Jefferson practiced commercial litigation for nine years before joining Cincinnati Law and was one of the first African-American women in the region elected to the partnership of a large firm. Students benefit daily from Dean Jefferson's practical experience, model of success and professional network. Her goal is to help students make informed and insightful professional decisions consistent with their personal values. Dean Jefferson's publications include Some Accurate Information is Better than No Information At All: Arguments Against an Exception to the Learned Intermediary Doctrine Based on Direct-to-Consumer Advertising, 78 Or. L. Rev. 605. In addition to promoting the professional development of the College’s student body, Ms. Jefferson is a speaker on the topic of professionalism, has taught Ethics and provided the classroom instruction for the legal extern course. She is active in the community and currently serves, by appointment, on the Ohio Supreme Court Continuing Legal Education Committee.  Her community involvement has included the Children’s Law Center, ProKids and the Cincinnati Bar Foundation, as well as current service on the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati Board of Trustees.  She is also a member of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) Board of Directors and has spoken at prior NALP conferences and programs. 

Dean Jefferson can be reached at 513-556-0075, mina.jefferson@uc.edu.

Sean L. Rhiney is the Public Service Coordinator and Counselor for the College of Law's Center for Professional Development. He has more than twelve years of legal professional experience, including six years of civil, commercial, and intellectual property litigation experience and two years handling attorney professionalism and ethics matters for the General Counsel for the Cincinnati Bar Association (CBA). Sean was also the Director of Attorney Placement at Special Counsel, a legal recruiting firm. Sean's involvement in the Greater Cincinnati community includes active service with the CBA, including the Steering Committee of the Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers (CALL), a joint leadership program convened by the CBA and the College of Law.  Sean's commitment to community will benefit students whose career goal is public service.  He is active as a volunteer with several urban and arts oriented causes, currently serving as Vice President of the Over the Rhine Foundation Board of Trustees, on the Cincinnati Arts Allocation Committee (CAAC), and as the former chair of the Arts & Culture Committee on Mayor Mark Mallory’s Young Professionals Kitchen Cabinet.  He is a graduate of Xavier University and received his J.D. from Chase College of Law.

Sean Rhiney can be reached at 513-556-0900, sean.rhiney@uc.edu.

Prior to joining the CPD, Brooke was an Assistant Commonwealth Attorney for the 54th Judicial Circuit of Kentucky in Boone & Gallatin Counties.  In that role she prosecuted felony cases from indictment through final disposition in Circuit Court. Brooke has also worked as a staff attorney for The Honorable Sheila R. Isaac, Fayette County Circuit Court and as a law clerk in the Post-Conviction Branch of Kentucky's Department of Public Advocacy. She is a 2002 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law.  Brooke is an active member of the Junior League of Cincinnati and serves on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Law Center, Inc. of Northern Kentucky. 

Brooke Hiltz can be reached at 513-556-0072, brooke.hiltz@uc.edu