Mastondrea, Christian R.

Attorney Susan Gaetano Maruca is a Senior Partner and Chief Operating Officer of The Maruca Law Firm, LLC, with offices in Youngstown, Warren, and Lisbon, Ohio.  Attorney Maruca is a graduate of Villa Maria High School and received her Bachelors Degree at the University of Pittsburgh, a student of the University’s Honors College.  She worked as a law clerk for Judge Leo Morley in the Mahoning County Probate Court during that time. She received her Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law in 1994, and served as President of the Student Body.  While in law school she worked at Neighborhood Legal Services in Pittsburgh, a non-profit organization providing free legal services to low income families.  She also held a judicial clerkship with Judge Lawrence Kaplan of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.  Attorney Maruca was admitted to the Ohio State Bar Association and the Florida State Bar Association in 1994 and 1995.

In 1994, Attorney Maruca returned to Youngstown to open her law practice.  In 1998 she merged her practice to form Betras, Maruca & Kopp, LLC which became Betras, Maruca, Kopp & Harshman, LLC.  She served as a Senior Partner and Chief Operating Officer until September 2010 when she formed The Maruca Law Firm.

With offices in downtown Youngstown, Warren, and Lisbon, Ohio, Attorney Maruca provides legal support for families who are preparing for, or have experienced the death of a family member.  She is a legal advocate for individuals with physical and developmental disabilities, as well as those suffering from mental illness.  She provides legal support to families and schools building educational programs and obtaining benefits for special needs students.  She offers assistance to non-profit organizations to develop programs and obtain grants.

Attorney Maruca handles guardianships, wills, estates, special needs trusts, private, foster-care and international adoptions.  She also handles legal matters on Appeal to both the Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Ohio.  Attorney Maruca works extensively as a political fundraiser for both local and State-wide campaigns.  She was the Ohio Democratic Party’s Attorney-Liaison for the 2010 General Election Voter Protection Program in Mahoning County.

Attorney Maruca presently serves on both the Grievance Committee and the Campaign Ethics Committee of the Mahoning County Bar Association.  She serves as a Chair of the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the Mahoning County Bar Association. Attorney Maruca is the Legal Director of Youngstown Christian School’s Autism Program.  She is also the Local Coordinator of the Mahoning County Special Olympics.   Attorney Maruca previously served on the Board of Trustees for the Rich Center for the Study and Treatment of Autism at Youngstown State University.  She is on the Board of Trustees for the Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana, Inc. (OCCHA).  She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Florida State Bar Association, the Mahoning County Bar Association, the Trumbull County Bar Association and the Columbiana County Bar Association.