Madeline J. Rettig

Maddie Rettig is a plaintiffs’ side civil rights attorney with Marshall Forman & Schlein LLC who has been with the firm since 2018. Her practice areas include police misconduct, prison conditions, First Amendment, malicious prosecutions, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, sexual harassment, as well as other civil rights and employment issues.

Maddie’s primary practice consists of constitutional litigation, as she strives to achieve justice and equal opportunity for individuals through the civil legal system. Maddie’s recent cases include protestors’ rights (leading to a permanent injunction against the Columbus Division of Police restricting the types of force officers can use against peaceful protestors), police excessive force, wrongful deaths of incarcerated individuals, and disability discrimination against individuals with “invisible” disabilities, in both employment and housing.

Maddie received her J.D., cum laude, from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where she earned the Labor and Employment Academic Achievement Award and designation as a Public Service Fellow for completing over 100 hours of pro bono work. In law school, Maddie received CALI Excellence Awards in the Civil Law Clinic (for her work on a First Amendment prisoner’s rights case) and Employee Benefits. She also served as the Chief Articles Editor for the Ohio State Law Journal. Maddie received her B.A. from Ohio University in Anthropology and Political Science (Pre-Law), magna cum laude, and a Certificate in Law, Justice & Culture.

Before joining the firm, Maddie served as a judicial extern for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, researching complex legal issues, drafting bench memoranda, recommending outcomes in cases pending before the court, and attending appellate hearings. She worked in the public sector for people on death row, wrongfully convicted persons, and low-income individuals experiencing the criminal justice system. She also worked for a non-profit organization facilitating rehabilitative programs for people in prison.

Maddie was named to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for 2021–2026 in Civil Rights and awarded the 2023 Rising Litigator Award by the Ohio State Bar Association. She has also published two articles on protestors’ rights and remote work as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.