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Who I am at church or in the courtroom or in a real estate closing should be consistent and no different than who I am at an Ohio State football game or a daughter’s field hockey game. (Although I do tend to eat more at a football game than I do in a courtroom.) Occasionally, I carry this to the extreme as my wife, Debbie, or any of my three daughters (Miranda, Natasha and Clarissa) could tell you after living through some of my kitchen table cross examinations (“May the court please instruct the witness to answer the question about why the dog wasn’t taken out this morning?” or “So you’re trying to get this jury to believe that you put the brown mustard in the shopping cart, but that it somehow metamorphosed into yellow salad mustard by the time it got to our refrigerator?”).
I’ve also been an owner of rental real estate since 1991 and understand what it is to work with partners and run a business other than a law practice. I have been, in the past, a National Football League Players Association-certified contract advisor and, as such, can bore anyone with the details of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement and salary cap. As a lawyer and one
whose given his life to Jesus Christ – yes, one can do both – I’ve been asked
and do serve on the boards of two evangelical ministries: Blue Collar
Ministries, led by Dennis Craft and Heart of David
Debbie has worked since 2001 as a teacher at the non-profit Early Learning Center at our church, Stonybrook United Methodist Church. Miranda became Miranda Bring on 7-12-08, upon marrying Ben Bring. Ben is in med school at Virginia Tech, while Miranda received her master's in education from nearby Radford University. They live in Blacksburg, VA. Natasha is a starting field hockey player at the University of Louisville. Clarissa plays lacrosse and field hockey in high school at Columbus Academy.
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I
am an attorney who has been practicing in the Central Ohio area since 1986.
We don’t lead ( I always wanted to use this word) doppelganger lives. At
least we shouldn’t lead doppelganger lives (there, I’ve used it again).
Our professional lives and personal lives should reflect our true core values
and beliefs. 
My
patient, forbearing family and I live in Gahanna, Ohio a suburb of Columbus.
I graduated from Ohio State in 1979 and became a journalist. Deb and I
married in 1984. In 1986, I graduated with honors from the Ohio State
School of Law (now known as the Moritz School of Law). Since 1986 I have
been a litigator in the area of civil law. Although as a civil litigator
I’ve handled a wide variety of matters, I’ve primarily litigated in the
commercial arena, handling virtually any kind of dispute originating out of
contract. This includes employment disputes, which includes disputes over
covenants not to compete and trade secrets. It also includes real estate
disputes, including buyer-seller disputes, construction disputes and
tenant-landlord issues. It also includes disputes between partners,
shareholders and members of the same business. Believe
it or not, a large chunk of my practice has dealt with arguments over the inner
workings and dealings of folks who are in business together.
Along with
litigating the validity, meaning and enforceability of contracts of all kinds,
my practice has evolved into a general business practice where I actually form,
review and negotiate contracts. I have been involved in the negotiations
and sales of businesses, real estate and miscellaneous items from airplanes to
laboratories to intellectual property. 
Ministries, led by former
professional wrestler Ted DiBiase. (See Photo -->)