This week, VanHo Law opened it's new office in Ashland, Ohio.
While we are still ordering furniture and setting up things like internet and phone systems (the basics of law firms), we are excited to get things moving to help better-serve clients in north-cental Ohio.
Between various organizations I have belonged to and over the decades as a prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General, and attorney in private practice, I have traveled to almost all of Ohio's eighty-eight counties. At last check, there are three counties in Ohio along the Ohio River that I have not visited -- but I am sure that will be fixed in the years to come.
I have also practiced before state and federal courts at all levels, from small county municipal courts to the Ohio Supreme Court and United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. These cases have ranged from low-level misdemeanors to death penalty murder cases to family law disputes to complex civil litigation.
I often have lawyers from Akron or Cleveland ask if I feel comfortable handling cases in rural counties, where the legal systems are smaller, there are often fewer options for treatment and services, and where judges and juries tend to be more conservative than their urban counterparts. They act as if I am going to a foreign country to practice law.
The truth is that the judges, prosecutors, court staffs, and folks in those counties are warm and welcoming. Yes, they may be more conservative than their urban counterparts, but that is not always bad. The citizens of those counties supported and voted for those officials to represent their values and perspectives -- just as voters in urban counties voted to support judges, prosecutors, and other officials to represent their values. It's how America works.
But part of why I feel comfortable throughout Ohio is based on my experience. While I was raised on the east side of Cleveland and have lived and practiced law in Cleveland, Akron, Dayton, Columbus, and Philadelphia, I have also spent a great deal of time in rural Ohio.
My family still owns the farms in Paulding County (population 18,755) that have been in my family for generations. I still remember visiting my Grandma, who lived in Tiffin (Senaca County) until well after I was an attorney. My in-laws still own the place on the shores of Lake Erie that they purchased in Ottawa County in the late-1980s.
In addition to these physical and family links, I have also spent a large amount of time traveling and experiencing Ohio. As an avid cyclist, I have ridden in a number of cycling events that have benefited local charities in places like Blufton, Findley, Wooster, and Chardon. I have probably also visited more county fairs than many statewide candidates for office -- although ironically, I have never been to the Ohio State Fair. This does not count the numerous small towns I have stopped in to experience throughout the decades.
Through all of these experiences, I have come to love the people and places in Ohio. I know that there are still corners of Ohio to visit and explore -- more bike trails to travel -- and a few more courthouses to visit.
But when we say "no attorney knows Ohio better," unlike other attorneys, I have the miles on my cars and trucks, docket sheets, and memories to prove the truth of that statement.