
Biography
I was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended Notre Dame High School after which I entered Xavier University in 1965, graduating in 1969 with a B. A. Degree in Philosophy. I entered Salmon P. Chase Law School at Northern Kentucky University, graduating in 1975 and after passing the bar, began private practice with a small law firm by the name of Mechley & Mechley. In January of 1976, I tried my first civil jury trial to verdict and in my first 3 years of practice, I tried approximately 40 criminal and civil jury trials. I then started a firm with Warren Ritchey and Tom Keating with whom I practiced until 1985 when I joined the law firm of Lindhorst & Dreidame where I presently am a partner.
I specialize in medical malpractice defense and have tried approximately 200 medical malpractice jury trials in 36 years in 15 different cities in Ohio and Kentucky. I live in Cincinnati with my wife, Jacki, an English Professor at Xavier University. I have four children: Joseph Michael, an attorney who has his own law firm here in Cincinnati, The Lyon Firm; Margaret Catherine, an English teacher who lives in Maine; Matthew, a journalist and writer who lives in South Vietnam; and Zachary James, an attorney with the law firm of Arnold, Todaro & Welch in Columbus, Ohio.
I have been elected by Super Lawyers every year since 2004; have been elected to the Top 50 Lawyers in Cincinnati since 2012, and the top 100 Lawyers in Ohio since 2012.
Representative Clients
- Medical Protective of Ft. Wayne, Indiana
- Preferred Professional Insurance Corp., Omaha, NE
Professional Associations
- American Board of Trial Advocates, Advocate, 1990 to Present
- International Society of Barristers, Fellow, 1995 to Present
Honors
- Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 50 Super Lawyers of Cincinnati, Ohio
- Distinguished Service Award, Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989
- Fellow, International Society of Barristers
Practice Areas:
- Medical Malpractice Defense of Wrongful Death
- Catastrophic Injury
- Product Liability
- Plaintiff's Personal Injury
Education
- Northern Kentucky University, Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Highland Heights, Kentucky
- J.D. - 1975
- Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio
- B.A. - 1969
- Major: English and Philosophy
Bar Admissions
- Ohio, 1975
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio