Jim is a founding partner of the firm and practices exclusively in the area of family law. His practice includes representation of divorcing spouses, serving as an arbitrator to decide divorce cases, and consulting with attorneys, accountants and valuation experts in complex asset/valuation cases. He has been honored by his peers with his election as a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (1989), an AV rating in the "Martindale-Hubble Legal Directory," inclusion in "The Best Lawyers in America" and the "Martindale-Hubbel Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers," and election as chair of the Family Law Section of the Cuyahoga County Bar Association and President of the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyer.

SPECIAL INTERESTS:
Jim has studied and taught martial arts for over thirty years. He holds a sixth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. His black belt students include attorneys, bankers, accountants, physicians, and other professionals.

LECTURES:
Jim is a frequent presenter at professional education programs. He has lectured on a variety of topics including legal ethics, selection and use of expert witnesses, privilege and child custody litigation, asset tracing, appreciation in value of non-marital assets, standards of value in the appraisal process, divorce considerations in antenuptial agreements, arbitration as a method of alternative dispute resolution, and others. He has served as an instructor to the Ohio Judicial College (issues in business valuations), the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants, (personal and corporate goodwill), and the Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (cross-examination of business appraisal experts). He chaired the Annual Cuyahoga County Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute in 1988, 1989, and 1990, the National Business Institute's Tax Aspects of Divorce in Ohio in 1993, and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (Ohio Chapter) Annual Symposium on Family Law in 1997. Recently, he has lectured for the National Business Institute on evidence (Daubert and divorce litigation), and has served in a discussion panel with Shannon P. Pratt at Business Valuation 2000 presented by the Cuyahoga County Bar Association, The Ohio Business Brokers Advocation, and the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants.