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Longtime sole practitioner to receive Professionalism Award
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: November 16, 2018
The legal field has undergone numerous changes since attorney Robert H. Brown first began practicing in 1965, but colleagues say his commitment to his clients and desire to uphold the standards of the profession remain the same.
“Bob is an amazing advocate for his clients and he does so while maintaining professional behavior at all times,” said retired Summit County Domestic Relations Court Judge Carol Dezso. “Bob never tries to portray the attorney on the other side as an enemy or take advantage of an attorney’s youth or inexperience.
“He comes to court well prepared, is dignified at all times and never engages in bad behavior,” she said. “Bob has been practicing for over 50 years and I have never heard another lawyer or judge say a bad word about him and that’s an amazing reputation to have when you have been in practice as long as he has.”
Over the years, Brown has mentored many young attorneys, including Judge Dezso.
“Bob was opposing counsel on my very first case as a domestic relations attorney,” she said. “He was so kind afterwards. He told me that if I ever needed a question answered or any other advice to give him a call.”
Domestic relations attorney John Dohner, who has shared office space with Brown for the last 20 years, said Brown was one of his early mentors.
“He gave me great advice as a young attorney and now that we share office space we bounce ideas off one another all the time,” said Dohner. “Bob not only offers solid legal advice but he provides practical tips as to how the case might play out in court and how I might want to deal with my client in the particular situation.”
Brown’s reputation for “taking the high road” and mentoring new attorneys are two of the qualities that Judge Dezso plans to discuss in her speech at the Fairlawn Country Club on Nov. 28, where Brown will be honored as this year’s Professionalism Award recipient.
The Akron Bar Association Board of Trustees established the Professionalism Award in 1996. This year the name was changed to the Bradford M. “Buck” Gearinger Professionalism Award in memory of the late attorney, who was a past president and award recipient.
In 2017 the Akron Bar Foundation received a gift of almost $700,000 from Gearinger’s estate to be used to promote professionalism and programming within the bar association, including the renaming of the award.
Brown said when he first learned that he was selected to receive the Bradford M. “Buck” Gearinger Professionalism Award, he was “completely blindsided” by the news.
“You could have knocked me over with a feather,” said Brown. “Receiving the award is the icing on the cake of my entire career.
“When I think about professionalism, I think it’s more of a lifestyle choice,” said Brown. “I have always treated people the way I want to be treated. I am easy going and I try to get along with everyone.”
A native of Akron, Brown graduated from Buchtel High School. He spent his first year of college at Ohio University before transferring to The University of Akron, where he received a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Brown became interested in pursuing a legal career while taking a business law course at The University of Akron.
“There were multiple lawyers living in my area who all seemed to be doing well and I talked to a few of them,” he said. “They helped me realize that a law degree provided a number of options because you could use it to work in the public or private sector or in government.”
After receiving his juris doctor from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, he moved back to Akron and started his own practice.
In the beginning, Brown handled a wide variety of matters, but by 1974 he was primarily focusing on domestic relations and debt collection.
“In the 1990s I stopped taking debt collection cases and focused exclusively on family law,” Brown said.
He said while debt collection work was lucrative, he prefers family law because he “likes being part of a solution.”
A member of the Akron Bar Association since 1965, Brown has served as a moderator for the Akron Bar Association’s annual Bernard I. Rosen Domestic Relations Institute CLE for 12 years.
Brown has been certified by the Ohio State Bar Association as a specialist in family relations law since 1999.
“When I first became certified, John Dohner and I were the only attorneys in Summit County who were certified,” said Brown. “Now there are more of us.
“After I got the certification I was asked to join the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, which was a real honor,” he said.
Brown said he spends a good deal of time staying up to date on new case law and procedures.
Social media is now a factor in his cases and Brown said he often finds himself poring over text messages and reading posts as part of his search for evidence in divorce and child custody matters.
“Sometimes the messages and posts help the case and other times they hurt the case,” he said.
Brown said he has fired a number of clients, who refused to follow his advice.
“I’m known for telling my clients ‘I am not going to let you make the worst year of your life the worst year of my life.’”
Randal A. Lowry, an attorney at Randal A. Lowry & Associates said Brown is both a mentor and a sounding board.
“The most important thing Bob taught me is how to get to the bottom line quickly without getting emotionally involved,” said Randal, who has served as opposing counsel on many of Brown’s cases over the years. “Bob is always extremely well prepared and he knows the case and the issues very well.
“Bob has many wonderful sayings,” he said. “He often tells clients ‘you can be mean and miserable and fight every issue and pay me $50,000 and at the end of the day divide everything equally or you can be cooperative and pay me $5,000 for the same result.”
Randal A. Lowry & Associates attorneys Mora Lowry and Adam Morris said Brown has been a mentor to them as well, encouraging them to call with questions when they need assistance.
“Bob would do anything for any one of us,” said Randal. “You could call him at 3 a.m. and he would be there to help.”
Brown, whose office is located in Akron, said he recently cut back on his schedule and now works between 30 to 35 hours a week.
“I enjoy the law but I have other interests as well,” he said. “I ride motorcycles and I work out five days a week as I have done since I was a teenager.”
Dohner said Brown is a role model for other attorneys seeking work-life balance.
“Bob is a creature of habit,” said Dohner. “He gets into the office at 6:30 in the morning and is calling clients by 6:45 a.m. He cares deeply for his clients and works very hard during the day, but when he leaves the office he does not take the stress of his cases with him.”
At age 78, Brown said he has no plans to retire.
“I will continue to take on cases as long as I am in good health,” he said. “I want to go out while I’m on top so I tell my friends if you see me slipping, let me know.”
To register to attend the Nov. 28 Professionalism Award dinner, go to (https://www.akronbar.org/index.cfm?pg=events&evAction=showDetail&eid=64271&evSubAction=listMonth&calmonth=201811).