Christopher G. "Chris" Keim

As chair of the firm’s Business Practice Area, Rocco I. Debitetto counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a variety of matters pertinent to all phases of business operations. He has been involved in a variety of commercial transactions from all sides of the table, including asset sales and acquisitions, business start-ups, significant contract negotiations, and commercial and asset-based financings. Several businesses further look to Rocco on a regular basis as their outs...

With over 30 years of experience, Jim litigates negligence, product liability, toxic tort, employer intentional tort, insurance, commercial, and construction related claims in federal and state trial courts, as well as state appellate court. His liability defense concentration includes personal injury, property damage, construction defects, product liability, and general litigation. Jim has achieved the highest ranking, AV Preeminent®, from Martindale-Hubbell® and has been listed as a...

Howard Bobrow is chair of Taft's Venture Capital and Emerging Companies practice. His practice is primarily devoted to mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture capital. Howard is a trusted advisor to private equity funds, venture capital funds, and emerging growth companies. He counsels private equity and venture capital funds and other institutional investors, as well as angel investors, on all aspects of acquisitions, dispositions, capital formation, and private placements. How...

Wade Fricke has practiced management-side labor and employment law since 1989. He was one of three attorneys who founded the Cleveland office of the firm. Prior to joining the firm, Wade was a partner in Cleveland’s oldest law firm, and before that, he worked for the Cleveland office of a national full-service law firm.Wade represents companies of all sizes across the country in virtually all aspects of employee relations in union and non-union settings. In both settings, Wade’s p...

DAVID H. WALLACE is a partner in the Cleveland office of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. Mr. Wallace is Co-Chair of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, practicing in the area of complex business litigation, intellectual property litigation, employment litigation and construction law. He earned his B.A. degree from Middlebury College, and his J.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Mr. Wallace is a former trustee of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Associatio...

Jeffrey W. Van Wagner is the Managing Shareholder of BSPH. His career as a litigator and trial attorney has now spanned three decades. He is a 1979 graduate of Case Western Reserve School of Law and has extensive litigation and trial experience in the areas of nursing home liability, medical malpractice defense of physicians and institutions, and product liability. He has extensive experience in defending physicians and institutions where opioid prescription practices are at issue and is well...

John Polito (Of Counsel) is one of the founders of the firm. His practice is devoted to the defense of medical malpractice claims against physicians and hospitals. Mr. Polito has been the lead trial attorney in excess of seventy-five jury trials. His trial experience has covered almost all of the recognized medical specialties. Mr. Polito has been a frequent lecturer to medical residents on the subject of medical malpractice litigation. In addition, he has presented several continuing educati...

John Q. Lewis is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation. John Q., who practices law in Cleveland, Ohio, has been recognized since 2013. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which John Q. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Jim Vail joined the Firm in 1979 and has been a Partner since 1986. He served as the Firm's Managing Partner from 1996 through 2019. Jim primarily counsels businesses, nonprofit and health care organizations in all aspects of their operations, including formations, mergers and organizations, joint ventures, contracting, and succession planning. Jim argued a case before the United States Supreme Court where he obtained a unanimous favorable decision. Spectrum Sports, Inc. v. McQuillan, 506 U.S...

Diane Calta is a key member of the firm’s civil litigation and real estate and land use practice groups, bringing over 25 years of legal experience in municipal law, economic development, litigation, real estate, eminent domain, and probate and estate planning. She currently serves as Director of Law for Mayfield Village and as special legal counsel for the City of Independence. Her previous roles include serving as Director of Law for the cities of Beachwood and Green. Diane has also h...