James D. Robenalt

Overview Focus Areas Experience Publications Distinctions Professional and Civic Credentials Recent Insights Email PDFJim is a partner in Thompson Hines Business Litigation practice group. He has been named as one of Americas Leading Lawyers in the Chambers USA: Americas Leading Lawyers for Business. Jim has consistently been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and has been selected for inclusion in Ohio Super Lawyers® through a process that includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. Since 2000, Jim has won major trials and arbitrations in complex litigation involving over $161 million. He has also defended major construction cases, tax cases and professional malpractice cases. Jim has partnered with John W. Dean, Nixons White House Counsel, to create a national continuing education program entitled The Watergate CLE. See www.watergatecle.com. Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® for 15 years or longer. Focus Areas Business Litigation>Construction>Life Sciences>Experience Plus icon Major Contract Litigation Lead counsel to Solvay in Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; American Arbitration Association ($68 million award to Solvay); award confirmation in the U. S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio (confirmed); appeal to U. S. Sixth (affirmed at 442 F.3d 471). Lead counsel, Skurka Aerospace v. Eaton Aerospace LLC, United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio (jury trial) (contract dispute) Lead counsel, Three Rivers Orthopaedic & Spine Products, Inc. v. Villers, United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio (non-compete contract dispute) (grant of preliminary injunction) Trade Secret Litigation Co-lead counsel to Avery Dennison in Avery Dennison v. Four Pillars; U. S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio ($80.1 million jury verdict for Avery Dennison including attorney fees); appeal to U. S. Sixth Circuit (affirmed) Avery Dennison Corporation v. Four Pillars Enterprises Co., 45 Fed. Appx. 479 (6th Cir. 2002). This civil case followed the first prosecution under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, United States v. Yang, et al., 281 F.3d 534 (6th Cir. 2002), 144 Fed. Appx. 521(6th Cir. 2006). Related lawsuits filed in Taiwan and the Peoples Republic of China are pending. Lead counsel Poly One Corporation v. Kutka, United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio (jury trial and verdict) Lead counsel Poly One Corporation v. Yun Martin Lu, et al., United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois Tax Litigation Litigation counsel for Fortune 20 company in connection with a $500 million plus investment tax credit dispute with IRS involving telecommunications. Professional Malpractice Litigation counsel to major accounting firm involving $30 million claim for services and $500 million counterclaim for accounting and consulting malpractice. Litigation counsel representing major Chicago and Cleveland law firms in attorney malpractice actions; also litigation counsel on behalf of former clients suing major Cleveland law firm on attorney malpractice claim. Construction Litigation counsel on $200 million TRW headquarters facility (Lyndhurst, Ohio), Benedictine High School renovation, and Gateway Development Corporation. Litigation counsel to owner of Pierrepont Office Tower in Brooklyn, New York, involving dispute with tenant, Morgan Stanley, over readiness of building to accept worldwide computer operations. Arbitration counsel to owner of Liberty Center Office Tower and Vista Hotel Tower in Pittsburgh. Litigation and arbitration counsel to owner and developer of Tower City Avenue, Ritz-Carlton and Skylight Office Towers. Litigation counsel to general contractors on various water and wastewater treatment facilities in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Youngstown, Ohio. Arbitrator Experience Arcelor Mittal USA Inc. v. The Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company, AAA (contract dispute). The Drees Company v. Barson, AAA (contract dispute). Miscellaneous Construction Cases, AAA (contract disputes). Publications Plus icon Author, Ballots and Bullets, Black Power Politics and Urban Guerrilla Warfare in 1968 Cleveland, Chicago Review Press, 2018 The Presidents and The Constitution, A Living History, New York University Press, 2016, Gormley ed. (contributed Harding chapter) Author, January 1973, Watergate, Roe v Wade, Vietnam, and the Month That Changed America Forever, Chicago Review Press, 2015 Author, The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage During the Great War, Palgrave/Macmillan, 2009 Author, Linking Rings, W. W. Durbin and the Magic and Mystery of America, Kent State University Press, 2004 Contributor to History News Network, Huffington Post, Politico, Washington Post, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Time, Newsweek Distinctions Plus icon AV® Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2006 for Commercial Litigation, Litigation-Construction, and Litigation and Controversy-Tax; named the Best Lawyers® 2015 and 2025 Litigation-Construction Lawyer of the Year in Cleveland Selected to the Ohio Super Lawyers list, 2004-2023 Selected as a Leading Lawyer for Inside Business magazine, 2007 to 2010 Selected for inclusion in the Top 100 Ohio Super Lawyers for 2007 (Lawyers who received the highest point totals in the 2007 Super Lawyers balloting, research and blue ribbon review process.) Selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: Americas Leading Lawyers for Business, Litigation, Ohio, 2009 to present Listed as a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation, 2012 to 2025 Professional and Civic Plus icon Professional Associations Judicial Candidates Rating Coalition, chair, five bar associations Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Board of Trustees 2003 to 2006; former chair of the Judicial Selection Committee American Arbitration Association, Panel Member, 2022 Appointment to Merit Selection Committee by U. S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, for selection of U. S. Magistrate Judge Continuing Legal Education Programs Watergate I, Obstruction of Justice, www.watergate CLE.com Watergate II, Cancer on the Presidency, www.watergate CLE.com Watergate III, Reporting Up and Reporting Out Under Model Rule 1.13, www.watergate CLE.com The Nixon Court, Vetting Supreme Court Justices, www.watergate CLE.com 37 Conversations, John Dean and Richard Nixon, www.watergate CLE.com Implicit Bias, Ballots and Bullets, www.ballotsandbullets.com Credentials Plus icon Education The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law, J. D., 1981, Order of the Coif Miami University, A. B., 1978, Phi Beta Kappa Bar Admissions Ohio Court Admissions U. S. District Court for the District of Colorado U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio U. S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit U. S. Supreme Court Languages German Recent Insights Plus icon Benchmark Litigation Recognizes Thompson Hines Litigation and Labor & Employment Practices and 24 Firm Litigators, Thompson Hine LLP, December 1, 2020