James D. Robenalt

Practices

• Business Litigation
• Construction
• Life Sciences

Professional Experience

Jim is a partner in Thompson Hine's Business Litigation practice group. He has been named as one of America's Leading Lawyers in the Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Business Lawyers. Jim has consistently been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and has been selected as an Ohio Super Lawyer through the independent research of Law & Politics, which generally consists of the top 5% of the attorneys in the state.

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, Nixon's White House Counsel, to create a national continuing education program entitled "The Watergate CLE." See www.watergatecle.com

Jim is a member of the Advisory Board for the United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio. He is also an instructor for National Institute of Trial Advocacy.

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

• 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).
• Trade Secret Litigation
• Co-lead counsel to Avery Dennison in Avery Dennison v. Four Pillars; United States 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.
• Tax Litigation
• Litigation counsel for Fortune 20 company in connection with $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, Pennsylvania.
• 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.

• Author, Presidency in the Twentieth Century: Linking Rings, W. W. Durbin and the Magic and Mystery of America, Kent State University Press, 2004
• Author, The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage During the Great War, Palgrave/Macmillan, 2009

• Selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers by Ohio Super Lawyer magazine 2010-2012
• Selected as a "Leading Lawyer" for Inside Business magazine, 2007-2010
• 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: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Litigation, Ohio, 2009-2011
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, 2012

• German