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James D.Robenalt

Partner
Cleveland

O 216.566.5755

James D.Robenalt

Partner
Cleveland

O 216.566.5755

Jim is a partner in Thompson Hine’s Business Litigation practice group with a current focus in trademark, trade secret, economic espionage, and noncompete litigation. He has practiced law since 1981 and is widely known for his trial work in the medical device, pharmaceutical, and construction industries. 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. He has been named as one of America’s leading lawyers in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Jim has been consistently 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.

In addition, Jim lectures with John W. Dean, former White House Counsel for the Nixon administration, on legal ethics. They have delivered approximately 250 CLE presentations to tens of thousands of lawyers. They have designed their program using Watergate and the resulting establishment of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. As a presidential historian, Jim has written five books and numerous articles on related topics, including a widely read article on the JFK assassination.

Benchmark Litigation Star_2026
American Arbitration Association Panel Member
Recognized in Best Lawyers 2027
Super Lawyers 2023

Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® for 20 years or longer

Focus Areas

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 in PolyOne Corporation v. Kutka, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio (jury trial and verdict)
  • Lead counsel in PolyOne Corporation v. Yun Martin Lu, et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois

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 Circuit (affirmed at 442 F.3d 471)
  • Lead counsel in Skurka Aerospace v. Eaton Aerospace LLC, S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio (jury trial) (contract dispute)
  • Lead counsel in Three Rivers Orthopaedic & Spine Products, Inc. v. Villers,S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio (noncompete contract dispute) (grant of preliminary injunction)

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

  • ArcelorMittal USA Inc. v. The Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company, AAA (contract dispute)
  • The Drees Company v. Barson, AAA (contract dispute)
  • 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
  • AV® Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2027 for Ethics and Professional Responsibility; 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 for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Litigation, Ohio, 2009 to present
  • Listed as a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation, 2012 to 2026

Professional Associations

  • Judicial Candidates Rating Coalition, chair, five bar associations
  • 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
  • Watergate II, Cancer on the Presidency
  • Watergate III, Reporting Up and Reporting Out Under Model Rule 1.13
  • The Nixon Court, Vetting Supreme Court Justices
  • 37 Conversations, John Dean and Richard Nixon
  • Implicit Bias, Ballots and Bullets

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