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Beloved plaintiff-side PI attorney remembered
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: June 22, 2017
He was one of the earlier winners of the Akron Bar Association’s Professionalism Award, but there was much more to attorney Bradford M. (Buck) Gearinger than the high ethical standards that he adhered to when practicing law.
“Buck was about justice in and outside the courtroom,” said Stark & Knoll partner Orville Reed. “He was a loyal, generous partner and a wise, skilled mentor.”
“Buck was a wonderful person and a good lawyer who was devoted to his clients,” said his friend William Oldham, an attorney at Oldham Company. “He was always ‘fighting for the little guy.’”
On May 30 the longtime plaintiff-side personal injury attorney passed away at the age of 76.
“My father was a great dad,” said his son Brian Gearinger, an attorney at the Gearinger Law Group in Santa Rosa, California. “He was always there to support me in whatever I was doing in my youth and through my adulthood.
“He came to all my athletic events and provided me with educational and travel opportunities.”
Peter Cahoon, a partner at Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, describes Gearinger as “a role model” for everyone in the legal profession.
“Buck was a really special person, lawyer and family man,” said Cahoon. “We knew one another through the bar association. Buck really cared about people and he never acted like he was better than anyone else.
“While clearly competent in the courtroom, it was his ethics and professionalism that set him apart.”
Born on Nov. 17, 1940 in Abington Township, Pennsylvania, to Harold Herbert “H.H.” and Emma Gearinger, he was the oldest of their three sons.
Gearinger grew up in Philadelphia, graduating from the William Penn Charter School in 1958.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in political science from The University of the South (known as Sewanee) in Tennessee, he enrolled at Vanderbilt University Law School.
“Like myself, my father was exposed to the legal profession because his dad, my grandfather, was a lawyer,” said Brian. “However we both waited until our senior year in college to decide to go into law.”
Gearinger obtained his juris doctor in 1965 and briefly practiced with his father in Chattanooga, Tennessee, before reporting for active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps.
He spent about three years in the JAG (Judge Advocate General) Corps, defending marines in court martial proceedings.
In 1968 Gearinger, his first wife and their two young children moved to Akron.
He took a job as an associate at Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, where he focused on insurance civil defense work.
It was at Buckingham that Gearinger got to know William Oldham, who went on to become a life-long friend.
“We shared an office and taught each other what we knew about the law,” said Oldham. “We would sometimes bicker over who knew more.
“When I was president of the Akron Bar Association, he was my president-elect and when he was president I was his immediate past president,” said Oldham.
The two also went on vacations together with their families.
“Buck was married three times,” said Oldham. “He used to say it took three tries to get it right.
“Buck kidded that he was not a good student, but he was a very smart man who was interested in the law and public events,” said Oldham.
Gearinger also got to know Tim Scanlon at Buckingham, the attorney who would go on to become his law partner for over 20 years.
“We became friends almost right from the start,” said Scanlon. “I left Buckingham in 1975 to open my own firm. Buck joined me about four years later and we formed Scanlon & Gearinger.”
The plaintiffs personal injury law firm grew in numbers and reputation, becoming known as one of the top PI firms in the state.
“Buck was a very good lawyer who cared about his clients,” said Scanlon. “He had good business judgment and a gift that few people have: He made everyone he met or represented feel as though they were his friend.
“When he decided to marry his wife Paula, my wife and I stood up for them in Las Vegas. We continued to stay in touch over the years after I retired.”
Reed said Gearinger was one of his early mentors.
“When I began my career at Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs in 1973, Buck was already well established in the Akron community,” said Reed.
“The young associates at Buckingham loved him,” he said. “Buck was always grateful for our assistance and graciously shared the limelight of his many successes with us. He encouraged the associates to act independently and, after offering his sage advice in a kindly manner, never second-guessed our judgment. We mourn his passing.”
When attorney John Hill became an associate at Scanlon & Gearinger in the early 1990s, he said Gearinger and Scanlon both mentored him.
“He and Tim had very different but complementary styles, so I learned things from both of them,” said Hill, now Litigation Practice Group Leader at Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs.
“Buck and I became personal friends,” said Hill. “He had a larger-than-life personality and he was a big guy so he really dominated a room. Clients loved him as did co-counsel and opposing counsel. More than any other lawyer, Buck taught me how to be both a friend and attorney to your client.”
Gearinger’s daughter, Hally Gearinger Robinson passed away in 2005.
“When my sister died of breast cancer, my dad and my stepmom Paula took over raising her children, my niece and nephew,” said Brian. “They would call him the ‘Big Guy,’ because he was 6-foot-4 and over 200 pounds. I call the years that followed his ‘Big Guy’ years.”
In 2007, Gearinger joined Hill Hardman Oldfield as of counsel.
His son said Gearinger gave up his law license in 2011.
A longtime member of the Akron Bar Association, Gearinger served as president from 1988 to 1989. In 1991, Gearinger was inducted into the prestigious International Society of Barristers.
Gearinger, who was also a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, received the Akron Bar Association Professionalism Award in 1998.
Brian said his father and stepmother loved traveling and baseball.
“They also loved sampling the local cuisines,” said Brian. “When I lived in Australia for six months my dad and Paula showed up and stayed for three weeks. They watched me play American football in Melbourne and tried some of the different foods and beers.”
Gearinger was laid to rest on June 5 at Rose Hill Burial Park.
“My dad loved people,” said Brian. “He accumulated and maintained so many friendships throughout his life.”
Gearinger is survived by his wife, Paula; son, Brian Gearinger; daughter-in-law, Jane Yang and son-in-law Luke Robinson. He’s also survived by his grandchildren Victoria Belle Robinson, Owen Bradford Robinson and Gale Bradford Gearinger.