Login | April 29, 2025
Slater & Zurz Co-founder Jim Slater looks back on his lengthy career
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: April 5, 2024
Known by his colleagues at Slater & Zurz as a master practitioner, attorney Jim Slater assisted thousands of plaintiffs in securing settlements and winning jury verdicts in personal injury cases during his decades-long career while also mentoring new attorneys who joined the firm.
But after playing a pivotal role in the growth of the firm that he co-founded 32 years ago, Slater retired at the beginning of January leaving Richard Zurz, co-founder/managing partner, along with a team of lawyers and staff members to carry on the firm’s legacy.
“I loved practicing law and I’ve had a wonderful career,” said Slater. “I helped thousands of people resolve their problems and get results. I also developed personal friendships with many of my clients along the way.
“But it was time for me to step down,” he said. “Practicing law is very intense; you often take your work home with you and it does not leave much time for anything else.
“The firm will continue on with my name and I’m confident it will do well,” said Slater.
“We had a team of fine young lawyers join us last year and they are very capable of handling things,” said Slater. “I am looking forward to exploring other things. I’m hoping to travel more and spend time with family.”
“Jim loved being a lawyer,” said Zurz. “I have never known anyone to enjoy interacting with clients and other attorneys as much as he did.
“Jim’s door was always open. You could go in and run issues by him or get some advice on a case. He still makes himself available if anyone needs his counsel.
“We miss him, but I think he felt it was time for him to move on and enjoy the fruits of his labors. We wish him well in his retirement.”
A native of Waterbury, Connecticut, Slater graduated from the University of Connecticut where he majored in political science.
After earning his juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969, he was accepted to The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s international trainee program in Akron.
“I was supposed to go to Sydney, Australia,” said Slater. “I would have been working in a non-legal position and I changed my mind before I left because I wanted to stay with law. I knew if I went to Australia the likelihood that I would be able to practice was slim.”
Instead, he remained in Akron and joined a local firm as an associate.
He then served as an in-house attorney for White Motor Company in Cleveland.
In the mid-1970s, Slater started a general practice in Akron.
Over the years, he would run into Richard Zurz and occasionally they were involved in the same cases.
Zurz said it was during a trial before Magistrate John Shoemaker that they got to know one another well.
“We were opposing counsel on a case and were very impressed by one another’s professionalism and skills,” said Zurz. “It wasn’t long after that we decided to become partners.”
They formed Slater & Zurz in 1992.
“We initially had a general practice with some insurance defense work,” said Zurz. “As time went on we gravitated toward representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases.
“We still do business, domestic relations and probate work.”
While it began as a two-person law firm with a single office in Akron, today the firm has nine lawyers, including Zurz, and locations in Canton, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati and Toledo.
They handle a wide variety of PI matters ranging from motor vehicle accidents to medical malpractice, nursing home abuse and wrongful death.
Slater said one of the areas that he chose to focus on was mass torts.
“I was co-counsel with other law firms in the DuPont water contamination case, which was litigated in federal court in the Southern District of Ohio,” said Slater. “I did not try the case but I secured the clients.”
Slater & Zurz Partner John Lynett Jr., who joined the firm more than 25 years ago, said Slater played a key role in shaping his legal career.
“When I started at the firm I had no legal experience,” said Lynett. “Jim and Rick taught me everything I know.
“Jim taught me several very important lessons including that you have to be responsible for your own business,” said Lynett. “Because of Jim’s guidance and direction, I built my own practice which is why four years after I began they made me a partner.
“Jim taught me other basic lessons as well, such as when you give your word to a client you have to keep your promises, so don’t over promise. ‘At the end of the day,’ he said, ‘all you have is your reputation.’
“Jim mentored other your lawyers at the firm too and even some partners,” said Lynett. “I can remember that he would pull you aside and say ‘if I could give you my best thoughts.’ More often than not what he said turned out to be absolutely accurate.”
Lynett described Slater as “the elder statesman” of the firm.
“He was the one who was out in the community promoting the firm and the practice of law,” said Lynett. “He was very good at it because he was social and knew so many people.”
A longtime member of the Akron, Ohio State and American bar associations, Slater said technology has changed the legal profession quite a bit since he started but he believes it’s for the better.
“The biggest difference I think is how clients find their attorneys,” said Slater. “It used to be that clients relied on recommendations from people they knew.
“Now thanks to the tools of the internet individuals can do their own research, read a lawyer’s reviews and make up their own minds. This puts pressure on lawyers to get results for their clients. If they don’t deliver, they likely won’t succeed.”
As he embarks on the next chapter of his life Slater said he wouldn’t change a thing.
“It took a few career moves for me to finally settle into something I loved, but it’s been wonderful ever since,” said Slater. “I’ve had the chance to help individuals with various problems, some quite significant and I’m very grateful.
“The part I’ve enjoyed the most is developing those one-on-one relationships with clients.
“I’m very happy in my retirement though,” said Slater. “I’m able to be physically active and take trips and I’m looking forward to enjoying this part of my life.”