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Stark & Knoll adds three longtime local litigators
BENJAMIN WHITE
Legal News Associate Editor
Published: July 27, 2012
Orville Reed looked pleasant and relaxed as he explained why he and two other long-time attorneys from Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs suddenly moved across town to join Fairlawn firm Stark & Knoll.
“I was not unhappy, but I think every 38 years it doesn’t hurt to make a change,” he said. “I’m looking forward to making a fresh start here.”
Longtime Buckingham partners David Bertsch and David Hilkert joined Reed in the switch, adding a combined 111 years of experience to Stark & Knoll’s burgeoning business litigation practice. Reed, the reluctant recipient of the 2009 Akron Bar Association Professionalism Award, stressed that the trio harbored no ill will for its former employer.
“We’re just thrilled to have them join us,” said John Krajewski, managing partner at Stark. “Not only are they phenomenal lawyers who will strengthen our litigation group, but they’re even better people.”
The acquisition of the respected attorneys – all with strong west side roots – bolsters Stark’s business litigation team to 10 lawyers. Corporate litigation constitutes roughly one third of Stark’s business, Krajewski said. Probate law and non-litigation business services make up Stark’s additional services.
Reed, whose collection of awards includes Best Lawyers’ 2012 “Akron Personal Injury Litigation Defendant’s Lawyer of the Year,” originally planned to enter the Catholic priesthood, but left after one year of graduate theology for the Notre Dame Law School, where he clerked at Buckingham before graduating in 1973. In only six years, he worked his way to partner, where he stayed until his recent move. He has served on the boards of Walsh Jesuit High School, the United Way of Summit County and Summit County’s Christian Youth Organization.
“He is known as one of the best trial lawyers in Summit County,” said then-Akron Bar Association President Marc Merklin in a 2009 interview with the Legal News. “He is what a litigator should be.”
David Hilkert graduated from The Ohio State University College of Law a year after Reed and went on to create a similarly successful litigation career at Buckingham. He serves on the boards of directors of the Good Samaritan Hunger Care Center and Pregnancy Care of Summit County.
David Bertsch, who joined Buckingham after graduating from Stanford Law School in 1978, developed a strong reputation for tenacious litigation while learning the craft under Reed. He seemed to pick up Reed’s self-effacing sense of humor through the years.
“They saw me on the side of the road, picked me up and said ‘do you wanna come with me?’” he said of the switch.
All three attorney have been perennially recognized as Ohio Super Lawyers since 2004 and boast Martindale-Hubbell “AV” ratings, the highest peer evaluation possible.
Stark & Knoll, founded in 1985, is a steadily rising boutique firm specializing in business, employment, estate planning and probate law as well as litigation. Seven of its mergers and acquisitions specialists formed S&K Transitional Services LLC to serve as sellers’ advocate.
Hilkert downplayed the change of moving from one of Akron’s largest firms to a 30-attorney operation.
“We can conduct ourselves just as efficiently as before.”