Attorneys
Steve Martin was born in Paducah, Kentucky, in 1947, and obtained his B.A. in Economics from Rutgers College
in 1969. Prior to receiving his degree from Capital University School of Law in 1973, he was the recipient of American
Jurisprudence Awards for Distinguished Scholarship, elected to Order of the Curia and ranked first in his class.
Admitted to practice before all courts in Ohio, Steve is also admitted to practice before the United States District
Court for the Southern and Northern Districts of Ohio, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona,
the United States Tax Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the United States Court
of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. He has appeared, by pro hac vice admission,
for the purposes of a single case, in the United States District Courts for Minnesota, the Southern District of
Indiana, the Western District of Michigan, and the Northern District of Florida.
Steve, the managing principal
of the firm, directs the firm's Real Estate and Small Business practice
groups.
Steve is a member of the Delaware County Bar Association,
the
Ohio State Bar Association, and is a fellow of the Columbus Bar
Association. Steve is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the Midwest,
Who's Who of
Emerging Leaders in America, Who's Who in American Law and
Who's Who in Practicing
Attorneys. Steve was listed in the most recent
Business First's Who's Who
in Law.
Steve has served as a lecturer at continuing legal education seminars presented by the Columbus Bar Association,
the Ohio State Bar Association, the Ohio CLE Institute, the Lorman Education Center, and the University of Michigan's
Institute for Law Firm Management.
Steve and his wife, Deborah, who is a former Delaware County Commissioner, reside in Delaware County, and are active in
numerous civic and charitable organizations. Steve serves, pro bono, as counsel for Mainstreet Delaware, Inc., for the Community Foundation of Delaware County and
the Delaware Rotary Foundation.
Dennis Pergram was born in Tiffin, Ohio, in 1947. He obtained his B.S. in Business Administration from
The Defiance College in 1972, and in 1976 received his law degree from the University of Toledo.
Admitted to practice before all courts in Ohio, Dennis is also admitted to practice before the United States District
Court for the Southern and Northern Districts of Ohio, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and
the United States Supreme Court. He has been granted pro hac vice admission for the purpose of a single case in
the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, and the Superior Court of the State of California,
County of Santa Clara.
Dennis, who joined the firm in 1978, is the director of the firm's Employment and Employment
Litigation practice. Dennis frequently speaks in the employment law area, including the Worthington Chamber
of Commerce, the Westerville Chamber of Commerce, the Delaware
Chamber of Commerce, the Columbus Tax Club, the Professional Land Surveyors of Ohio,
the Engineers Club of Columbus, and the Olentangy Rotary. He has also been a speaker for the Ohio CLE Institute,
speaking to other lawyers about sexual harassment in the workplace.
Dennis is a member of the Ohio
State Bar Association and its School and Labor and Employment Law Committee. He is past chairperson of the Ohio
State Bar Association School Law Committee.
In the litigation area, Dennis does business and contracts litigation, as well as employment
and probate litigation. He has served
as a speaker for the Ohio CLE Institute speaking to other lawyers about probate litigation.
Dennis and his wife, Roberta, reside in Columbus, and are active in
church affairs.
Jim Dietz was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1960. He obtained his B.A. in Economics and Political Science
from Capital University in 1982, and in 1985 received his Juris Doctor degree from The Ohio State University College
of Law.
Admitted to practice before all courts in Ohio, Jim is also admitted to practice before the United States District
Court for the Southern District of Ohio and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He joined
the firm in 1988, and manages the Delaware office.
Jim is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and is past chairman of its School Law Committee.
He is also a member of the Delaware County Bar Association, and
serves on the City of Delaware's Historic Preservation Commission as
its chairman and the Delaware Speech and Hearing Center Board as its
President. He was the District 5 recipient of the 2001 Ohio State Bar
Foundation Community Service Award for attorneys age 40 and under.
Jim and his wife, Emily, reside in Delaware. He participated in the Delaware Chamber of Commerce's Leads program for 1995. Jim is past-President of the Delaware (evening) Kiwanis Club.
WILLIAM
J. MICHAEL
A fifth generation Ohioan, Bill Michael graduated with a B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude with honors, from The Ohio State University. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University College of Law, where he was recognized as Best Oralist, Appellate Advocacy.
Upon graduation from law school, Bill joined a large regional law firm where he practiced for over eight years as a litigator focusing on complex business disputes, public law, and construction disputes.
Admitted to practice before all Ohio state courts and the Federal District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio, Bill’s experience includes representing clients in the manufacturing, service, distribution, retail, agriculture and public sectors in all aspects of litigation. Bill has litigated cases in Ohio state trial and appellate courts, various federal district courts throughout the country, bankruptcy court, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and administrative bodies.
Honored with inclusion in the International Who’s Who of Professionals, Bill’s articles regarding constitutional law and trade have been published by academic institutions across the country. Bill has lectured at The Ohio State University College of Law and taught continuing legal education courses on construction and competition law.
He is an active member of the American, Federal, Ohio and Columbus Bar Associations, as well as the Ohio State Bar Association’s Appellate Law Committee and the American Agricultural Law Association. He is privileged to be on the Board of Directors of Thurber House, which is dedicated to the legacy of Columbus native James Thurber, reading and writing.
Bill has worked at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., a public policy organization dedicated to free market principles, where he published in trade journals and national and international newspapers regarding such diverse issues as agricultural policy, trade regulation, and energy policy. He has also testified before an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture regarding trade policy. Additionally, Bill worked in the Antitrust Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, where he investigated potential violations of state and federal competition laws.
Bill, his wife, Cindy, and their three children reside in Scioto Township in Delaware County.
Thayne Gray was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1955, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at DePauw University in 1977. He then entered The Ohio State University College of Law and graduated, with honors, in 1980.
Thayne is admitted to practice before all courts in Ohio and Illinois and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Thayne is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Delaware County Bar Association.
Thayne began his career in a small Chicago law office that primarily worked with small business owners. After returning to Ohio in 1991, Thayne served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Clinton County and, most recently, in Delaware County. Thayne has worked in nearly all practice areas of a county prosecutor's office, including civil, administrative, criminal and juvenile matters. In 1995, the Ohio Prosecuting Attorney's Association awarded Thayne its Certificate of Achievement for Outstanding Performance during the year.
Thayne, his wife and daughter live in Delaware, Ohio.
Elizabeth Miceli was born in 1977 and grew up in Fostoria, Ohio. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, summa cum laude, at The Ohio State University. At the University of Notre Dame Law School, where she graduated magna cum laude, she was president/public relations director of the Business Law Forum in her second year and Managing Editor of the Notre Dame Law Review in her third year.
Elizabeth is admitted to practice before all courts in Ohio and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. She is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Columbus Bar Association.
Previous to joining Manos, Martin, Pergram & Dietz, Elizabeth served as bond, underwriter’s and bank counsel on tax exempt financings for health care institutions, governmental bodies and tax exempt organizations for the Columbus office of a Cincinnati based law firm specializing in bond counsel and related legal areas. After graduation from law school, she worked as a real estate and governmental affairs attorney at a 200+ lawyer Columbus law firm where she served, during law school, as a summer law clerk for two summers.
Elizabeth has an extensive background in government service, beginning in 1996 as a page for the Ohio House of Representatives Majority Caucus. She later completed an internship with U.S. Senator Mike DeWine and worked as an assistant for two state representatives. Elizabeth also worked in a lobbying firm representing insurance companies, various large manufacturing corporations and non-profit organizations.
Elizabeth, her husband, Michael, and their two children, live in Galena.
Of Counsel
Lowell Hedlund was born in Jamestown, New York in 1956 and received from Wittenberg University his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, with distinction, finishing in the top five percent of his class. Lowell was admitted to the Wittenberg College Honor Society (Phi Beta Kappa criteria). Lowell attended The Ohio State University College of Law and graduated in the top twenty percent of his class, after having served as both research assistant to the Dean and as teaching assistant during his third year.
After graduation, Lowell associated with a regionally prominent firm specializing in business and tax issues. Subsequently, Lowell served, from 1983 to 1989, as Corporate Counsel and Assistant Secretary of the ChemLawn Services Corporation, the then largest lawn care provider in the country.
In 1988, Lowell joined Warner Cable Communications, Inc., now known as Time-Warner, Inc., as Vice President of Legal Affairs and Assistant Secretary. In that capacity Lowell served as the Deputy Chief Legal Officer with primary responsibility for all regulatory, commercial, real estate and litigation matters of a $2.2 billion company.
Legal Assistants
Terri was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1957. She graduated from Columbus State Community College (fka Columbus Technical Institute) in 1977 with an Associate's Degree in Legal Secretarial Science.
She joined the firm in September 1978 as a legal secretary. After serving several years as a secretary, she became Office Administrator in January 1985, in which capacity she continues to serve. She also serves as a legal assistant to the Small Business Practice Group, concentrating on real estate and litigation matters.
Terri is an active member of the tri-level association NALS - the Association for Legal Professionals, serving as past president of her local chapter, on the state level as a past officer and Education Committee Co-Chairman, and on the national level as a former member of the NEI Committee. Terri obtained her professional legal secretary certification in 1985. She served a three year term on the Advisory Board for the Secretarial Sciences Department at Columbus State Community College from 1989-91. She was named Legal Secretary of the Year by the Columbus Association of Legal Secretaries in 1989. Terri is a 4-H advisor.
Terri, her husband Dan, and their two children reside in Delaware.
Lori Miller was born in Marysville, Ohio, in 1968 in Marysville, Ohio. She has over 15 years of legal experience. Lori works with the firm’s Probate Practice Group in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, and guardianships. She also works with the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group, Small Business Practice Group and Litigation Practice Group.
Lori graduated from Marion Technical College with an Associates of Applied Business in Paralegal Studies in 1996.
Lori, her husband Tom, and their three children reside in Delaware.
Administrative Staff
Joan Swarts was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1965. She grew up in Powell, Ohio and is a graduate of Olentangy High School. She graduated from Columbus Technical Institute (now Columbus State Community College) with an Associates of Applied Science (Legal Secretary) degree in 1985.
She joined the firm as a secretary intern in December 1984, and became a full-time secretary in June 1985. After serving as the secretary in our Estate Planning and Estate Administration group for 11 years, Joan became the firm's Accounting/Information Services Manager in 1996, performing billing and bookkeeping duties, recommending computer software and hardware purchases, training attorneys and staff on new software and computers, maintaining the firm's web page, and handling the marketing for the firm. She also works with our Small Business Practice Group, providing paralegal assistance concerning business formations and commercial transactions and our MinuteMinder® Service.
Joan and her husband Kurt reside in Delaware.
Belinda Daugherty was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1955. She moved to Delaware, Ohio as a young teen and graduated from Buckeye Valley High School in 1973.
She married and devoted most of her time to raising a fine son and taking classes, as time permitted, at Ohio Wesleyan University. She worked for a third-party health and life insurance company for several years in Powell, Ohio as Administrative Assistant to the President. In late 1995, she worked briefly for a local attorney in the estate planning and estate administration area. In 1996, she moved to Largo, Florida, where she worked for a financial services firm in St. Petersburg as Administrative Assistant to several Research Analysts.
After the birth of her granddaughter, she decided to return to Delaware to be closer to her family, who still reside in the central Ohio area. Having been intrigued with the legal field, she looked for a position in the Delaware area, and joined our firm in January 2001.
Belinda resides in Delaware.
Christine (“Chris”) Bell was
born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1965, and grew up in Powell, Ohio. She
graduated from Olentangy High School in 1984, and also attended what
is now known as the Delaware Area Career Center.
In 1989, Chris graduated from the Ohio State School of Cosmetology
and went to work in the family business for the next ten years.
Before joining the law firm, she spent eight years working in a busy
optometrist practice in Dublin, Ohio, where she processed all the
third party insurance claims, maintained stock and inventory and was
also a buyer.
Chris joined the firm in September 2006 as the receptionist. She
currently resides in Delaware with her Labrador “Buddy.”
Jean was born on her grandparents’ farm near East
Rochester, Ohio, in 1926. Her family moved to Washington, DC, and
she grew up in that area, graduating from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High
School in 1944.
She came to Delaware, Ohio to attend Ohio Wesleyan University,
graduating in 1948. She met her husband, George, while at the
University. Following graduation, they made their home in Delaware,
raising five sons.
Jean began teaching full-time for the Delaware City Schools in 1964,
gaining her M.A. from The Ohio State University in 1970, with an
emphasis in reading and administration. For eight years, she taught
fourth and fifth graders and then she became the In-Service Training
Leader for the school system. She left teaching when her husband
retired in 1979.
Following the death of her husband, Jean began looking for a
part-time job. She joined the firm as our file clerk in September
1999.
Interested in serving with Habitat for Humanity, Jean went with a
local group that built two houses near La Paz, Bolivia in the summer
of 2003. In 2004, she worked with the Jimmy Carter week-long blitz,
helping build one of 75 houses in Vera Cruz, Mexico. Jean
was a member of the board of the Delaware, Ohio Habitat for Humanity
affiliate, serving as the secretary and as chairman of the Family
Support Committee. She is currently a Board member and Trustee
for the Oak Grove Cemetery.
