Lindhorst & Dreidame Co., L.P.A.

A practice with roots in 1943

The firm opened in Cincinnati in 1943. Ambrose H. Lindhorst and Robert F. Dreidame founded it, and their names still head the practice today. That gives it a history of more than eighty years in one city.

Longevity on its own proves little about the work. It does show the firm has held a place in the Cincinnati bar through many changes in the profession. As a reviewer, I read that kind of continuity as a sign of a steady client base rather than a marketing line.

The office sits in the Scripps Center on the Cincinnati riverfront. From there the firm serves clients across greater Cincinnati, throughout Ohio, and into Kentucky. So its reach crosses a state line, which matters for clients with business or family ties on both sides of the river.

What the firm handles

The span of work is wide for a firm of this size. It splits into three broad strands: business matters, defense work for insurers and doctors, and personal matters for individuals and families.

Business and transactional work

On the business side the firm covers business litigation, business transactions and tax, and mergers and acquisitions. It works on both commercial and residential real estate, along with contracts and leases. Construction litigation, employment law, and workers' compensation round out this part of the practice.

Litigation and deal work often draw on different habits of mind. A firm that keeps both under one roof can move a business client from a signed contract to a courtroom without a handoff to outside counsel. That is a practical convenience, and the firm's pages list both plainly.

Defense and individual matters

A second strand serves insurers and doctors. This part includes insurance coverage, personal injury defense, transportation and railroad litigation, product liability, and medical malpractice defense.

For individuals and families, the work turns closer to home. It runs from personal injury claims to divorce, then on to estate planning, wills and trusts, probate administration and disputes, and income tax questions.

Who the work is for

The firm names four groups it serves: individuals, doctors, businesses, and insurance companies. That spread explains the mix of practice areas above. It also points to a firm at ease with one-off personal cases and with long-term institutional clients.

One point stands out when you line those groups up. The firm acts for people bringing personal injury claims, and it also defends doctors and insurers against claims of that kind. The arrangement is common enough among general civil firms, yet it is worth naming plainly.

In my opinion, a practice that sees both sides of injury and malpractice work tends to gauge the opposing view well. The firm does not put it that way itself, so I offer it as an observation and nothing more.

How the team is built

The firm describes itself as a thirteen-attorney practice. Its site names ten of those lawyers: James F. Brockman, Alec C. Burkhart, Barry F. Fagel, James S. Ginocchio, Jay R. Langenbahn, Michael F. Lyon, James L. O'Connell, James H. Smith III, Brian R. Tracy, and Paul J. Vollman.

The site gives little detail on most of them. Bios, law schools, and admission years are not published for nine of the ten. That leaves a single full profile to read.

A closer look at one attorney

James F. Brockman joined the firm as a law clerk in 1979. He came on as a lawyer in 1981, the same year he earned his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law and gained admission to the Ohio bar. His tie to the firm runs back more than four decades.

His litigation work centers on railroads, taking in FELA, trespasser, and crossing cases. He also handles products liability, personal injury, wrongful death, class action, and toxic exposure matters. On top of that, he represents real estate brokers and agents in civil disputes.

What the record shows

The firm points to an AV Preeminent peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell. That mark reflects how other lawyers and judges have scored the firm on legal ability and ethical standards. It is a peer measure, not a client rating.

What the site leaves out is as telling as what it prints. There are no case results, no settlement figures, and no client counts on the pages under review. The firm lets its practice areas and its history speak instead.

For a reader weighing this firm, the summary is plain. It is a long-standing Cincinnati civil practice with a broad book of work and a peer rating to its name. It publishes one detailed attorney profile, and the rest is worth confirming with the firm directly.