Our Practice Isn’t Just Business — It’s Personal
Our firm is composed primarily of working partners, which means each client has the benefit of working with established attorneys, not inexperienced associates or assistants. We believe this provides clients with exceptional value, maximizing their chances of success at reasonable rates.
Our attorneys know that getting the best possible results for our clients requires a genuine investment of our time, energy and attention. Because we care about our clients’ businesses as much as they do, we are able to develop creative strategies for success and tirelessly pursue favorable results.
We do more than practice the law; we embody its spirit and even help to shape it. Several of our lawyers have gone on to become respected judges in Ohio courts. This strengthens our established bond with the community and gives our clients confidence in our ability to represent their interests.
History Timeline
From left to right: Unidentified female, Pete Wood (long time partner when firm was “Coolidge, Wall & Wood), General Henry Wood (Pete’s dad), Brad Coolidge (Pete’s uncle), Thomas J. Wood (Pete’s brother), along with Virginia Pierce (Pete’s mother) and Elisabeth Pierce Coolidge (Pete’s aunt)
1800s
- March 8, 1853 — Gunckel & Strong founded by Lewis Gunckel and Hiram Strong
- September 17, 1859 — Gunckel entertains Abraham Lincoln at the Phillips Hotel
- August 5, 1862 — Hiram Strong enlists in the 93rd Ohio Regiment
- September 19, 1863 — Colonel Strong mortally wounded at Battle of Chickamauga during the American Civil War
- March 26, 1867 — Gunckel led efforts to acquire 500 acres for Soldiers’ Home in Dayton
1900s
- October 3, 1903 — Gunckel passes away
- April 23, 1914 — Lee Warren James argues Pattison case before U S Supreme Court -- the only case ever argued by a Coolidge attorney in the United States Supreme Court, who only had a high school education
- 1910-1920 — James was the Law Director of the City of Dayton sometime during this period
- 1925 — James was also the sole outsider in taking National Cash Register public and may have earned more than $1,000,000 as a part of that transaction
- 1930 — Dayton Soldiers’ Home merged into the Veterans Administration
- January 1, 1938 — Coolidge Wall moves to Callahan Building with Clock Tower
- February 15, 1965 — Brad Coolidge passes away
- January 1, 1968 — Coolidge Wall moves to 33 West First Street, where it remains today
- June, 1973 — Hugh E. Wall, Jr. inaugurated as President, Dayton Bar Association
- June, 1991 — Roger J. Makley inaugurated as President, Dayton Bar Association
- June, 1994 — Hugh E. Wall, III, inaugurated as President, Dayton Bar Association
2000s
- January 24, 2001 — Hugh E. Wall, Jr. passes away
- June 28, 2018 — David Pierce inaugurated as President, Dayton Bar Association