Barrister of the Month
Paul E. Zimmer Esq. Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling Co. LPA W
hile that phrase is the branding of his high school alma mater, Alter High School, it also portrays Paul E. Zimmer’s life and his lifelong career in the practice of law. Growing up in Kettering, Paul, along with many others I know, had the distinct honor to be the first graduating class of Knights at Alter High School in 1966. I knew Paul in high school, but not well until we matriculated to Notre Dame together. We were in the same class, though I was downtown with the Eagles of Chaminade High School. Paul decided to go to Notre Dame, a decision which was influenced by guidance counselors and others going there whom he knew. This was a great choice since he graduated magna cum laude in 1970 from Notre Dame with a major in Economics! Shortly after graduation, Paul married his high school sweetheart, Maggie Traynor right before starting law school at Duke. He always felt he wanted to go to law school and it “seemed more practical” a career. However, Paul’s decision to go to Notre Dame for undergraduate school and then to law school at Duke had to be based upon the fact that the Fighting Irish are great at football and the Blue Devils are great at basketball. This has enabled him to hedge his bets for the appropriate team when they were foes! While at Notre Dame Paul had been in Army ROTC but still had to attend summer camp right after graduation to get his commission. At Ft. Riley, Kansas he witnessed the difficulties the 1st Infantry Division (“Big Red One”) had assimilating back to the Army stateside, running trash patrol at the Ft. Riley Military Reservation instead of reconnaissance or combat patrols. After law school, Paul joined Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling, spending parttime as a clerk and part-time studying for the
bar exam. After taking the bar, he had Officer Basic Training at Ft. Benjamin Harrison just as Vietnam was winding down. He had already been promoted to 1st Lieutenant due to his participation in ROTC at Notre Dame and his time in law school. Like many who went this route, he had rank with no experience. He humbly recounts the irony of being “in charge” of training because of his rank, while the experienced “lifer” drill sergeants were teaching “green” officers, including himself, how to be an officer in the United States Army. His active stint in the Army Reserve ended with going inactive shortly before Thanksgiving in 1973.
sion stations to participate. Both judges were admirably trying to protect the right to a fair trial. Those who remember Judge Carl Kessler have to smile, but the Court ruled against him,2 holding the one-sided nature of the hearing would render the hearing “meaningless.” The local television stations were allowed in the courtrooms, subject to conditions of course. The rest is media history. Paul is proud of his involvement in establishing broadcast access to trials. After several years in general practice however, Paul gravitated to corporate law. He said working with other attorneys, helping business clients with corporate issues, negotiations, real estate, and succession planning has given him tremendous satisfaction. His leadership abilities eventually led him to the management team at PS&E and later, President of the firm. He has been actively involved in the Dayton Bar Association as Past Chair of the Business and Taxation Committee, along with the OSBA Corporate Law Committee and the Business Law and Health Care Sections of the ABA. Paul told me he went into law partly because it was more practical. I found it interesting that Paul helped our entire profession in the Dayton area in a very practical way, by chairing a committee at Sinclair Community College, to obtain ABA certification for Sinclair’s paralegal program. Paul does not view his professional responsibilities to his clients, and the practice of law, as the entirety of his obligations as a lawyer. In
“Prepared, purposeful and passionate”
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Dayton Bar Briefs May 2021
After completing Army Basic Training, Paul began full-time with PS&E. While Paul is known as a prominent corporate attorney, focusing his practice on mergers and acquisitions, tax, health care law, and transactional law, he started in the general practice area first. This afforded him the opportunity to participate in two of his most memorable and significant cases. Both cases changed the law in Ohio and gave guidance to the courts, the parties, and their counsel about access to trials through cameras in the courtroom. There was plenty of resistance. Both cases were proceedings in mandamus and prohibition. Paul represented Grinnell Communications (WDTN-TV ). The first case involved the Honorable Rodney Love.1 The Court ordered that Judge Love follow the mandatory Canons of Judicial Conduct, hold a hearing with a presumption to permit media coverage (print, radio, and television broadcasting) and allow cameras in the courtroom during a criminal trial. A few months later, in the second case, the Honorable Carl D. Kessler, long remembered as an icon of the Bench, resisted by holding a hearing, but not permitting the local televi-
continued on page 7
ENDNOTES: State ex rel. Grinnell Communications Corp. v. Love, 62 Ohio St. 2d 299 (June 1980). 2 State ex rel. Miami Valley Broadcasting Corp. v. Kessler, 64 Ohio St. 2d 165 (December 1980). 1
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