SANTEN & HUGHES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the Madeira
Greg Schmidt concentrates his practice in the areas of business and commercial law, representing clients in matters involving mergers and acquisitions, real estate and development, construction law, and construction litigation. Greg's experience focuses on solving business problems for his clients. He also works with his business clients in their estate and succession planning.
Greg was the senior attorney at Santen & Hughes handling the case of Taylor Building Corporation of America vs. Benfield, decided by the Ohio Supreme Court. In its decision, the Supreme Court entered a landmark decision regarding the rights of Ohio contractors and businesses to arbitrate disputes pursuant to a contractual arbitration clause.
Since 1992, Greg has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Madeira and Indian Hill Joint Fire District and the Madeira and Indian Hill Fire Company, an Ohio not-for-profit organization. In addition, since 2008 Greg has also served as President and member of the Board of Trustees of the Erma A. Bantz Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Greg has been repeatedly named by Cincinnati Magazine as an "Ohio Super Lawyer." In addition, for 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, the Cincinnati Business Courier placed Greg in the "Top 25" List of Who's Who in Law in Cincinnati.
H. Louis Sirkin is one of the nation's preeminent First Amendment and criminal defense attorneys. Over more than 50 years of practice, Sirkin has consistently defended the free speech and constitutional rights of countless individuals and businesses, including adult entertainment establishments, museums, artists, activists, and ordinary citizens in all types of cases. Lou is both a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Criminal Lawyers.
Born in Cincinnati, Sirkin obtained both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Cincinnati. He entered private practice and quickly earned a reputation as an effective civil rights lawyer. He achieved national prominence in 1990 when he successfully defended the director of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati against obscenity charges for displaying the nude artwork of Robert Mapplethorpe. The controversy was later depicted in the Golden Globe-winning movie Dirty Pictures (2000). He has served as President of the First Amendment Lawyers Association and the Greater Cincinnati Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
Sirkin is a true believer and has distinguished himself as a compassionate mentor, a sought-after lecturer, and a tireless advocate. He has represented persons whose message was completely contrary to his own beliefs and has risked both his career and his physical safety to do so. He was once escorted out the rear door of the courthouse to avoid being assaulted by individuals who opposed his clients. But perhaps Sirkin's most notable accomplishment was his 2002 victory before the United States Supreme Court in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition.
In addition, he has defended on appeal numerous individuals on death row. In total, he has handled more than 125 appeals in civil and criminal cases.
Sirkin frequently lectures to students at the country's top universities, participating in panels at Harvard University, New York University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Michigan, and Northern Kentucky University, to name a few. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati, where he taught habeas corpus law and a First Amendment seminar.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Adjunct Professor of Legal Writing at Salmon P. Chase College of Law
- Business Counselor
Rob Linneman is a partner at Santen & Hughes. He works with his clients in all aspects of day to day decision making and formal legal proceedings. He represents people and businesses in strategic planning, negotiations, and legal proceedings. Rob's practice is focused on business counseling, contracts, personal injury, wrongful death, civil rights, and general civil litigation.
Rob is an experienced business counselor and litigator. Rob works with companies and individuals in matters ranging from employment decisions to mergers and acquisitions. Rob's practice includes representation of businesses in commercial disputes and litigation. Rob's business practice includes work with both creditors and debtors in bankruptcy.
Rob has extensive experience in construction and contracting matters. Rob's clients include contractors, materials suppliers, developers, government entities and property owners and he is involved in all stages of the construction process from permitting and planning to payment and collection.
Rob's litigation work includes civil rights and criminal defense. Rob has fought on behalf of clients to protect the rights of freedom of speech and assembly and has brought cases which have resulted in meaningful reform in police and other government policies in the City of Cincinnati and elsewhere. As a criminal defense attorney, Rob works hard to ensure that his clients are treated fairly and believes that trial by jury is the best protection for the citizen who stands accused by the State.
Rob has served as an adjunct Professor of Legal Writing at Salmon P. Chase College of Law. He serves on the Board of Governors of the Salmon P. Chase College of Law Alumni Association, and the Board of Directors for the Corporation for Findlay Market.
Nick is an associate attorney with Santen & Hughes. He works in a variety of areas, including litigation and estate planning. Nick believes that a lawyer's role is to protect and defend a client's best interests, and he is committed to building and maintaining client relationships based on mutual trust and respect.
A Cincinnati native, Nick is a graduate of St. Xavier High School, The Ohio State University, and the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He is licensed in Ohio and Kentucky and is a member of the Ohio, Kentucky, and Cincinnati Bar Associations.
Richard Lamping is a partner at Santen & Hughes and routinely helps families and individuals through divorce, Collaborative divorce, custody, child/spousal support, and prenuptial agreement matters. Having clerked for a local Domestic Relations Court judge, Richard is able to provide his clients insight from the court's perspective which further helps prepare his clients on every facet of family law matters. Richard is a member of the Cincinnati Bar Association Domestic Relations Committee and Cincinnati Academy of Collaborative Professionals, and practices primarily in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren Counties.
Richard's business and litigation practice provides representation to businesses both small and large. Having served as counsel to many Cincinnati area businesses and as local counsel for large out-of-state corporations, Richard has the requisite experience to serve businesses with high quality counsel. Richard's experience includes litigating for and against companies ranging in size from international Fortune 500 Companies to closely-held businesses and has litigated in both state and federal courts. Understanding that litigation can be costly, Richard works with his clients to develop a strategic approach to ensure that the businesses' interests are well protected throughout the litigation process in a cost-effective manner.
Richard is a Cincinnati native and a graduate of St. Xavier High School. He received his bachelor's degree cum laude in economics from Clemson University and his law degree from the University of Dayton School of Law, where he earned two academic scholarships and was a member of the Executive Board of the Student Bar Association. While in law school, Richard clerked for Judge Tim Oliver of Warren County Common Pleas Court and interned with Dinsmore and Shohl, LLP. Richard resides in Oakley and is an avid Cincinnati Reds and Xavier Musketeers fan.
Richard was selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 editions. Richard was also selected by Super Lawyers® as a 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Ohio Rising Star.
Sallee M. Fry, a partner at Santen & Hughes who focused on family law, passed away peacefully in May 2022. In her decades of practice, Sallee represented clients in a wide array of matters, from litigated divorces to collaborative dissolutions. In her family law practice, she often referenced her favorite quote from Nelson Mandela: "it always seems impossible until it's done."
While she often represented spouses, a significant portion of Sallee's practice involved her work as a Guardian Ad Litem. In those situations, she was appointed by the courts to protect the best interests of children. In 2002, Sallee presented a case to the Supreme Court of Ohio which has since become one of the most frequently cited cases by Ohio courts involving the rights of parents to raise their children free from interference by the state.
Sallee was a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Cincinnati Academy for Collaborative Professionals. Sallee was passionate about her volunteer work tutoring impoverished children and the time she spent with her children and grandsons.
Bill Santen, Jr. has a special interest as a lawyer in matters involving "workplace safety." He developed this interest after working for three years in the general construction trade before attending law school. He works with injured workers and their families to recover for their injuries that they sustain in or around the job site. Some of the more recent construction accident cases that Bill has handled include: