Dennis is a partner in the firm. He practices primarily in the areas of products liability, medical negligence (medical malpractice), and accident and injury work. Dennis has received many statewide honors in recent years. In 2012, Dennis was named one of the top 50 lawyers in Cleveland and one of the top 100 lawyers in Ohio, by Super Lawyers, Cincinnati Magazine. Dennis has been named an Ohio Super Lawyer by Cincinnati Magazine every year since 2008, honoring the top five percent of all lawyers in Ohio; and prior to that, was named a Rising Star by Cincinnati Magazine, honoring the best young lawyers in the state. These recognitions are based on the results of statewide surveys of lawyers and peer evaluation.

 

He is a frequent lecturer, educating attorneys on matters relating to civil litigation, including such topics as: how to communicate effectively with juries, how to identify and develop product liability claims, and how to select an unbiased jury.

 

In 2010-2011 Dennis was the President of the Ohio Association for Justice, the only state-wide association of trial attorneys who devote their practices to representing people who have been injured by the negligence of others. He has been a member of the OAJ Board of Trustees since 1999.

 

Dennis has attained recent verdicts of $950,000.00 against Motorist Mutual Insurance Co. for a client who developed fibromyalgia after being struck by a drunk driver; $10,375,000.00, along with partner James Lowe, against Ford Motor Company for a client who was paralyzed by a defective seat structure in a Ford Explorer; and $2,500,000.00 in a medical malpractice case against a surgeon who pierced the patient's heart during a Greenfield Filter procedure, causing the patient to bleed to death during the surgery. The latter result is believed to be the largest verdict ever for Butler County, Ohio. He also helped obtain the largest judgment in the history of the State of Ohio—2 billion dollars—while representing a nationwide class of Ford heavy truck dealers who were the victims of a breach of contract (improper wholesale price manipulation) by Ford Motor Company. That case is currently on appeal.

He is a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Ohio Association for Justice (OAJ), the Cleveland Academy of Trial Attorneys (CATA), and the Cleveland Metropolitan and Ohio State Bar Associations.

 

Dennis was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and graduated from Kenyon College in 1988. In college he was an All-American swimmer and participated in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic swimming trials, in an effort to make the United States Olympic Swimming Team. He taught high school history for two years at University School in Hunting Valley, Ohio, and graduated from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, cum laude, in 1994.