Richard D. Panza is a partner at Wickens, Herzer, Panza, Cook & Batista Co., an Ohio law firm with offices in Avon and Sandusky. Mr. Panza manages the firm's litigation practice and specializes in business litigation, with an emphasis on commercial law and environmental law. Since his admission to the Ohio Bar in 1973, Mr. Panza has appeared for argument before the Ohio Supreme Court on eight separate occasions, and before the United States Supreme Court to argue the seminal libel case on constitutionally protected opinion, Milkovich v. The Lorain Journal Co.

Mr. Panza holds an AV Preeminent* peer review rating through Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected for inclusion in the Ohio Super Lawyers listings in each of the last three years.

He is a frequent speaker, presenter and teacher at legal seminars, addressing topics such as law firm business management and emerging commercial business issues; he also conducts libel seminars for reporters and newspapers. Mr. Panza is an active member of various legal organizations as well, including the Cleveland Legal Aid Society (member, board of trustees' executive committee) and the Ninth Appellate District of the Ohio State Bar Association (member, pro bono committee).

_{*AV Preeminent and BV Distinguished are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell peer review ratings fall into two categories: legal ability and general ethical standards.}