Thomas L. Anastos

Born and raised in Cleveland, I graduated from Harvard Law School in 1989 and then came home to Cleveland to practice law. I started out in litigation in a national law firm, and I never turned back. While I welcome the opportunity to assist clients in other ways, most of my career has been devoted to business litigation, either working on my own or collaborating with other team members to develop solutions for complex legal disputes involving individuals and all types of corporate entities.

I have been fortunate that these disputes have spanned a wide and diverse field of substantive law, and have included all manner of contract issues, fraud claims, the prosecution and defense of noncompetition agreements, intellectual property matters, employment actions, legal malpractice, antitrust and trade regulation, product liability, and environmental cases, and a host of others, in state and federal courts throughout the United States. My practice has run the gamut, and I have enjoyed learning about all of the new subject matters and industries at issue in my cases, whether it be the laser abrasion of jeans, automated lubrication systems, pharmaceutical distribution, Ponzi schemes, the development and manufacturing of electronics products, or the capacity of a landfill. I have successfully litigated everything from intellectual property cases (Groeneveld Trans. Efficiency, Inc. v. Lubecore Int'l, Inc., 730 F.3d 494 (6th Cir. 2013), to public records cases (State, ex. rel. Plain Dealer Publ'g Co. v. City of Cleveland, 106 Ohio St.3d 70 (2005)), to Ponzi scheme cases (Metz v. Unizan Bank, 649 F.3d 492 (6th Cir. 2011)). I was also part of the trial team that won a $32 million jury verdict for a local company in a legal malpractice action against the world's largest law firm.

I bring my clients experience in every aspect of litigation, from early dispute analysis and, if necessary, the decision to file a complaint, through discovery (including e-discovery) to trial and appellate practice. I know what work needs to be done, how long it should take to do it, and how much it should cost to get it done. My clients are my partners. We discuss what they should expect as the case develops, budget realistically and on point, and keep the lines of communication open at all times. There is no "one size fits all" in litigation. Litigation needs to be waged strategically to maximize the potential for reaching a desirable outcome and managed to keep it from taking on a life of its own. I have a very practical and common sense approach to litigation, and my judgment and understanding of the workings of litigation serve my clients well.