Type: News
Date: 08/26/2015

Zimmerman Named Partner-in-Charge of Taft’s Cincinnati Office, Effective Jan. 1, 2016

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP announces that Cincinnati Partner-in-Charge Edward D. Diller will pass his leadership duties to Taft Partner James M. Zimmerman, effective Jan. 1, 2016. Diller will continue to represent and develop clients, will remain active on firmwide committees and will continue and expand his role on several community and national boards.

Diller has been with Taft since 1976 and has been partner-in-charge of the Cincinnati office since 2007. In addition to his leadership roles at Taft, he is currently a director of Messer, Inc., Messer Construction Company and Saturday Knight Ltd. Zimmerman, a business and finance attorney, joined Taft in 1999 and has spent his entire career at the firm. He will be 41 years old as of January 1, making him the youngest partner-in-charge to lead the Cincinnati office.

“Succession planning is crucial to the vitality of an organization. As a member of Taft’s executive committee and a leader of Taft’s private equity and venture capital practice, James understands the operational aspects of the firm and its practice groups. This perspective will aid him in his role as partner-in charge. James also is well respected in the Cincinnati business and civic communities. It is time to transfer leadership of the Cincinnati office to the next generation,” commented Diller.

Diller is well known in the Greater Cincinnati area. In addition to assisting clients, he has spent a great deal of his time working with business and community leaders on the boards of many organizations, including Cincinnati Museum Center, Downtown Cincinnati Inc., Playhouse in the Park, Ten Thousand Villages Cincinnati, Inc., The Austin E. Knowlton Foundation Inc., REDI Cincinnati, Working in Neighborhoods and the Dan Beard Council, Boy Scouts of America. For several years, Diller has been included on the Cincy magazine Power 100 list, the annual listing of the TriState’s most influential leaders in business and politics. In addition, Diller has attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement, as he has been selected for inclusion in Ohio Super Lawyers, Chambers USA and Best Lawyers in America (for more than 25 years) for his outstanding legal work.

Taft Chairman and Managing Partner Thomas Terp has encouraged the move and agrees that Zimmerman is the right person to succeed Diller and assume leadership of the Cincinnati office. “Ed has been invaluable in helping the Cincinnati office build its strong reputation in the market, and James will undoubtedly continue Ed’s success. James is a talented, enthusiastic attorney who is well-positioned to lead the office for years to come. We are grateful to Ed for his service as partner-in-charge, and we look forward to James’s leadership.”

As the new partner-in-charge, Zimmerman will concentrate on maintaining the current success of the Cincinnati office, while looking to the future. “We will strive to emulate the business practices of our most successful clients: understanding what our clients want from us and doing that better than anyone else; attracting the very best people and providing them with growth and leadership opportunities; and making investments in the future so that we are on the leading edge of technology and service.” Zimmerman will work closely with Diller over the coming months to ensure a seamless transition.

Zimmerman is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Law School. He is a board member of several community organizations, including ArtsWave, Breakthrough Cincinnati, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Foundation, and is secretary and general counsel for Cintrifuse. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America and Ohio Super Lawyers, has been selected as a Cincy magazine Leading Lawyer, and was named to the Cincinnati Business Courier “Forty Under 40” 2010 class.

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