News
Summary
Dan’s law practice concentrated in estate planning, trust and probate law, nonprofit and charitable organizations and foundations, family businesses, elder law and guardianships, estate and gift taxation, charitable giving, including art and collectibles, and probate court litigation. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and his law degree in 1976 from the University of Virginia Law School, where he was editor in chief of the Virginia Journal of International Law.
Dan is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is Board Certified as a Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law by the Ohio State Bar Association Specialty Board. He is also a Fellow of both the American and the Ohio State Bar Foundations and is a member of both the Section Council of the Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Section, and the Section Council of the Senior Lawyers Section of the Ohio State Bar Association. He formerly served on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Probate Law Journal of Ohio.
A member of the Cincinnati Estate Planning Council and of the Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council, Dan is the author or co-author of many articles and several books on legal and other topics.
Dan serves on boards of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Linton, Incorporated (vice-chair), The Seven Hills School, and Cincinnati Public Radio. He serves or has served as legal counsel to many charitable, educational, and nonprofit organizations and political campaigns, including two candidates for President of the United States, and formerly as Legal Counsel to the Cincinnati A.I.D.S. Commission, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and as outside counsel to the Attorney General of Ohio. He formerly served as Lecturer in Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Chair of the Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers, Chair of Cincinnati Public Radio (WGUC and WVXU), Chair of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Vice-Chair of The Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati, Presiding Co-Chair and co-founder of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Chair of the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts, as well as a director or officer of the Children’s Psychiatric Center, Cincinnati Bar Foundation, Cincinnati Composers Guild, Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts, Cincinnati Symphony Musicians Pension Plan, Friends of the College-Conservatory of Music, Concert: Nova, Inc., Hoxworth Blood Center, International Visitors Center, Jewish Community Relations Council, the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, and many other organizations. He presently also serves on the Dean’s Council and teaches in the Joint Master of Arts and M.B.A. Program of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Business School. He also serves as regional chair of the University of Virginia Law School Foundation Annual Campaign.
Dan is a graduate of Leadership Cincinnati of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce, from which he received the Distinguished Alumni Award. He was appointed by the Chief Justice of Ohio to the Ohio Commission on Racial Fairness and by the Mayor of Cincinnati to the Advisory Board for Consumer Protection. He was also appointed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to the Merit Selection Panel for the Appointment of Bankruptcy Judges, and he serves on numerous committees of the American, Ohio State, and Cincinnati Bar Associations. He was named Outstanding Volunteer of the Ohio State Bar Association, received the Trustees’ Award from the Cincinnati Bar Association, and he was appointed by the Deans of Ohio’s eight law schools to the Institute on the Future of the Legal Profession. He serves as a professional advisor for the Jewish Professional Advisors Network and for planned giving committees of the Cincinnati Bar Foundation, and the Tri-State Warbirds Museum, among other community and professional activities.
Dan is a Visionary Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a Distinguished Life Fellow Counselor of the Ohio State Bar Foundation. While in active practice, he was listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and has been named one of the top 100 lawyers in Ohio and top 50 in Cincinnati by Law and Politics and Cincinnati Magazine. Dan also has been named a Leading Lawyer by Cincy Magazine. Dan has been admitted to The U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and the Southern District of Ohio, and is currently admitted to practice in Ohio and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
Awards
-
Honoree, Best Lawyers in America, Trusts and Estates (2005 – 2023)
Honoree, Ohio Super Lawyers, Estate & Probate
(2004 – present)
Leading Lawyers Honoree, Cincy Magazine, Trusts & Estate Planning
(2005, 2013 – present)
AV Peer Review Rated, LexisNexis/Martindale-Hubbell
Visionary Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Education
- University of Virginia School of Law (1976)
- Harvard College (1973)
News
Thirty-Seven Taft Attorneys Selected to Ohio Super Lawyers 2025 News
Thirty-Seven Taft Attorneys Named to Ohio Super Lawyers 2024 News
Fifty-Two Taft Attorneys Recognized as 2023 Leading Lawyers by Cincy Magazine News
Thirty-Six Taft Attorneys Recognized in Ohio Super Lawyers 2023
Past Events
Professional Affiliations
- 2013 FIVE STAR Wealth Manager
Honoree
- Probate Law Journal
Retired Member, Editorial Advisory Board
- American Bar Foundation
Visionary Fellow
- American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
Fellow
- Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers (CALL)
Past Chair
- Cincinnati Bar Association
Past President
Numerous Committees
Trustees Award - Cincinnati Bar Foundation
Former Board Member
- Cincinnati Estate Planning Council
Member
- Federal Bar Association
Past President
- Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council
Member
- Institute on the Future of the Legal Profession
Past Member
- Leadership Cincinnati
Distinguished Alumni Award
- Ohio Federal District Court Review
Past Member, Editorial Board
- Ohio State Bar Association
Member, Distinguished Life Fellow Counselor
Member, Section Council of the Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law Section
Past Member, Pro Bono Task Force
Member, Section of Senior Counsel
Community Involvement
- Bridges of Faith Trialogue
Member
- Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education
Past Member, Strategic Planning Committee
- Children's Psychiatric Center
Past Treasurer
Past Board Member - Cincinnati AIDS Commission
Past Legal Counsel
- Cincinnati Advisory Board for Consumer Protection
Past Member
- Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra
Past Board Member
- Cincinnati Classical Public Radio, Inc.
Member, Advisory Board
Past Board Chair - Cincinnati Composers Guild
Past Board Member
- Bridges of Faith Trialogue
Member
- Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts
Past Board Member
- Cincinnati Parks Advisory Committee
Past Member
- Cincinnati Railroad Club
Member
- Cincinnati Symphony Association
Member
- Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Member, Officers Nominating Committee
Past Board Chair - Cincinnati Symphony Musicians Pension Fund
Past Board Member
- Cincinnati Public Radio, Inc.
Board Member
- Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
Life Member
Member, Planned Giving Committee - College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati
Member, Dean’s Advisory Council
- Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts
Past Board Chair
- Democratic National Committee
Past Member, Commission on the Investigation of the 2004 Presidential Election in Ohio
- Democratic Party of Hamilton County
Member
- Greater Cincinnati Foundation
Past Legal Counsel
- Harvard Club of Cincinnati
Past President
- Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
Member, Board of Overseers
Tribute Honoree - Hoxworth Blood Center
Past Member, Advisory Board
- International Visitors Center
Past Vice Board Chair
- Jewish Community Relations Council
Past Board Member, Vice Chair
- Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati
Past Vice Chair
- Linton, Incorporated
Vice Chair
Board Chair - Melton Adult Education Institute of Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Past Member, Advisory Board
- National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Co-Founder
Chair, Governance Committee
Past Board Chair - Ohio Justice & Policy Center
Past Board Member
- Ohio Supreme Court Commission on Racial Fairness
Past Member
- Program in Family Philanthropy at Xavier University, Williams College of Business
Past Member, Advisory Board
- Rockdale Temple
Past President
- Seven Hills School
Board Member
- Tri-State Warbird Museum
Member, Advisory Board
- United Way and Community Chest
Member, Planned Giving Committee
- University of Cincinnati College of Law
Former Adjunct Faculty
Past Member, Board of Visitors - University of Virginia Law School Foundation
Regional Chair, Annual Giving
- Urban League of Greater Cincinnati
Life Member