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Three lawyers receive top titles for hard work
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
A strong work ethic is necessary to be a quality lawyer, three award-winning lawyers say.
These lawyers, James L. Blomstrom, 65, a Youngstown business litigation attorney, Frederick S. “Fritz” Coombs III,, 64, a creditors’ rights attorney, and Matthew M. Ries, 32, a civil-litigation and employment lawyer, were all recently recognized by their peers for their quality work.
For the 12th-consecutive year, Blomstrom received the Super Lawyer title, and Coombs received the title for the sixth-consecutive time. Ries received the Rising Star title, which is given to lawyers under age 40 who have been practicing law for 10 years or less.
All three are with the Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell Ltd. firm in Youngstown and are natives of the Mahoning Valley.
“I was very honored,” Ries said. “It was nice to have that recognition. I have been given a unique opportunity to get my foot in the courtroom door.”
Super Lawyers is a rating system of lawyers through research, peer nominations and evaluations.
Up to 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are placed on the Super Lawyer list.
No more than 2.5 percent of lawyers receive the Rising Star title in the state.
All attorneys go through the Super Lawyer selection process first before they can be moved to the Rising Star list.
Blomstrom grew up in Boardman. He attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate studies. The opportunity for him to study law just happened, he said. He chose to study at the University of Chicago for his law degree.
“I don’t know why I ended up being a lawyer,” he said.
Although he has been in the business since 1974, Blomstrom still likes the puzzles of cases he tries. Through the years the cases he works on have grown, so there may be fewer but they are larger.
“I don’t think I am slipping yet,” he said.
His advice to new lawyers: Work hard.
“You don’t learn how to try a case in law school; you don’t learn how to litigate in law school,” he said. “Work harder than people expect you to.”
Coombs has been practicing law since 1975 after he received his law degree from Ohio State University and his undergraduate degree from Denison University. He said he wasn’t too surprised by the recognition he received from his peers.
“I would like to think my fellow lawyers basically think I know what I am doing,” he said.
The Youngstown native and graduate of The Rayen School says he eventually wants to retire and move on to something else, but that is all in a matter of time.
“It’s gratifying,” he said of the profession.
Ries, a Warren native, who has been practicing law since 2008, also finds the profession gratifying. Ries attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and went on to get his law degree from Capital University in Columbus.
“I have always wanted to do civil litigation,” Ries said. “I like it because it can be challenging. I like the competitive nature of it as well.”
For about a year and a half, he worked in Columbus and then Cleveland, but he wanted to get back home. He also wanted to have big-firm experience like at Harrington Hoppe & Mitchell.
“It is a great group of lawyers, very capable lawyers with years and years of experience,” he said.
Ries’ advice to new lawyers is: “Be prepared to work hard.”