I was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended Notre Dame High School after which I entered Xavier University in 1965, graduating in 1969 with a B. A. Degree in Philosophy. I entered Salmon P. Chase Law School at Northern Kentucky University, graduating in 1975 and after passing the bar, began private practice with a small law firm by the name of Mechley & Mechley. In January of 1976, I tried my first civil jury trial to verdict and in my first 3 years of practice, I tried approximately 40 criminal and civil jury trials. I then started a firm with Warren Ritchey and Tom Keating with whom I practiced until 1985 when I joined the law firm of Lindhorst & Dreidame where I presently am a partner.

I specialize in medical malpractice defense and have tried approximately 200 medical malpractice jury trials in 36 years in 15 different cities in Ohio and Kentucky. I live in Cincinnati with my wife, Jacki, an English Professor at Xavier University. I have four children: Joseph Michael, an attorney who has his own law firm here in Cincinnati, The Lyon Firm; Margaret Catherine, an English teacher who lives in Maine; Matthew, a journalist and writer who lives in South Vietnam; and Zachary James, an attorney with the law firm of Arnold, Todaro & Welch in Columbus, Ohio.I have been elected by Super Lawyers every year since 2004; have been elected to the Top 50 Lawyers in Cincinnati since 2012, and the top 100 Lawyers in Ohio since 2012.