Local Dayton Attorney Achieves "Specialist" Certification
Joseph E. Balmer III
Dayton, OHIO - The Ohio State Bar Association has awarded Dayton attorney, Joseph E. Balmer III, a partner at Holzfaster, Cecil, McKnight & Mues, LPA, a Certificate of Specialization in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. Balmer joins a very elite group of Ohio attorneys who have earned the distinction of being certified Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Specialists. Balmer was one of only eight (8) attorneys statewide to successfully pass certification in 2005 and the only one in the Dayton area according to Melissa Quick, Director of Programming, Ohio State Bar Association. Effective January 1, 2006, Balmer will become one of 14 attorneys certified by The Ohio State Bar Association as a specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law in the Dayton area and one of 134 attorneys statewide with the specialist certification. Presently, there are 40,797 registered attorneys in Ohio according to Cindy Farrenkopf of the Ohio Supreme Court.
In Ohio all attorneys licensed to practice law must have graduated from an accredited law school, passed an intensive examination, and attend continuing legal education courses required by the Ohio Supreme Court. Attorneys such as Balmer, who devote a large part of their practice to a particular area of the law, may choose to go beyond the requirements to earn specialty certification. Through additional education, training, peer recommendations and examinations, the Ohio Supreme Court Commission on Certification ensures that specialists demonstrate a substantial and continuing involvement in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law.
Balmer, 42, a Kettering resident, graduated from Oakwood High School and Emory University and received his law degree and MBA in 1989 from The Ohio State University. He has been practicing law with Holzfaster, Cecil, McKnight & Mues, LPA for 16 years.
