About Coolidge Wall

Founded in 1853, Coolidge Wall Co., L.P.A. is a premier resource for businesses and individuals. From our historic office in downtown Dayton, we serve clients throughout the Greater Miami Valley area and all over the world. As one of the oldest and most respected law firms in Ohio, we are trusted legal professionals with a history of obtaining results.

About Coolidge Wall

Founded in 1853, Coolidge Wall Co., L.P.A. is a premier resource for businesses and individuals. From our historic office in downtown Dayton, we serve clients throughout the Greater Miami Valley area and all over the world. As one of the oldest and most respected law firms in Ohio, we are trusted legal professionals with a history of obtaining results.

About Coolidge Wall

Founded in 1853, Coolidge Wall Co., L.P.A. is a premier resource for businesses and individuals. From our historic office in downtown Dayton, we serve clients throughout the Greater Miami Valley area and all over the world. As one of the oldest and most respected law firms in Ohio, we are trusted legal professionals with a history of obtaining results.

About Coolidge Wall

Founded in 1853, Coolidge Wall Co., L.P.A. is a premier resource for businesses and individuals. From our historic office in downtown Dayton, we serve clients throughout the Greater Miami Valley area and all over the world. As one of the oldest and most respected law firms in Ohio, we are trusted legal professionals with a history of obtaining results.
Steve Herbert CEO of Coolidge Wall

A Message from Daniel J. Gentry, President and CEO of Coolidge Wall

Welcome to Coolidge Wall. I would like to take a minute to introduce you to our firm.

Founded in 1853 in Dayton, Ohio, Coolidge Wall is one of the longest continually running businesses and law firms in the region and our great state. We are honored to have served our clients for more than 165 years. We have stayed true to our Dayton roots and believe that our focus on this market and the specific needs of our clients will enable us to remain a thoughtful steward and trusted advisor now and for years to come. Today, we rank as the #1 law firm in terms of size in the Dayton market.

As a full-service law firm, Coolidge offers its clients hometown service with high value. Businesses and individuals work with highly experienced partners whose mission is to provide trusted, efficient and collaborative counsel, while giving them the attention, expertise and advice needed to help clients achieve their goals.

As a Dayton-based law firm, we are fully committed to this wonderful community where we live and work.  Our attorneys, and our entire team, invest their time, talent and treasure to support and engage actively in community and charitable organizations and to provide pro bono work. It has been, and always will be, an important part of our firm’s culture to participate and give back.

We appreciate your interest in learning more about Coolidge and the services we offer. We look forward to what lies ahead for our clients and the Dayton region we are so proud to serve yesterday, today and tomorrow.

A Message from Daniel J. Gentry, President and CEO of Coolidge Wall

Steve Herbert CEO of Coolidge Wall

Welcome to Coolidge Wall.  I would like to take a minute to introduce you to our firm.

Founded in 1853 in Dayton, Ohio, Coolidge Wall is the one of the longest continually running businesses and law firms in the region and our great state.  We are honored to have served our clients for more than 165 years. We have stayed true to our Dayton roots and believe that our focus on this market and the specific needs of our clients will enable us to remain a thoughtful steward and trusted advisor now and for years to come. Today, we rank as the #1 law firm in terms of size in the Dayton market.

As a full-service law firm, Coolidge offers its clients hometown service with high value.  Businesses and individuals work with highly experienced partners whose mission is to provide trusted, efficient and collaborative counsel, while giving them the attention, expertise and advice needed to help clients achieve their goals.

As a Dayton-based law firm, we are fully committed to this wonderful community where we live and work.  Our attorneys, and our entire team, invest their time, talent and treasure to support and engage actively in community and charitable organizations and to provide pro bono work. It has been, and always will be, an important part of our firm’s culture to participate and give back.

We appreciate your interest in learning more about Coolidge and the services we offer.  We look forward to what lies ahead for our clients and the Dayton region we are so proud to serve yesterday, today and tomorrow.


Our Practice Isn’t Just Business — It’s Personal

Our firm is composed primarily of working partners, which means each client has the benefit of working with established attorneys, not inexperienced associates or assistants. We believe this provides clients with exceptional value, maximizing their chances of success at reasonable rates.

Our attorneys know that getting the best possible results for our clients requires a genuine investment of our time, energy and attention. Because we care about our clients’ businesses as much as they do, we are able to develop creative strategies for success and tirelessly pursue favorable results.

We do more than practice the law; we embody its spirit and even help to shape it. Several of our lawyers have gone on to become respected judges in Ohio courts. This strengthens our established bond with the community and gives our clients confidence in our ability to represent their interests.


History Timeline

Coolidge Wall Co. L.P.A. was founded as Gunckel & Strong in 1853. The law firm has changed names from time to time over the years, but the firm has practiced law continually from 1853 through the current date, one of the longest continually running businesses in Dayton. The firm engages in a broad range of legal areas, including business organizations, real estate development, tax & estate planning, labor and human resources, litigation and non-profit organizations. What started as a two-person partnership has grown over the years to a multi-talented and diverse group of men and women who are dedicated to the ethical practice of law.
Mudlick Distillery Dayton
Mudlick Distillery

Lee Warren James
Lee Warren James

Coolidge, Wall & Wood Family

From left to right: Unidentified female, Pete Wood (long time partner when firm was “Coolidge, Wall & Wood), General Henry Wood (Pete’s dad), Brad Coolidge (Pete’s uncle), Thomas J. Wood (Pete’s brother), along with Virginia Pierce (Pete’s mother) and Elisabeth Pierce Coolidge (Pete’s aunt)


Coolidge Wall Team
From left to right: Jonas J. Gruenberg, Michael G. Leesman, Merle F. Wilberding, J. Stephen Herbert, Richard A. Schwartz, William H. (Bud) Seall, Matt Rauch, Richard A. Talda, Christopher R. Conard

1800s

  • March 8, 1853 — Gunckel & Strong founded by Lewis Gunckel and Hiram Strong
  • September 17, 1859 — Gunckel entertains Abraham Lincoln at the Phillips Hotel
  • August 5, 1862 — Hiram Strong enlists in the 93rd Ohio Regiment
  • September 19, 1863 — Colonel Strong mortally wounded at Battle of Chickamauga during the American Civil War
  • March 26, 1867 — Gunckel led efforts to acquire 500 acres for Soldiers’ Home in Dayton

1900s

  • October 3, 1903 — Gunckel passes away
  • April 23, 1914 — Lee Warren James argues Pattison case before U S Supreme Court -- the only case ever argued by a Coolidge attorney in the United States Supreme Court, who only had a high school education
  • 1910-1920 — James was the Law Director of the City of Dayton sometime during this period
  • 1925 — James was also the sole outsider in taking National Cash Register public and may have earned more than $1,000,000 as a part of that transaction
  • 1930 — Dayton Soldiers’ Home merged into the Veterans Administration
  • January 1, 1938 — Coolidge Wall moves to Callahan Building with Clock Tower
  • February 15, 1965 — Brad Coolidge passes away
  • January 1, 1968 — Coolidge Wall moves to 33 West First Street, where it remains today
  • June, 1973 — Hugh E. Wall, Jr. inaugurated as President, Dayton Bar Association
  • June, 1991 — Roger J. Makley inaugurated as President, Dayton Bar Association
  • June, 1994 — Hugh E. Wall, III, inaugurated as President, Dayton Bar Association

    2000s

    • January 24, 2001 — Hugh E. Wall, Jr. passes away
    • June 28, 2018 — David Pierce inaugurated as President, Dayton Bar Association

    Dayton VA Medical Center, Gunckel Fountain
    Sponsored by Coolidge Wall