Treleven and Klingensmith maintains offices on East 8th Street in Cincinnati and sees the Oxford practice as the addition of attorney services here with the same emphasis on individuals and small businesses Robinson has always provided to the community.
Matt Wiseman, who has been with the Robinson and Jones firm since 2018, will remain in the local office and is joined here by Celia Klug Weingartner, who is still closing up some work in Cincinnati but will focus entirely on Oxford once that is completed. Jones is working here part-time to close up her pending work.
Legal Assistant Leesa Terry and Paralegal Kathy Lewis are also based here.
The firm hosted an open house March 3 to introduce themselves to the community and present were the firm’s namesakes Nick Klingensmith and John Treleven, who remain based in the Cincinnati office. The firm also has two others working in the Queen City — Derek Phipps and Phoebe Hart.
Wiseman said they have no plans to move from the 421 S. Locust St. offices the Robinson and Jones firm has been occupying, adjacent to the Lane Public Library.
“The point of the merger is to share knowledge across a wider number of people. There is a lot of institutional knowledge,” Wiseman said, pointing to the fact the Cincinnati office handles a lot of domestic relations and juvenile court work because they are close to those courts. “John (Treleven) summarizes it as ‘Our job is to be lawyers for people and people who own small businesses. If you are a small person with legal issues, we will be able to help you.’ Our goal is to be as full-service to individuals as we can be.”
Both Robinson and Jones are pleased with the decision to merge with Treleven and Klingensmith.
Robinson retired last September and that spurred his daughter to look at her life, as well.
“That was a good transition point for me to spend more time with my kids before they both leave for college,” she said. “Matt (Wiseman) has been at the firm for more than three years. He was a wonderful addition to our team. He has a good relationship with our clients and I’m excited about the (merger). They are a really good team dedicated to providing the services dad and I provided.”
She said she is keeping her law license and has made no plans for beyond that time when both kids are at college but will consider that later. For now, she is working one day a week in the office for an uncertain time and will then head for home.
“I feel the new owners and I have a great working relationship. I will still provide some services working from home and in the office one day a week,” she said.
Jim Robinson began practicing law in Oxford in 1974 while affiliated with a Hamilton firm and then joined with attorney Susan Lipnickey to form the local law firm. Jones joined the firm in 2006 and Lipnickey later retired, joining Xavier University’s Athletic Department as an associate athletic director.
“After 48 years, it was time for me to retire. We’re so excited about the new people. They are dedicated and intelligent to carry on providing service to our clients,” Robinson said. “I’m glad we joined with them. They will do great things. Matt (Wiseman) and Celia (Klug Weingartner) are already getting out into the community.”
While he holds high expectations for the new firm, Robinson also carries fond memories of his years practicing law in Oxford, getting in on the founding of such efforts as the Chamber of Commerce and Community Foundation. The best of those memories revolve around practicing law with his daughter.
“It was a dream come true. I sat with her for her first jury trial. She has a really loyal client base,” he said. “It was special to be together for 15 years. Every day was really special for me.”
Wiseman said he looks forward to continuing to practice law in Oxford as he has for the past few years, which has been mostly criminal law and working with small businesses.
“I did my best to learn from Jim and Tara, especially estate planning. We want to be a one-stop shop with anything we can help you with,” he said. “This was not some sort of corporate takeover. We understand what Jim and Tara had and we will keep it with new faces. Jim is a pillar here. We will live by that as much as we can. We will not change a single thing.”
About the Author