1903 —Robert M. Calfee, born in 1876 in Pulaski, Virginia, arrives in Cleveland from Washington, D.C. Bemis, Zigelman & Calfee opens with offices at the Old Arcade on Euclid Avenue. 1908 — Calfee becomes a sole practitioner with offices in the Williamson Building on Public Square. He is soon joined by Joseph G. Fogg. Calfee & Fogg opens for business in 1909. 1910 — William L. Day, an Ohioan whose father was U.S. Supreme Court Justice William R. Day, joins Calfee & Fogg until his appointment as Federal District Court Attorney for Northeast Ohio in 1911. The firm briefly is organized as Day, Calfee & Fogg. 1918 — Pierre White, a former Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge, joins the firm as a partner, and the firm name changes to Calfee, Fogg & White. A new partnership agreement compels partners to devote themselves to the firm full time. 1927 —John L. McChord joins the firm as a partner. He goes on to become president of the Cleveland Bar Association and chairman of the Cleveland Foundation’s prestigious distribution committee. 1928 — The firm moves to the Central National Bank Building. R.M. Calfee is a director of the bank, which also is a Calfee & Fogg client. 1929 — Edwin G. Halter, born 1905 in Cleveland, is hired as a partner. Halter will later become a driving force in the firm’s emergence as a leader in the Cleveland legal community. 1933 — Congress requires public companies to register with the newly formed Securities and Exchange Commission. Calfee & Fogg files one of the SEC’s first registration statements – the Brewing Corporation of America, a company that R.M. Calfee helped launch in Cleveland. 1935 — The Van Sweringen brothers, Orris and Mantis, default on $48 million in loans originally obtained to build the Terminal Tower and Cleveland Union Terminal. The Van Sweringen Corporation goes into receivership and Federal District Judge Paul Jones appoints Fogg as a trustee of the corporation. The case goes for 15 years. Fogg hires Kenneth Resseger, soon to be a partner, specifically to work on the matter. 1936 — A new partnership agreement stipulates Fogg as the managing partner. Moreover, it stipulates that Fogg alone will determine what the other partners are paid. 1938 — R.M. Calfee’s son John B. (Jack) Calfee joins the firm as an associate. 1946 — The firm moves to the Union Commerce Building (now the Huntington Building) at East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue. Later in the year, Joe Fogg dies of a stroke. Halter, McChord, and Resseger establish a new partnership. McChord and Halter are co-managing partners. The firm is called Calfee, Fogg, McChord & Halter. 1950 — Ed Halter, resolutely in control of the firm, hires Bruce Griswold, born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. 1951 — A young associate named Alphonse A. Sommer, Jr. is hired. Sommer will later become a nationally recognized expert in federal securities law and will oversee the development of the firm’s signature securities law practice. Griswold is named managing partner. 1952 — Daniel L. Ekelman joins the firm. He will later become one of the firm’s most influential managing partners. 1953 — The firm celebrates its 50th anniversary with 10 partners and two associates. The partners are R.M. Calfee, Ed Halter, John McChord, Ken Resseger, Jack Calfee, Bruce Griswold, Addison H. Brenan, Theodore M. Mann, Carl G. Schluederberg and Charles F. Pennington. The two associates are Dan Ekelman and Al Sommer. 1964 — Associate F. Rush McKnight, a future managing partner, is named partner. 1965 — John Wheeler, a future managing partner, joins the firm. 1966 — The firm’s name is changed to Calfee, Halter, Calfee, Griswold & Sommer. 1967 — A new system of governance is adopted. Jack Calfee is named as the first Chairman of the Executive Committee. Dan Ekelman, Bruce Griswold and Al Sommer round out the committee. 1968 — R.M. Calfee dies at 92. 1970 — Al Sommer succeeds Jack Calfee as Chairman of the Executive Committee. The firm leaves the Union Commerce Building to follow long-time client McDonald & Company to the new Central National Bank Building at Superior Avenue and East 9th Street (now McDonald Investment Center and the firm’s current home). The firm hires its first female lawyer. 1974 — Al Sommer is appointed a Commissioner of the SEC. The firm changes its name to Calfee, Halter & Griswold. Bruce Griswold becomes Chairman of the Executive Committee. 1975 — Ed Halter dies at 69. 1978 — Dan Ekelman becomes Chairman of the Executive Committee. Future Ohio Governor and U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich joins the firm in an Of Counsel capacity. 1979 — Calfee, Halter & Griswold has 66 lawyers. Voinovich is elected Mayor of Cleveland. 1985 — Rush McKnight becomes Chairman of the Executive Committee. 1987 — The Columbus office is opened with an initial focus on the practice of government relations. The firm has 104 lawyers. 1989 — The firm, having grown to 131 lawyers, starts an intellectual property practice. 1992 —John D. Wheeler becomes Chairman of the Executive Committee. The firm serves as lead counsel for the Gateway project, the most visible and important civic development in recent Cleveland history. 1993 — Bruce Griswold dies at 77. 1999 — David Carpenter, head of the firm’s tax practice, Chairman of the Finance Committee, and a beloved partner, dies at the age of 57. 2000 — Dale C. LaPorte becomes Chairman of the Executive Committee. 2003 — Jack Calfee dies at 90. The firm celebrates its centennial anniversary at Severance Hall. The firm has 192 lawyers, including 20 in Columbus. Calfee’s litigation and intellectual property practices now include 42 and 34 lawyers respectively. Forty-five lawyers are female, of whom 11 are partners. 2004 — A new management team is elected to run the firm. Brent D. Ballard becomes Managing Partner. Thomas F. McKee and Thomas E. Wagner serve as Co-chairmen. |