Dalton Smith

A native of Lima, Ohio, Dalton Smith built his academic foundation at The Ohio State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy in 2016,  a pairing that would later prove well suited to the courtroom. He went on to earn his Juris Doctor from Ohio Northern University’s Pettit College of Law in 2019, where he served as a staff editor for the Ohio Northern Law Review and worked as a law clerk at Cory, Meredith, Witter & Smith.

Today, Dalton’s practice centers on personal injury, both third-party claims and first-party coverage disputes, as well as bad faith litigation and wrongful death cases — alongside substantial work in business litigation and the enforcement of member, partner, and shareholder rights. He also serves as counsel for several governmental entities and public agencies, litigates trust and will contest matters, and advises clients on employment law and landlord-tenant disputes. His docket regularly takes him into both federal and state court, including matters involving alleged constitutional violations.

Above all, Dalton is a trial lawyer: he is happiest trying a case rather than simply settling it, and he maintains an active appellate practice alongside that trial work. For him, the law is more than a line of work — it’s something he genuinely believes matters, and that conviction shapes how he approaches every case, regardless of its size or the forum in which it’s heard.

That conviction was on full display the day Dalton presented oral argument before the Supreme Court of Ohio, then appeared in municipal court for an eviction hearing that same afternoon — a fitting reminder that every forum matters and every client deserves his full attention. He is especially devoted to representing elderly clients and litigating matters involving allegations of undue influence, work he approaches with a particular sense of purpose. Colleagues describe him as unfailingly courteous and professional — and, more tellingly, as someone they would always rather have beside them at counsel table than across from them.

Outside of the courtroom, he is rarely without a good book, Ernest Hemingway and Walker Percy chief among his favorites.