Bio

Stephen Ellis is a business lawyer who provides a broad range of senior level business, financial, and transactional counseling to privately held companies. Industries served include medical imaging products and services, consumer products, metals, plastics, and automotive, as well as technology-based software and biotechnology companies. Steve has served as lead counsel in scores of acquisitions and financings with dollar values ranging from $500,000 to more than $500,000,000. His 35+ years as a “deal-making” business lawyer and 10 years as the CEO of a major national law firm have made Steve a valuable business counselor, as well as a highly respected lawyer. He has been named one of The Best Lawyers in America® for more than 20 years. In 2009, Steve was named “Cleveland Corporate Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America, as well as a Leading Lawyer (Mergers and Acquisitions) by Inside Business magazine. Steve served for 10 years as National Managing Partner for the national law firm of Arter & Hadden. An honors graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, he was asked to deliver the law school’s commencement address in 2008, and in 2013 Steve received the school’s Centennial Award, the highest honor it awards to its alumni. Steve is a lifelong Cleveland resident and is a valued member of Cleveland’s civic and charitable community. Notwithstanding his numerous professional and civic accomplishments, Steve views his greatest achievements as his happy marriage to his high school sweetheart Jean, his five grandchildren, and a single-digit handicap (a handicap level that presently eludes him).