Black-owned Columbus company acquires the late Otto Beatty Jr.'s law firm - Columbus Business First - Columbus Business First
The Black-owned Columbus law firm Walton + Brown aims to carry on the legacy left by Otto Beatty Jr. following its acquisition of the Columbus politician and African American trailblazer’s law firm.
Walton + Brown LLP, led by Columbus attorneys Sean Walton and Chanda Brown, bought the firm for an undisclosed price and will take on up to 100 clients previously served by Beatty Jr., the former state legislator and attorney who died in 2021 at the age of 81.
Beatty Jr.’s son, Otto Beatty III, said the family wanted to make sure that whoever bought Beatty’s practice would carry on his mission of focusing on civil rights.
They entertained offers from several law firms. Beatty Jr., who was the husband of U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, was the first Black lawyer to own a downtown Columbus law office, and argued before the Ohio Supreme Court in 1969 on a landmark case that established the right to bail release.
“What became apparent to me was we needed to find a firm or a collection of lawyers that shared the same values as my father, (who led a) people-oriented practice first,” Beatty III told Columbus Business First. “It became quite apparent there were more synergies and more cultural understanding and more shared values with the Walton + Brown firm."
"My father was very familiar with them and served as both a close and distant mentor," Beatty III said, making the combination "a natural fit."
Walton said he knew Beatty Jr. for many years, first meeting him at a networking mixer.
“As a young Black male attorney here in Columbus, the name Otto Beatty is legendary,” Walton told us. “I’ve studied his career, I studied his work. A lot of what I’ve done has been modeled after his practice and the work he did. Our practice is centered around people.”
Beatty III said his father was interested in mentoring young Black lawyers in Columbus like Walton and Brown because of his own story. His father was the only African American in his class in law school at Ohio State University.
He built his own practice starting in 1970 focused on personal injury, criminal law and civil rights.
Beatty Jr.’s children are all in the legal profession, although none were in a position to take over their father's firm. Laurel Beatty Blunt is an Ohio Court of Appeals Justice, and Beatty III is retired from a career in law at Baker & Hostetler LLP.
Brown said the purchase was exciting for Walton + Brown LLP because it has allowed them to expand their firm by hiring another paralegal.
All of Beatty Jr.’s former clients have agreed to transfer to their firm.
“The clients have been wonderful,” Brown said. “It’s been a really great transition and I think that is a big testament to the type of work that Mr. Beatty did with his clients through so many decades. It’s helped us to grow and continue on with his legacy.”
Walton said the firm’s goal is to “continue doing the work we’ve been called to do” in Columbus. The firm specializes in personal injury accidents, civil rights violations, police misconduct and employment discrimination cases.
“That’s fighting for people,” Walton said.
source: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/02/03/walton-brown-otto-beatty-jr.html
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