Bob Steinberg has a wide range of legal experience as a mediator, an arbitrator, a trial lawyer, a counselor, and a trial judge. Prior to forming his current law firm, Mr. Steinberg engaged in private law practice in a Cincinnati, Ohio law firm for 16 years. His law firm practice consisted primarily of complex litigation and professional mediation services. Before entering private law practice, Mr. Steinberg served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Federal Court, where he presided over the trial and settlement of hundreds of civil cases for 18 years. During the preceding 10 years, he was a federal prosecuting attorney. He supervised the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Cincinnati and Dayton Ohio, prosecuted federal criminal cases and defended the U.S. government in civil litigation. Mr. Steinberg has participated in the trial of hundreds of cases as a trial lawyer and as a trial judge. He began his career as a federal law clerk conducting legal research and writing for U.S. District Judge David Porter in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Bob Steinberg is an AV rated attorney, the highest rating of legal ability and ethical standards. He is a 2024 Ohio Super Lawyer, having been elected by his peers as a Super Lawyer every year since the designation began in 2004. His current law practice focuses on professional mediation services, professional arbitration services, expert witness services, selected civil litigation, settlement administration services, and employer consultation.
Mr. Steinberg is currently the Program Director of the Cincinnati Bar Association ADR service, in charge of providing arbitrators and mediators to the legal community in Ohio and Kentucky. Mr. Steinberg was elected Chair of the Ohio Bar Association’s 500-plus member Federal Court Practice Committee for 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. He organized the Federal Bench Bar Conference, a multi-day meeting and educational event for all federal Judges and practitioners in the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio.
Mr. Steinberg is a member of the bars of the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Southern and Northern Districts of Ohio, and the State of Ohio. He taught for many years as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati Law School and the University of Dayton Law School. His courses included Trial Practice, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, Criminal Constitutional Law, and Criminal Law. He served as National Vice President of the Federal Bar Association, President of the Dayton and Cincinnati Chapters of the Federal Bar Association, Member of the National Council of Magistrate Judges, Member of the Magistrate Judge Advisory Group to the Administrative Office of U.S. Court (one of six judges chosen nationally), Instructor at the Federal Judicial Center, Life Member of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference, Member of the Sixth Circuit Steering Committee for Gender/Race Fairness, Member of the Southern District of Ohio Rules Committee, Member of the Southern District of Ohio Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Committee, and Advisor to the U.S. Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, and the Cincinnati Bar Association. He is a Master of the Bench of the Potter Stewart Inn of Court.
During his career, Mr. Steinberg has conducted more than 200 legal seminars on subjects including Mediation, Arbitration, Trial Practice, Attorney Fee Awards, Federal Courts, Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination, Complex Litigation, and Evidence.
Mr. Steinberg obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the Ohio State University and a Juris Doctorate degree from the Ohio State University School of Law.
Mr. Steinberg began his legal career serving as a Law Clerk to U.S. District Judge David S. Porter in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mr. Steinberg served as Assistant United States Attorney and Senior Assistant United States Attorney for ten years. During that time period, he supervised the Dayton and Cincinnati U.S. Attorney’s Offices. He was trial counsel for the United States in over 200 federal criminal and civil trials and appeals. During this time, he defended the United States Government in various civil cases, including personal injury litigation involving medical malpractice at V.A. facilities and injuries on government property at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, contract matters involving government defense supply agencies, and federal tax litigation. He prosecuted hundreds of federal criminal cases including organized crime (RICO), white collar crime, tax evasion, bank robbery, counterfeiting, and many other crimes. He was chosen for a special assignment to the U.S. Justice Department, Washington, D.C. to participate in drafting a major revision of the U.S. Criminal Code. During that one-year assignment, he participated in the Watergate Prosecution Task Force. As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Steinberg trained U.S. Attorneys at the U.S. Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute in Washington, D.C.
Bob Steinberg served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for eighteen years until he resigned to enter private law practice. During that time, Judge Steinberg presided over the trial of more than 250 civil jury and non-jury cases and conducted hundreds of mediations in cases pending in the federal court. These cases involved a wide variety of legal issues over which the federal court has jurisdiction. They included patent law, intellectual property, insurance coverage, personal injury cases of all types, employment discrimination, antitrust, contracts, admiralty, FELA and ERISA matters. For many years, Judge Steinberg was an advisor to the U.S. Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute in Washington, D.C. and served as a mock trial judge in its training program for U.S. Attorneys.
In 1996, Mr. Steinberg entered the private practice of law to engage in complex litigation on a national basis and to provide professional mediation services. His private practice professional mediations involved derivative investments, insurance coverage, employment discrimination, personal injury issues, contract disputes, and business disputes. As a private trial attorney, Mr. Steinberg participated in multi-district litigation, class action litigation, and individual litigation on a wide variety of subjects including antitrust, defective products, personal injuries, mass torts, unfair consumer practices, insurance coverage disputes, employment discrimination, and ERISA. He represented both the plaintiff’s side and the defendant’s side, and he represented individuals and organizations.
Examples of complex litigation conducted by Mr. Steinberg include the following cases: Mr. Steinberg represented Procter & Gamble as a plaintiff in the Vitamins Antitrust Litigation in Washington, D.C., known as the largest antitrust case in the country at that time. Mr. Steinberg was lead counsel for 252 victims of child sexual abuse in a Kentucky case against a religious institution that resulted in a $90 million court-approved settlement. Mr. Steinberg was able to ensure the privacy of the victims’ identities while developing a unique due process settlement procedure that involved two steps of appeal of settlement award decisions. Mr. Steinberg was a plaintiff’s counsel in the Commercial Explosives Antitrust case in Salt Lake City, Utah, which involved price-fixing of the costs of commercial explosives throughout the United States.
Mr. Steinberg is also active as a “Master Emeritus” in the American Inns of Court Potter Stewart Chapter in Cincinnati, Ohio. He led numerous presentations to attorneys who are Inns of Court members on a wide variety of topics.
Bob Steinberg’s lengthy and varied experience in litigation on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants, individuals and organizations, and his extensive mediation experience gives him a unique perspective to achieve resolution of legal disputes.