Association of Defense Trial Attorneys names Tait president

Robert E. Tait, a partner in the Columbus office of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP was elected president of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (ADTA) during the association’s 68th Annual Meeting in April.  Tait, who will serve a one-year term, follows in the footsteps of Vorys’ long-time managing partner, the late John Elam, who was president in 1968.

The ADTA invites only one defense trial attorney to be a prime member per one million in population for each city, town or municipality across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.  A defense trial attorney who is an ADTA prime member is held in the highest regard by his or her peers.

Tait, a member of Vorys’ litigation practice group, has complete more than 100 jury trials and has served as lead counsel in numerous toxic tort class actions, specifically radiation and chemical exposures.  He also has been involved in employer intentional tort and products liability cases and has argued numerous cases before the Supreme Courts of Ohio and Kentucky, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.  Most recently, Tait led the team that obtained a defense verdict in the longest civil jury trial in the history of Hamilton County (Cincinnati) Ohio.

“We are extremely proud of Bob and his accomplishments,” said Russell M. Gertmenian, managing partner of Vorys.  “The ADTA is the preeminent, international defense trial attorney association, and we are honored that Bob has been elected to lead the organization as president.”

Tait has been a member of the ADTA since 1986 and has served as a member of the executive and long range planning committees, vice president and treasurer, and president-elect.  He is also a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, the Defense Research Institute and the Department of Energy Contractor Counsel Association.