Molitierno Thomas S

Serving The Fayette Community And Surrounding Areas Since 1984.

The first law practice in the Fayette area was started by Cloyce Storrs in about 1962. Cloyce operated the law office part-time and also worked at the local post office. Cloyce expanded the practice when he hired attorney Jim Marlatt, a recent law school graduate who had previously been a teacher. Cloyce enjoyed doing taxes, wills, estates and real estate work.

Jim, on the other, loved litigation and courtroom work such as criminal cases, personal injury and divorces. The two were able to offer the services the community needed by working in tandem. Jim later became judge of the Western District Court in Wauseon. Cloyce passed away in 1982 and Jim became a very busy sole practitioner and judge. Jim hired me in September, 1983, to help him with his case load. Jim had clients from all over northwest Ohio because he had met so many people while teaching and from his work as judge. I was eager to learn more about the practice of law with the help of a seasoned trial lawyer, but Jim fell ill and passed away in 1984.

Jim looked a lot like Abraham Lincoln and admired the former president and trial lawyer. To this day there is a bust of Honest Abe in my office and the front page of an old newspaper announcing Abe’s assassination. The items belonged to Jim and were given to me by his wife Ruth. They serve as reminders of my short but wonderful association with Jim Marlatt.

I purchased the building that Jim and I had practiced in and in 1984 became a sole practitioner. I was very fortunate because I didn’t have to start a law practice from scratch. I did, however, have to keep up with the workload that two men had previously done. I continued to offer the people of the Fayette area the convenience of a “hometown lawyer” and I continued Jim’s dream of having the practice be more regional. Because I had lived in Bryan for 15 years before coming to Fayette, I knew a lot of people from...