Practice
Areas

Harlow & Reed has a distinguished record in complex commercial litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution. We represent businesses and individuals in matters involving breach of contract, shareholder disputes, professional liability, business torts, and appellate practice. Our litigators are prepared to press claims and defend against them at every level of the Ohio court system and in federal courts throughout the Sixth Circuit.

We approach every dispute with a litigation strategy developed from the first client conversation — not on the eve of trial. That means understanding your business objectives alongside the legal terrain, calibrating risk honestly, and preparing as though every matter will be tried. Settlements, when appropriate, are negotiated from positions of demonstrated strength.

Eleanor Harlow leads this practice with more than three decades of trial experience. She has tried over forty matters to verdict and argued before the Ohio Supreme Court on three occasions. The litigation team includes attorneys with appellate backgrounds and experience before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

From entity formation and governance to mergers, acquisitions, and complex transactional work, our business law practice supports companies at every stage of their development. We advise closely held businesses, family enterprises, and institutional clients on matters requiring both strategic judgment and technical precision. Our counsel is transactional in nature and preventive in approach.

We have deep experience in private M&A transactions, including buy-side and sell-side representation, structuring, due diligence, and post-closing matters. James Reed, who leads this practice, has spent his career working with Ohio businesses on governance disputes, succession planning, and transactions where the documentation must hold up under real-world conditions — not merely survive initial review.

We do not serve as general corporate counsel to large public companies. Our clients are businesses where ownership, management, and outcome are closely linked — where the stakes of a poorly negotiated transaction or an unresolved governance problem are personal, not merely institutional.

We represent buyers, sellers, developers, lenders, and investors in the full range of commercial and residential real estate transactions. Our work spans acquisition and disposition, development agreements, leasing arrangements, title issues, easements, and zoning matters throughout central Ohio and surrounding regions. We bring the same discipline to a single-property closing as to a multi-site portfolio deal.

Vivienne Marsh, who leads our real estate practice, has particular experience in development transactions and multi-party closings where competing interests require careful negotiation and clear documentation. She has represented both institutional and individual clients in transactions ranging from urban commercial redevelopment to private land acquisitions.

We understand that real estate transactions have defined timelines and that delays carry real costs. Our approach is organized to move efficiently without sacrificing thoroughness — because the risk in a poorly documented transaction does not disappear at closing.

Thoughtful estate planning is among the most consequential work we undertake. We counsel individuals and families on wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and tax-efficient wealth transfer strategies. Our attorneys take time to understand each client's circumstances — their assets, their relationships, and their intentions — before recommending a plan.

Our estate planning work is frequently sought by owners of family businesses navigating ownership transition, asset protection, and the particular complexity of transferring an operating enterprise across generations. Vivienne Marsh holds an LL.M. in Taxation and brings technical depth to matters involving estate tax planning, charitable giving structures, and family limited partnerships.

We also represent trustees and beneficiaries in trust administration matters, and assist families when planning documents must be interpreted or challenged. Estate planning done well creates clarity. Our goal is to ensure that your intentions translate — precisely and durably — into legal instruments that will work when they are needed.