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Lynch hangs up his hat as a lawyer

Falls manager quits practice after 37 years

NEWTON FALLS — The new city manager has resigned his status as a practicing attorney.

David M. Lynch is no longer a practicing attorney in the state of Ohio, effective Nov. 21, according to documents from the Ohio Supreme Court.

“I decided, since I have been pondering career changes lately, I have been practicing for 37 years, I decided it made sense to go on a different career path,” Lynch said.

Before he resigned, Lynch was dealing with complaints that had been filed against him.

In initial conversations with the Tribune Chronicle, Lynch said the complaint was about a domestic violence case he handled.

“The client was accused of domestic violence and had a previous conviction of domestic violence against the same woman in a different case,” Lynch said. “I think the way I handled it was appropriate and done well. The client had a different point of view.”

The Ohio Board of Professional Conduct website only had an accident complaint listed as disciplinary hearings against Lynch. A search of the Supreme Court records found a different complaint concerning how Lynch handled a car accident case, not a domestic violence case.

The complaint stated Lynch failed to notify the city of Kirkland that he was representing his client and he waited two years to file a lawsuit on behalf of his client against the city.

“It was timely filed,” Lynch said. “It’s fairly common. It was done that way because there was a witness that said my client was wrong.”

Lynch said the witness didn’t help the case and that’s why it didn’t get filed quickly, but it was still filed in a timely manner.

Both complaints were dismissed upon Lynch’s resignation. His resignation was a “Resignation with Discipline Pending,” according to the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct website.

“It was a voluntary action on my part because it made sense to resign, because I have been contemplating that for three or four years,” Lynch said. “It was good timing for everyone.”

Lynch started Nov. 15 as the village manager.

Councilman John Baryak said Lynch’s profession as an attorney didn’t factor into the hiring process.

“I didn’t hire an attorney, I hired a city manager,” Baryak said. “The lawyer thing didn’t have anything to do with it. It was his knowledge of the city.”

Baryak said Lynch’s knowledge of how to run a government entity was much stronger than other applicants who interviewed for the city manager’s position.

“The way he’s starting out, he’s doing a fantastic job already,” Baryak said.

cramey@tribtoday.com

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