Eric K. Combs

Biography

Eric is an experienced trial lawyer and trusted advisor to businesses. He has extensive first-chair trial experience in federal and state courts and has tried numerous jury trials to successful verdicts. Eric has secured significant results for clients before juries, judges and arbitrators, and has successfully negotiated settlements in matters including or involving diverse areas of the law: products liability, noncompetition/trade secrets, class action consumer protection and securities litigation, intellectual property, health care, franchise, corporate control, real estate and construction. He has represented and counseled clients of all types and sizes, including Procter & Gamble, Wendy’s, Kraft Foods Group, Total Quality Logistics, Bank of America, Graeter’s Ice Cream Co., the University of Cincinnati, and closely-held companies and individuals in various industries.

In addition to his trial practice, Eric has unique experience in the business of sports. He has advised and represented multiple professional sports franchises, sports facility owners, university athletic departments, and athletes. His experience includes counseling and representing clients across a broad range of areas in which the law applies to the business of sports. These matters range from the defense of class action suits brought by NFL season ticket holders, to advice to college athletic departments on Title IX compliance, as well as eligibility disputes involving amateur athletes.

He also actively participates in a number of community and professional organizations. Eric just began a three-year term on the Ohio State Bar Association Board of Governors, representing District 1. He is a past president of the Cincinnati Bar Association, where he still serves on the Admissions and Grievance Committees. He also serves on the boards of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor Foundation; ArtsWave’s Flow Advisory Board; the May Festival; the Cincinnati Law and Leadership Institute; and the Hamilton County Republican Party Judicial Selection Committee. Past service includes the boards of the Cincinnati Bar Foundation, the Miami University PreLaw Advisory Program, and the Hamilton County Public Defender Commission. Eric is a past recipient of the 40 Under Forty Award presented by the Business Courier and completed the Leadership Cincinnati program as part of Class XXXII. In 2013, Eric received the Teaching Excellence Award from the UC Law Alumni Association for his work as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where he still teaches Sports Law each spring semester.

Education

  • University of Wisconsin Law School  (J.D., 1996)
    • Order of the Coif
  • Miami University  (B.S., magna cum laude, 1993)

Bar Admissions

  • Ohio

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Affiliations/Memberships

  • Ohio State Bar Association
    • Board of Governors (2023-present), District 1 Representative
  • Cincinnati Bar Association
    • President (2015 - 2016)
    • Board of Trustees (2010 - 2017, 2004 - 2006)
    • Admissions Committee (2008 - present)
    • Grievance Committee (2017 - present)
  • Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor Foundation
    • Board of Trustees (2006 - present)
    • President (2011 - 2014)
    • Board Chairman (2014 - 2016)
  • Hamilton County Public Defender Commission (2017 - 2019)
  • Cincinnati Bar Foundation, Board of Trustees (2005 - 2014)
  • ArtsWave
    • Executive Committee (2014-2022)
    • Board of Trustees (2010 - 2022)
    • Flow Advisory Board (2019-present)
    • Chair, Tier 1B Allocation Committee (2011 - 2014)
    • ArtsWave Allocation Task Force (2009 - 2011)
    • FAF’s inaugural “Business on Board” Program (2004)
  • Cincinnati May Festival
  • Board of Trustees (2011 - present)
    • Board Chair (2019-2021)
  • Miami University Pre-Law Program, Advisory Board (2011 - 2018)
  • University of Cincinnati School of Law, Sports Law, adjunct professor (2010 - present)
  • Hamilton County Republican Party, Judicial Selection Committee (2009 - present), Chair
  • Cincinnati Law & Leadership Institute, Advisory Board (2012 - present)
  • Potter Stewart Inn of Court, member & presenter (2003 - 2008, 2011 - present)
  • Leadership Cincinnati Graduate, Class XXXII

Distinctions

  • Peer Review Rated AV in Martindale-Hubbell
  • Best Lawyers®   (2009 - present)
    • "Lawyer of the Year" Cincinnati for Bet-the-Company Litigation (2019)
    • Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation (2021-2024)
  • Super Lawyers®
    • Top 50 lawyer in Cincinnati (2014 - 2015)
    • Ohio Super Lawyers® (2012 - Present)
  • Benchmark Litigation Future Star (2014)
  • Forty Under 40 Award, Cincinnati Business Courier (2009)
  • UC Law Alumni Board’s Adjunct Professor Teaching Excellence Award (2013)
  • Cincy Magazine 
    • Cincy Leading Lawyer
    • Leading Lawyers Power 100 (2021)