Partner
Bellefontaine
Tel +1 937 593 6065
Josh focuses his practice in the areas of general business and corporate law, commercial and residential real estate, municipal law, creditor rights, estate planning and family law. “I strive to see the big picture, to understanding my clients’ businesses, and to provide sound advice that helps solve problems and achieve objectives.” In case you are wondering, Josh and Terry Stolly are law partners, but also nephew and uncle. “Working with Uncle Terry is a blast. I can’t recall a single day that we weren’t laughing hysterically,” says Josh. “We take our clients and their matters very seriously, but not each other.”
Josh concentrates his business practice in the following areas:
- Business organization and formation
- General business and corporate representation
- Commercial and residential real estate law
- Creditor rights
Josh’s services include entity selection and maintenance, contract formation and negotiation, financial and business capitalization, corporate formalities, and buy-sell agreements. Real estate clients in particular benefit from his extensive experience in all residential and commercial real estate matters, include real estate sales, acquisitions and leasing.
Clients also retain Josh in a general counsel capacity, relying on his guidance in formulating creative strategies to maximize opportunity and minimize risk. As such, Josh’s services encompass a wide range of transactional matters including:
- Buy/sell agreements
- Business sale and purchase agreements
- Joint venture agreements
- Independent contractor and sales representative agreements
- Shareholder/partnership agreements
- Operating agreements
Josh serves as the elected Law Director for the City of Bellefontaine. As general counsel to the City of Bellefontaine, Josh advises the Mayor, Service-Safety Director and department heads on day-to-day legal issues.
Josh relies heavily on his business background when representing clients in traditional family law matters, including the following:
- Divorce
- Legal separation
- Child custody
- Dissolution
- Annulment
- Private adoption
- Step-parent adoption
- Civil protection orders (CPO’s)
- Separation agreements
- Shared parenting plans
- Private settlement agreements
“Domestic relation clients often say they want ‘someone ready to fight for them.’ I agree they need a strong advocate, but they also need an analytical thinker and an empathetic counselor in one,” says Josh. “Their legal issues are emotionally charged and often highly complex, and it’s my job to ensure that their wishes respected, their dignity is preserved and their interests protected.”
Prior to enrolling in law school, for two years Josh was a financial analyst for Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Learn More
- Representing all types and sizes of business owners, from entity formation and start-up, to business succession planning, to sales and purchase of same
- Representing the City of Bellefontaine as the elected law director and chief legal advisor to the City administration, including overseeing the Bellefontaine Municipal Court Prosecutor’s office
- Providing counsel to local community hospital for various subjects, including real estate, physician relations, service and product contracts, risk management and organization governance
- Representing a community focused bank as general counsel, including protecting its rights as a creditor in borrower bankruptcy and foreclosure actions
- Representing a multi-million dollar family owned warehousing and trucking business as general counsel, including recent commercial real estate transactions exceeding $10MM
- Representing an interstate multi-million dollar family owned trucking business as general counsel
- Representing a family owned concrete surfacing business as general counsel, including drafting international product distribution agreements
- Representing multi-million dollar construction company as general counsel, including contract negotiations
- Representing buyers and sellers of privately owned bars and restaurants, including transferring of liquor permits
- Representing business owners with the introduction of ballot initiatives for various types of liquor permits
Education:
- Miami University, Ohio (B.S., Accounting, 2001)
- Ohio Northern University, Claude W. Pettit College of Law (J.D., with High Distinction, 2007)
- Bellefontaine High School (Valedictorian, 1998)
Admissions:
- Ohio, 2007
Courts:
- S. Dist.Ct., S. Dist. of Ohio, 2010
Memberships and Associations:
- Logan County Bar Association
- Ohio State Bar Association
- Law Director, City of Bellefontaine (Elected, 2016- Present)
- United Way of Logan County (President, 2015; Board Member, 2012-Present)
- Logan County Chamber of Commerce (Member)
- Bellefontaine Youth Soccer Association (Coach, 2014-Present)
- Hi-Point Youth Baseball Association (Trustee, 2016-Present; Coach, 2014-Present)
- Hilliker YMCA (Member)
- YMCA Youth Flag Football (Coach, 2015-Present)
- Sigma Chi, Alpha Chapter
- Kiwanis of Bellefontaine (President, 2014-15; Board Member, 2011-2016)
- Patrick Catholic Church, Bellefontaine (Parish Council Member, 2013-15)
- Bellefontaine City School Board (Elected Member, 2014-2015)
- Order of Symposiarchs, Bellefontaine (Member)