2009 Sir Thomas More Award Recipient

Robert W. Briggs

Robert W. Briggs is the recipient of the 2009 Sir Thomas More Award. The Catholic Diocese and St. Bernard Church sponsor this award each year to recognize a member of the legal profession who is concerned for the community and has provided outstanding service in furtherance of justice and humanity.

With decades of service to northeast Ohio through leadership of philanthropic organizations such as the GAR Foundation and the Knight Foundation, Rob says, "I am deeply honored to receive the Sir Thomas More Award, but it should really be given to all the people I have been involved with in the community - folks who are smarter and better-trained that I am. We get things done and don't worry about who gets the credit. It's a team effort. I could not have achieved any of this without the support I have received from my colleagues at Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs and GAR Foundation."

An admirer of the historical Sir Thomas More, Rob says, "He was a family man, an educator, a lawyer and a humanist." Like More, Rob has always been aware of the needs of the community, explaining "I know what it's like to live on both sides of the track." His divorced mother brought him, age six, and his older brother from Kentucky to Wooster, where they lived with her sister until his mother found a job earning $45 a week. Briggs comments that his mother, Frances Shoolroy, has by far had the greatest influence on his life.

"We were poor, but I didn't know it," Rob says. "My brother and I always worked, beginning with paper routes. Then when I was thirteen, my mother married a man who owned a construction business. Every summer from then through college I worked in commercial construction and got to know a significant cross-section of people from all walks of life. Many of them were great guys, and I have always treasured that experience."

As a new graduate of The Ohio State University School of Law, and having been commissioned through ROTC at Duke University, Rob was called to serve in the Air Force JAG Corps in March of 1967. He was sent to Victorville, California, where that Air Force had a tactical training base for F-4 pilots. He became "a very aggressive defense lawyer" and believes this is the reason for his transfer to Goose Bay, Labrador. It snowed in each of the twelve months that Rob spent there and the winter was very dark. "There was not a lot to do," Rob says. "It was a punishment assignment but I was able to read dozen of books and taught business law."

After the sudden death of his stepfather, Rob returned to Wooster to help his mother deal with the estate. Seeking a "tough lawyer" to address his family's legal challenges, Rob hired Jim Herndon, of Herndon and Bartlo a boutique tax and corporate firm in Akron. In Rob's words, Jim Herndon "ended up" hiring him and sixteen months later Herndon & Bartlo merged with Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs. "They worked like maniacs," Rob recalls, "almost seven days a week, and often on holidays. You didn't last long with them if you weren't willing to do that. But they were very good to me."

As a result of the merger, Herndon & Bartlo brought Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs "a blue-ribbon group of high-end clients," as Rob says as well as their own expertise in taxation, Rob was chosen to become the firm's expert on ERISA - the Employee Retirement Income Security Act - after it was passed in 1974. He did ERISA for two years almost exclusively and then focused on his corporate and estate planning work, representing many doctors and small business owners.

As part of a time management course taught by Don Harbert and taken by many at the firm, Rob developed a personal five-year plan. The exercise helped him realize that he wanted to manage a business, either inside or outside the firm. When the opportunity arose, Rob ran for President of BDB and was elected in 1990. At this point he gave up the actual; practice of law, although he still developed clients and worked with other attorneys in the firm.

Active in numerous charitable organizations, Rob traces his volunteer activities back to the fifth grade, when he was a patrol boy. In junior high and high school he was involved in many different organizations, depending on where he thought he could add value. His life, he explains, has always been on balancing act between his public and private lives.

In the latter part of 1990, Rob became program officer for the GAR Foundation and was made co-trustee when Hugh Colopy retired in 1994. In 1995, Rob replaced Dick Chenoweth as Executive Director of the GAR Foundation. This title was changed to President in August 2006. In the late 1990's, while still serving as President of the law firm, Rob became engaged in some exciting proactive initiatives at the Foundation, including efforts to shape Center for Nonprofit Excellence and Summit Education Initiative.

In August of 2006 the GAR Foundation split off from BDB. For 39 years Buckingham had hired all of the foundation's employees and managed it on a fee-for-service basis. Now, as GAR became independent of the firm, Rob had to choose between the two entities. Choosing GAR, he had to step down as Shareholder of Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs. To this day, Rob is grateful that he and the firm were able to structure a mutually beneficial "partner" relationship. In 2003, Rob was instrumental in bringing together many of the foundations in northeast Ohio to focus on economic development. He worked with Steve Minter and Brad Whitehead of the Cleveland Foundation and Dave Abbott of the Gund Foundation along with many others. In February of '04, these organizations established the Fund for Our Economic Future, which Rob chaired for four years. The collaborative, which continues to grow and thrive with over 100 members and more than $60 million invested in Northeast Ohio, exists to stimulate the growth and competitiveness of the region's economy.

During his career in the law and in philanthropic service to the community, Robert W. Briggs has carried out the principles of Sir Thomas More, supported by God's influence and the team of dedicated people he credits for his success.