About Randy Vermilya

I am a sole practitioner located in Painesville, the county seat of Lake County, Ohio. I am probably best categorized as a general practitioner in many areas. I’ve been an attorney for more than 20 years now, and I came to the practice of law as a second career, as I worked several years as a chemist and technologist for The Lubrizol Corporation.

I’m often asked if there is a big difference between a career in science and that of being a lawyer. Well, there are some similarities, for sure. Both professions benefit from the ability to think critically, exhibit strong data analysis skills, and communicate complex issues in a way that doesn’t sound like a bunch of technical or legal mumbo jumble.

There are differences, though. Major ones. The practice of law often requires confronting tough choices that your client may have to make – choices that they have never faced before. Whether they involve separation from a spouse, addressing the heart ache of not seeing your kids every day, adapting to having to restructure your entire financial life through debt settlement or bankruptcy, or having to go to court to stand in front of a judge … something that many of us never have to even think about doing. These issues are not easy and involve the heart as much as they do the head. Where science is always about unemotional and sterile data and decision flow charts, the practice of law often has to address those questions that cut to the core. Lawyers best serve their client when they recognize the human and emotional component of what the client is facing.

I like to think, partly because I’ve been around a while, but mainly because my career has spanned many different functions, that I am good at serving my clients for what they need.