Daniel E. Reitz

Dan Reitz was already a seasoned international traveler as a sixth grader.

Every summer, his family would pack up and travel somewhere, usually internationally. By the time he was ready for middle school, he’d visited nearly all 50 states and his passport had been stamped in Israel, Italy, England, Scotland, Germany, Mexico and many other countries.

Dan’s father graduated from the Athenaeum of Ohio, but decided the priesthood wasn’t for him. So he got his PhD in English literature instead, and eventually retired as assistant superintendent of the Three Rivers School District. His mother graduated from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, the nation’s oldest Catholic women’s college, then realized the sisterhood wasn’t the thing for her. They met in graduate school, married and moved to Argentina to teach. A few years later, they took a teaching assignment in Islamabad, Pakistan, where Dan was born.

He wasn’t quite a year old when the family moved back to Cincinnati and settled in Colerain Township. Dan frequented the local library. It was his “Cheers” – a place where everybody knew his name. In high school, he got a job there.

He met his wife, Amy, at Miami University. During his college years, his plan was to find work in the foreign service. But he decided to go to law school instead. He likes to write and solve problems, and he came to the conclusion that a career in the law was a more attainable way to ply those skills than by becoming a diplomat.

He describes himself as driven. “Driven in the sense that if I see an opportunity that requires hard work, I’m not afraid to do the work to make it happen. For example, I realized that by working harder and taking summer classes, I could save a lot of money by graduating from college in three years instead of four, and still manage to spend a semester abroad. If you work hard, success will not automatically follow. But if you don’t work hard, you’ll have problems.”

His idea of a vacation: If you’re not tired when you get back from wherever it is you’ve gone, you didn’t take a vacation. “I’m not going to drive from here to Juneau and sit around watching the sunset. You have to get out and explore. Vacations require energy.”

His young daughters have inherited the family travel bug too, and carry well-stamped passports. Dan hopes to take them on a trip around the world while they are still young.

He’s known for taking responsibility for solving problems, even when they’re significant. “One circumstance that worked in my favor at Graydon was the chance to work on complicated projects early on, where I was given lots of authority and just short of enough rope to hang myself. No one here wants you to fail, and there’s always someone to help you. But if you’re willing to be challenged, the Firm will encourage and support you.”