Akron, Ohio – Tom Knoll is the 2011 recipient of the Sir Thomas More Award. Presented by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and as part of the Akron Bar Association Law Week Celebration, the award is given each year in recognition of a member of the legal community who demonstrates outstanding personal integrity, community service and professional excellence.
Given in honor of Sir Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers, Tom is in excellent company. Past recipients include nine judges and other community leaders.
Tom stated, “I am truly humbled to be included among such great leaders in the Akron community.
I sincerely thank the Diocese and Bishop Lennon for affording me this honor which is without question the highlight of my professional career.”
Tom is the 35th recipient, the first award having been given in 1978 to Judge Arthur Doyle. Last year the award was given to former Ohio Supreme Court Justice and Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals, the Honorable Deborah Cook.
Phil Kaufmann, 2002 recipient of the award and Tom’s colleague stated, “Tom is truly deserving of this award. Working with him I witness him exemplify the character of Sir Thomas More each day through his devotion to the community and his career.”
Well respected throughout the Akron community, Tom has received other prestigious awards. He has been honored by the Greater Akron Chamber with the H. Peter Burg Economic Development and Leadership Award, by the Great Trail Council with the Boy Scouts of America Community Service Award and by the Erie County Chamber of Commerce Gallery of Achievers. This year Tom is also privileged to serve as Honorary Chair of the 2011 Bridgestone Invitational Golf Tournament, an event that has raised more than $19 million dollars for charities throughout Northeast Ohio.
Since coming to Akron in 1965, Tom has serviced the community the best way he knows how, volunteering his time and talents to the organizations that make our community a better place. Just a few of the many organizations that have benefited from Tom’s professional excellence and commitment to the community include the Akron Community Foundation, the Akron Bar Association (serving as its President in 1985-86), Big Brothers Big Sisters of Summit and Medina Counties, Goodwill Industries, Habitat for Humanity, Northern Ohio Golf Charities, Summa Health System where he served as board chair for seven years, The First Tee of Akron and The University of Akron Foundation.
In recognition of his corporate law practice, Tom has been named to Best Lawyers in America for the last 15 years. In 2010, the publication honored him as “Lawyer of the Year” in Corporate Law. Tom has also been recognized by Super Lawyers for his experience representing closely held businesses.
In 1985, Tom Knoll co-founded Stark & Knoll Co., L.P.A. to focus on serving the needs of small and medium sized business clients. For more than 45 years, Tom has served as a trusted legal advisor to many of our community’s most successful businesses. He has helped guide many of the area’s manufacturing, distribution, management and retail sales and service companies to help them negotiate the ups-and-downs of our economy. Through advising clients with their general corporate, financing, transactional and succession planning issues, Tom has helped his clients prosper while also strengthening the greater Akron economy.
As evidenced by his outstanding personal integrity, professional excellence and service to the community, Tom emulates the life and works of Sir Thomas More, a man who served his community with the highest integrity and values.
Tom will be honored at the Sir Thomas More Award’s Red Mass on Friday, May 6, 2011, at noon in St. Bernard-St.Mary’s Parish at 44 University Avenue in downtown Akron. Bishop Richard Lennon will be the main celebrant. All are encouraged to attend.
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Since 1985, Stark & Knoll has provided legal advice to a wide variety of Northeast Ohio business, their owners and management. With 25 experienced attorneys practicing in business, litigation, employment, healthcare, estate planning and probate, Stark & Knoll’s mission is to provide insightful, individually tailored legal advice in a professional and cost-effective manner. For more information on the Akron law firm of Stark & Knoll, please visit www.stark-knoll.com.