David Anthony Chicarelli - Franklin, OH

Overview

It has taken me over 6 years to write a new biography here because they always seem clinically boring or a bit self-serving and egotistical; however, I have lived a very strange but very good life thus far and it is impossible for me to sugar coat anything.

Since I left Chicago and joined my father’s firm over a decade ago, I have carved out a reputation as an aggressive litigator in several high profile criminal defense and complex personal injury and accident cases. In addition to my jury trial work, I have also proven myself as a sword and shield for many notable businesses, musicians, celebrities, inventors and entrepreneurs, YouTubers, Internet influencers with millions of followers, MAXIM Magazine/Playboy and Instagram models, collegiate and professional athletes and fighters, etc. I have handled rapper/producer record contracts, Celebrity Boxing fights, brand deals and even agent contracts for Broadway actors in New York City- nothing is too obscure and it keeps life spicy.

There’s a lot here, suffice it to say- I’m not taking shit from anyone. I will always be the most prepared in any situation if you hire me. I will speak to you like a friend, but I will be blunt and real with you and I will not sugar coat things because I am more experienced and aggressive than the other lawyer you’re thinking about calling. I’m afraid if you don’t like that, you might have to go hire that other random lawyer to lie to you because I will always tell you the truth. I don’t play around with your life, money, or endeavors because my reputation depends on it and that’s all I have.

I am first and foremost a trial lawyer and defense attorney for criminal and civil litigation. I’ve received many honors for this: Ohio Top 10 under 40 by National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys, Ohio Top 40 under 40 Criminal Defense by the National Trial Lawyers, NTL Top 100 Ohio Civil lawyers, and Super Lawyer’s Rising Star (Top 2.5%) accolades among others that I refuse to pay a membership fee for. Between you and me, most of these mean absolutely nothing outside of marketing, as I know of at least a few objectively bad lawyers who spend a bunch of money advertising that got a couple of these too. Our law firm has always relied on word of mouth and doing the best job, satisfied clients and legitimate good reviews are the only things that should help you make your decision on a lawyer. I've recovered millions and millions of dollars for injured people due to car, motorcycle, and dog bite cases and general negligence without having to put out cringy billboards or radio ads.

From Felony 1 aggravated murder and drug trafficking to DUI/OVI all the way to your serious and minor misdemeanor speeding tickets- I’ve handled it all. On a part time basis, I serve as a local City Prosecutor, I fill in as Magistrate on occasion and Special Prosecutor to several cities in southwest Ohio. I have also been an interim City Law Director and special conflict defense counsel for many cities on numerous occasions. I have immense experience and a unique and rare perspective on legal matters due to my wearing of several different legal hats. I get around this entire state and country for that matter. If I have to leave the state, I will find someone we can trust to add to our team.

I’ve handled all sorts of local, national, and internationally covered and hotly contested divisive cases which has given me an immense amount of experience and nerves of steel. I swore an oath on the constitution to do the best I can for you or your loved one and although it is never personal, sometimes you have to put a target on your back for your client. Fortunately you can see on the internet that I will do what it takes, within reason, to try and change the narrative against you, no matter how bad or impossible the situation is or if 10+ cameras caught it all. YOU are not alone.

I always knew I was going to be a trial attorney and I was in some respects always being prepped for this since I was a little kid. Seeing him on TV in the 90s with his countless high-profile cases and the immense respect he’s achieved in the legal industry, despite humble beginnings and having come from absolutely nothing, inspired me to not ride his coattails of success like other legacy father- son legal practices, but to make my own way. One of his first and most notable national cases was representing people trampled to death in Cincinnati at The Who concert in 1979 and obviously the Pete Rose years. Big shoes to fill with pops, but he’s taught me everything he knows, and he comically admits he didn’t graduate top 1% like I did and I’m a lot hungrier than he was.

I care very deeply about people and my clients and I do not take every case that comes in and I don’t care how much money you have to pay me. I am an extremely competitive person and I feel like I have to win and if I can’t win, I have to do everything within reason ethically to get the upper hand. That’s just how I’m wired. My wife Chloe is my everything and she makes sure that empathy never leaves my body and keeps me humble at all times. Truly the greatest and most talented woman I’ve ever met- she slid into my DM’s on Instagram 14 years ago from England and the rest is history. She’s way too attractive and cool for me so you know I have to keep doing well and winning so she stays happy :-)

Who am I as a person? I live every day to the fullest like I’m not going to have tomorrow. I talk to everyone I can, and I try to learn as much as I can about things I know little about. I was raised in an open-minded family that fostered individuality but also respect and an innate need to win and succeed and help people. I’ve been able to do a lot of really cool stuff in a short amount of time and I think it’s because I work really hard, harder than everyone else in this industry and that’s why I have been able to do what I have done. I strive in all aspects of my life to be the best that I can and to serve people the best that I can.

I graduated from Springboro High School with a 4.0 GPA and I went to college at Miami University where I graduated with Honors and Phi Beta Kappa, not a normal fraternity, but the most prestigious academic honor society representing the Top 1% of all USA university students. At Miami I received the highest political science distinction- the Howard White award presented to me by Darrell M. West, a former head of the Brookings Institution, a prominent Washington DC political think tank. My two closest advisers and mentors were highly distinguished historian and author, Alan Winkler, and one of the most preeminent Russian and Soviet scholars, and authors, my dear friend, the late Karen Dawisha. Karen Dawisha, 68, Dies https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/obituaries/karen-dawisha-68-dies-traced-roots-of-russian-corruption.html; Traced Roots of Russian Corruption - The New York Times (nytimes.com). My law school in Chicago is and was one of the best in the nation for training lawyers for trials and frankly how to win. I did well in law school getting on the dean's honor lists and CALI award for getting the highest grade in legal writing, but honestly clerking for prominent criminal defense and personal injury firms and my time with the Cook County Public Defender homicide and gang felony violence division taught me everything school couldn't.

Some interesting facts about me: I won the Christmas episode of America’s funniest home videos in the early 2000’s, that same video was played on Oprah as one of her favorites. This fact is ironic because I was voted most likely to win a reality show in high school. I broke astronaut and senator John Glenn’s model airplane once in his senate office in DC in the 90s and he was super chill about it, The Grizzly Adams once put me in a headlock, I beat Ziggy Marley(Bob Marley's son) in an arcade game when I was 14, When I was 18 I made Robbie Knievel drive-through a motorcycle obstacle course prior to his world record jump over 24 buses at Kings Island when I worked rentals at Harley Davidson in college- he did the whole thing on an ultra-classic in a wheelie, and I now know, likely under the influence. I’ve been personally invited to intimate round table discussions with two time Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and Pulitzer Prize winning author of 1776, David McCollough. I’ve rubbed elbows with Bill Nye the Science Guy, Neil Degrass Tyson, writer and Director Kevin Smith and Seth MacFarlane, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich once told me to stay out of politics during his federal trial when I was working for the city of Chicago Federal Civil Rights Litigation Division in law school. I’ve had dinner with controversial Oxford Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and polemicist Christopher Hitchens. Among many other things, Dawkins invented “memes” in the 70’s and I even told Hitch that he probably wasn’t allowed to light up a cigarette in my business school in college- he did anyways. I got to meet the former president of the USSR, Mikael Gorbachev. On my honeymoon in California, Dennis Rodman tried to seduce my wife at our hotel, and one time I saved a baby sea turtle from walking into the road just moments after hatching on the beach in Florida. Most notably, I did get arrested one time for off-roading in my mom’s H2 hummer in high school. I think from that point on I knew I was going to do everything in my power to defend the innocent and protect people. I’ve advised 10s of thousands of people at the worst and best times of their lives- let me help you navigate this. Call me