James S. Aussem, a partner with Cavitch, focuses his practice primarily in succession planning, business, and estates and trusts. His extensive background includes helping closely-held businesses with mergers, acquisitions and dispositions, as well as complex tax issues.
Jim is a sought-after speaker, facilitator and instructor for many professional organizations on topics such as business succession, estate planning, insurance, trusts and estates. He has spoken at the Cleveland Estate Planning Institute, the AICPA Advanced Planning Institute, the Cleveland Tax Institute, the Ohio Accounting Show, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the Northern Ohio Planned Giving Day.
Active in many professional civic and professional organizations, Jim is a director of the Cleveland Society of Financial Service Professionals and serves on the Planned Giving Committees of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the American Cancer Society, and Baldwin-Wallace College, which in 2004 presented him with its Distinguished Alumni Award. He is also a member of the American, Ohio, and Cleveland Metropolitan bar associations and the Estate Planning Council of Cleveland. Jim was listed as an Ohio Super Lawyer in 2005 and 2006. He was chosen as One of America's Best Lawyers for 2010.
After receiving his Juris Doctor degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1975, Jim was a tax attorney for an international accounting firm. Before law school, he worked in the securities industry, as well as in the trust department of a national bank. He graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1971.
