What Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima does

Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima (RRN) is a privately held, family-run law firm founded in 1991 in Lebanon, Ohio, by Charles H. and Ellen B. Rittgers with partner John Mengle, now led by Charles M. Rittgers and Matt Nakajima. The firm practices two core service categories: personal injury representation (car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian accidents; wrongful death; medical malpractice; nursing home abuse; premises, product, and dog bite liability; and traumatic brain injury) and criminal defense (felonies, misdemeanors, OVI/DUI, drug crimes, sex offenses, domestic violence, white collar and federal crimes, juvenile defense). Its primary customers are individuals in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky who have suffered injury or face criminal charges, plus a secondary channel of referring attorneys who co-counsel cases into the firm across OH/IN/KY.

The firm operates from five physical offices: Lebanon (headquarters address), Cincinnati (Eastern Avenue, described as the main office), West Chester, Oxford, and Covington, Kentucky, with a sixth planned at Oakley's Center in Cincinnati. Technology is conventional legal practice tooling (case management, litigation support, expert witness networks for accident reconstruction, medical professionals, and life care planners); no proprietary software or AI/ML capability is documented.

RRN's commercial model is bifurcated. Personal injury matters are handled on contingency (clients pay no fee unless recovery is obtained), with free initial consultations, 24/7 phone availability, and a documented 90% referral rate from former clients and other attorneys. Criminal defense is presumably billed hourly or flat-fee but pricing is not publicly disclosed. A separately material revenue stream comes from co-counsel referral arrangements that paid out over $7M to outside counsel across three years, indicating the firm is both a net receiver and a sourcing intermediary within the regional plaintiff bar. Brand is reinforced through Super Lawyers/Rising Stars, Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent, Avvo 10.0 Superb, National Trial Lawyers Top 100/Top 40 Under 40, American College of Trial Lawyers, Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum memberships, and publicly marketed multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements (e.g., $28M truck-crash wrongful death settlement, $12.6M, $12M, $11.25M, $10M, $7M cases).

Name

Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima

Legal name

Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima

Website

https://rittgers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima is a family-run, private law firm founded in 1991 serving individuals across Ohio and Kentucky with personal injury representation and criminal defense, operating five offices plus a planned Oakley's Center expansion.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Injury & Insurance Defense (BPAHAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Criminal Defense (BPAHAAAN)

Keywords

• Personal injury law
• Criminal defense law
• Wrongful death claims
• Car accident lawyers
• Legal representation services

Headquarters

HQ city

Lebanon

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Personal Injury Contingency Fees: Personal injury cases handled on a contingency fee basis where clients pay no attorney fees unless a favorable settlement or verdict is obtained.
2. Co-Counsel Referral Arrangements: Fee-sharing arrangements with referring attorneys. In the last three years, the firm generated over $7 million in attorney's fees that went directly to outside attorneys and law firms for co-counsel arrangements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

A regional plaintiff-side law firm providing legal representation to individuals in personal injury matters (including car accidents and wrongful death claims) and criminal defense cases across Ohio and Kentucky. Services are delivered through five physical offices, with a sizeable share of new matters generated through referrals and co-counsel relationships.

Product overview

Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima is a law firm offering legal services, not a technology product company. The firm provides two primary service categories: Personal Injury Legal Services (including car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, wrongful death, premises liability, and product liability) and Criminal Defense Legal Services (including OVI/DUI, drug crimes, sex offenses, and white collar crimes). The firm operates from multiple Ohio and Kentucky locations and is recognized for multimillion-dollar case results.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Personal Injury Representation Plaintiff-side legal representation for individuals who have suffered bodily injury due to another party's negligence. Designed for accident victims and their families.
• Car Accident Representation Legal representation for individuals injured in car, truck, or motor-vehicle accidents, pursuing insurance claims and litigation against at-fault drivers.
• Wrongful Death Claims Legal representation for surviving family members pursuing wrongful death claims arising from fatal accidents or negligence.
• Criminal Defense Representation Defense representation for individuals charged with misdemeanor or felony offenses in Ohio and Kentucky courts.
• Co-Counsel and Case Referral Services Out-of-town or out-of-practice attorneys engage the firm as local co-counsel on personal injury or criminal defense matters in Ohio and Kentucky.

Quantifiable outcome

• $28 million settlement in truck crash wrongful death case with safety reforms
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Millikin & Fitton Law FirmminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel partnership with Millikin & Fitton Law Firm on a case involving a man killed after steel coil fell off semitruck. The partnership helped resolve the first claim without filing a lawsuit and obtain the maximum policy limit of $2 million.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Charles E. Boyk Law Offices: Northwest Ohio personal injury firm (Toledo) with a multi-office Ohio presence handling auto, truck, and medical malpractice cases on contingency. Directly comparable plaintiff-side PI practice with regional Ohio overlap.
• Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP: Cleveland plaintiff firm known for large verdicts in personal injury and medical malpractice cases. Similar contingency-fee plaintiff model and Ohio Bar overlap, comparable in trial-lawyer positioning.
• Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy Co., LPA: Cleveland-based Ohio plaintiff injury firm with a long history of multimillion-dollar verdicts. Comparable contingency-fee plaintiff PI practice, though operating primarily in Northeast Ohio rather than the Cincinnati/Southwest Ohio corridor.
• Crandall & Pera Law: Ohio and Kentucky plaintiff personal injury firm with offices in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Direct regional competitor for PI cases across the same Ohio-Kentucky border markets RRN serves.
• Minnillo & Jenkins Co. LPA: Ohio plaintiff personal injury firm with offices across the state handling car, truck, and wrongful death cases. Comparable contingency-fee plaintiff PI practice operating in the same Ohio market.
• Elk & Elk Co., Ltd: Long-established Ohio personal injury and criminal defense firm headquartered in Mayfield Heights with multi-office statewide coverage and a similar contingency-fee model. Direct competitor for Ohio PI cases and a comparable scale peer.
• The Mellino Law Firm: Cleveland-based personal injury and medical malpractice firm with a strong reputation for multimillion-dollar verdicts. Comparable plaintiff-side PI/criminal defense practice in Ohio with a similar boutique trial-lawyer orientation.
• Gounaris Abboud, LPA: Dayton, Ohio criminal defense and personal injury firm covering Southwest Ohio. Direct peer for both PI and criminal defense work in the same Southwest Ohio geographic corridor.
• Kademenos, Wisehart, Hines, Dolyk & Wright Co., LPA: Ohio-based plaintiff personal injury firm handling car, truck, and wrongful death cases across multiple Ohio offices. Comparable contingency-fee practice with multimillion-dollar verdicts and similar regional footprint.

Others

• Millikin & Fitton Law Firm: Ohio law firm identified as an actual co-counsel partner on RRN cases. Comparable full-service Ohio firm that overlaps on personal injury matters and represents a real referral/co-counsel counterparty rather than a direct market competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rittgerslaw
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCWgP2ZV5SwN9Ht3tOpSfmEA
• Facebookfacebook.com/lawyers.rittgers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rittgers-&-rittgers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima