MEET LARRY POULOS2016 PROFESSIONALISM AWARDWINNERBy Janet Griffing-LaBonne Marketing Director

Larry Poulos has had a long and distinguished career in the practice of law in Summit Coun-ty. He has been Referee, Magistrate, and Chief Magistrate in the Summit County Probate Court; Chief Counsel, Civil, in the

Summit County Prosecutor’s office, and Deputy Mayor for Labor Relations. As an active member of the Akron Bar Association, Larry has been president and treasurer of the board, and a member of the Finance and Senior Lawyers committees, and the Probate Section, to name a few.

Other Akron Bar members have probably been just as involved as Larry has, but there is one thing that truly sets him apart: Larry is probably the only member of the Bar who slid down the brass pole at Fire Station #1 – the present home of the Akron Bar Association. More on that in a minute...

Larry is a native Akronite, born and raised. He was a member of the first graduating class at Firestone High School and went on to complete a BA in History at the University of Akron.

“I started going around on job interviews and wasn’t finding anything, so when my sister suggested law school, I figured I would give it a try. After my first semester, I thought, ‘This works’.”

After graduation from the University of Akron School of Law in 1973, Larry began his legal career as an associate at Cherpas, Manos and Syracopoulos. After a few years, Larry wanted to get some more

trial experience, so he agreed to become assistant law director for the City of Akron under Law Director John Holcomb. “I was working for the city during the day and doing private practice work at night. I eventually told John (Holcomb) that I had to leave. Soon after, I met Finance Director Roy Ray who eventually became mayor. He asked me to be his deputy mayor for labor relations, so I left the firm.”

When Ray’s mayoral term ended, Larry returned to private practice until a call came from Prosecutor Lynn Slaby, offering Larry the Chief Counsel position

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in the Civil Division. In 1987, Larry ran as a Republi-can for mayor of Akron, but lost to Democrat Don Plusquellic. Eventually, Larry got another call, this time from Probate Court Judge William Spicer who asked him to serve as a referee in the Probate Court. Larry moved up the ranks at the Probate Court, serving as chief referee, magistrate, and eventually, chief magistrate.

“I liked working in an area of law where I was able to make decisions. The probate court does a lot of problem solving, and I think I’m a pret-ty good problem solver.

“Sometimes, the families will come in fighting over the division of property. I had one case where I ended up having to divvy up mom’s things, right down to ‘this person gets this figurine’.”

Larry got involved in the Akron Bar Association at the suggestion of his colleague George Manos. He took that suggestion and embraced Bar membership vigorously.

“I think the most challenging position I’ve held at the Bar was treasurer. It was a huge responsibility, working toward solvency and creating a budget. Every treasurer, all board and committee members are very dedicated people.”

While Larry has always been busy with his private practice, civil positions, and Bar activities, there has always been time for family. He and his wife, Karen, married in 1979 and have two adult children and two grandchildren. Daughter Beth is a teacher at Jen-nings Middle School, while son George followed dad into the legal profession.

“Beth is an excellent teacher, and George is an ex-cellent lawyer. He understands the law.”

Larry’s brother, John, is a retired anesthesiologist living in Columbus. His late sister, Elaine, a retired elementa-

ry school principal in the Akron Public Schools, died in 2007.

Larry worships at Annuniciation Greek Orthodox Church where he was baptized, served as an altar boy, and sang on the church choir.

“And there probably isn’t a committee which I hav-en’t chaired.”

Larry loves to golf and has been active in his church league since the 1970s. His brother gave him his first set of clubs during Larry’s last year of law school.

Speaking of family matters, here’s where the firepole comes in....

Larry’s dad was a fireman and was, at one point in his career, assigned to Station #1. Larry was a little kid, as fascinated by the brass firepole as any other little kid might be, and probably not the only fireman’s son who was permitted a special ride down the pole.

Fire stations factored into Larry’s love for cooking, too. His dad be-came part of a long line of skilled firehouse chefs who learned to cook in the station kitchen. Larry learned to cook from his dad and

continues to be hailed for his skill in the kitchen and at the rotisserie.

“When I was in my 20s, I helped to cook at church, where my godfather, Kimon Kipper, shared his cook-ing skills. I served as ovenman for the Greek Festival and learned how to roast lamb.”

Larry’s cooking career took off, and he eventually got his own rotisserie spit.

“Things snowballed from there,” says Larry.

Chef Larry roasts lamb, pork, and chicken. His not-so-secret recipes include a red wine, lemon juice, orega-no, and olive oil marinade for the meats, while the chickens are stuffed with lemons and feta cheese.

Larry and his grill team prepare pork roasts for an Akron Bar Association event.

This will be Larry’s third year cooking for the Decem-ber Madrigal Dinners at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, where he was surprised some years ago to see pork tenderloin brought out when the King called for the boar to be presented.

“I made a roast pig for the next night, and I’ve been the meat guy ever since.”

Larry roasts one 40-pound pig, multiple pork butts, and a slew of chickens for the Madrigal Dinners, stuff-ing everything with oranges, pears, cranberries, and other fruits and vegetables.

The Chef still cooks at Annunication where a fine Greek luncheon is offered to the public on Thursdays. Bar members and staff can also attest to Larry’s skills,

having not only enjoyed his roasted pork, but also tray after tray of homemade spanakopita.

When he’s not serving up a meal, Larry is of coun-sel with son George and Bob Rischitelli in the firm of Rischitelli and Poulos, LLC, and with Barry Ward, who is the last attorney practicing in Larry’s old firm. Larry also continues to be a familiar and welcome face around the Akron Bar Association office.

“I’ve been practicing law since 1973. I can’t believe that the time has gone by so fast. I’ve enjoyed it. All the people I’ve worked with, or opposed, have been great people.”

Larry and his wife, Karen; daughter, Beth; son and daughter-in-law, George and Lindsay; and granddaughters Stephanie and Louise.