Born March 9, 1937, in Youngstown, he and his wife, Jan, who were married in 1967, have been longtime supporters of not only YSU athletics but many other worthwhile area causes, always giving back to their community and doing so without any fanfare. He earned his B.S.C. from Ohio University in 1959 and his J.D. from George Washington University in 1962.
Known as one of the most thorough, tough but fair attorney’s, he served as an investigator in the General Accounting Office in Washington, D.C. from 1959-61, from 1961-62 was a clerk in the Offices of Washington Lobbyist Thomas Corcoran and the Washington Offices of Adlai Stevenson, was with the Law firm Traxler & Malkoff from 1962-64 and since 1965, has served as Managing Partner of the law firm Green, Haines, Sgambati Co., L.P.A.
He saw his first football contest at then Youngstown University in the early 1950’s at The Rayen School Stadium, climbing through a hole in the fence so he could watch the game. That little undertaking has led to a nearly 75-year love affair with Penguin athletics. As longtime YSU fans, Dennis and his wife have always supported the school’s department of intercollegiate athletics in a variety of ways.
They have offered vocal support at numerous sporting events, both home and away and have been active in donating towards projects that have enhanced its game-days, such as videoboards and other arena amenities.
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They also provide a scholarship endowment for two YSU student-athletes, one male and one female and have been known to contribute in many ways to the Penguins without even being asked for a contribution.
Named “Penguins of the Year” in 2012, Dennis and Jan were also inducted into the YSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. Among the many YSU athletics milestones he and his family have witnessed are the 1991 Division I-AA national championship game in Statesboro, Georgia when the Penguins defeated Marshall University, 25-17 for their first title. They have attended most title games since.
They made the trip to Penn State to see the women’s basketball team play their first NCAA Tournament game (1996) and were on hand to celebrate at Eastwood Field when the Penguins’ baseball team won the Horizon League championship in 2004.
Among the first sporting events their grandchildren attended were YSU football, basketball and baseball games and for YSU, they also sponsor the Haines Family ‘Player of the Game’ for football as selected by the Penguins’ radio broadcasters, also providing financially for the Haines Radio Room, from which all YSU football games are broadcast.
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Most recently, they made a sizeable contribution to The Penguin Pack, YSU’s official student fan group as well as a donation to the YSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
He is licensed to practice law in the courts of the State of Ohio and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
He is a member in good standing of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Mahoning County Bar Association and carries the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory’s highest rating, a.v. His practice has included, among other things, the preparation for and the trial of a broad range of labor and employment-related cases, including actions under the Employee Income Security Act [ERISA-401(k)].
He has represented both employees and employers on constitutional issues, employment-at-will issues, matters related to employment discrimination, matters involving the National Labor Relations Act and the State Employment Relations Act.
His areas of practice include Labor Law, Pension and Retirement Law and Civil Rights and Employment Law. Throughout his career he has represented labor unions, employee associations, individuals who assert violations of their civil rights, wage and hour claimants and personal injury clients.
Actively involved with the Ohio Education Association in helping create the State of Ohio Collective Bargaining Law, he was recognized by the OEA for exemplary actions and untiring efforts to win recognition of the Constitutional and legal rights of teachers in Ohio.
Her has also been commended by numerous local police agencies for his collective bargaining work on their behalf, including the Youngstown, Boardman, Niles and Austintown FOPs and the Mahoning County Sheriff Deputies. He is a member of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee.
Several of his cases have made law through the years and he has participated in three cases before the United States Supreme Court, including the Youngstown Police Residency case.
Additionally, he has handled, without charge, cases involving the protection of civil liberties and civil rights and was active in the establishment of the Northeast Ohio Legal Services Association, which provides legal assistance for the poor.
Dennis and the former Jan Boegeman are both Ohio University graduates and they reside in Vienna. They are the proud parents of two daughters, Julie and Jill and have three grandchildren; Adam, Allie and Ryan.
