Hickman & Lowder Co., L.P.A.

Specialties

Children with Special Needs

Raising a child with special needs is a lifelong commitment. You need good information and a staunch advocate. Our innovative team empowers you to make choices that support your child’s well-​being and ease future challenges. We also represent organizations that support parents of children with mental and physical disabilities.

Adults with Disabilities

With all its legal and governmental details, protecting the safety and comfort of an adult with disabilities can feel like an uphill battle. We can help turn your obstacles into opportunities.

Elders & Their Caregivers

Aging brings on many changes and concerns. Likewise, the laws governing finance and healthcare for older people are constantly changing. You may be overwhelmed by the details of creating security for yourself or your loved ones.

History

Established in 1984.

Franklin Hickman and Janet Lowder have been working together since 1984. By the turn of the century, several more attorneys had joined their unusual firm. Elena Lidrbauch, Judith Saltzman, and Mary McKee brought nearly 50 years of experience in public interest law and social work to a firm that valued their past career choices and experience. As the firm’s momentum grew, four more attorneys followed in the next decade: Amanda Buzo, Lisa Montoni Garvin, Andrea Aycinena, and a merger with the law office of David Myers, who brought his long-​established Lorain County Elder Law practice into step with Hickman & Lowder’s Cleveland office, expanding access and spreading the benefits of the firm across northeast Ohio.

Meet the Business Owner

Franklin H.

Business Owner

Attorney Franklin J. Hickman has focused his career on legal issues affecting persons with mental disabilities since his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 1973, where he received the Wiley C. Rutledge Memorial Award. Frank’s first major case established the right of indigent persons in Ohio to have legal counsel provided at public expense at their civil commitment proceedings.

During his nine years as a member of the Law Reform Unit of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Frank brought numerous successful class actions establishing and defining the treatment rights of patients in psychiatric hospitals and state institutions for the mentally retarded, and of inmates with psychiatric problems. He was founder and director of the Cleveland Bar advocacy project which sponsored education programs for the private bar and conducted extensive advocacy work in the establishment of group homes.