After 20 years in practice, Akron attorney Eddie Sipplen fulfills childhood dream

Akron attorney Eddie Sipplen says he's never looked for other people to make his life better, and credits hard work and some powerful examples as inspiration.

It's been 20 years since he opened his practice in 2003. The former Republican mayoral candidate has also committed himself to holding police accountable, while striving to ensure that even people charged with brutal murders are treated fairly in court.

Part of his childhood was spent harvesting crops in rural Georgia, where he read hundreds of books in his hometown library, became his high school valedictorian and earned an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Not wanting a military career, he went his own way, first in corporate America before eventually becoming a lawyer.

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Sipplen has twice sought public office. He was a Republican mayoral candidate against Dan Horrigan in 2015, and he ran against Common Pleas Judge Tom Teodosio in 2012. He lost both elections in solidly Democratic Summit County with about 25% of the vote.

Attorney Edward L. Gilbert, president emeritus of the Akron-Canton Barristers Association, said Sipplen took a lot of heat for going up against Horrigan. The group's membership includes 93 Black lawyers and judges.

"I supported him even though he was a Black Republican," Gilbert said. "I'm a Democrat and I got into a lot of trouble with the Democratic Party, but I told them to go pound salt. He got a lot of grief because he was a Black Republican, which I didn't agree with.

"He stands for right; he stands for justice. He's an all-around excellent attorney. I think he's a good guy, and I think he's a good role model," Gilbert said.

Sipplen learned life lessons at harvest time

Sipplen grew up on his mother's farm in Quitman in Brooks County outside Valdosta, Georgia, just north of the Florida border.

"My formative years were spent while we were on welfare," he said.

When he was 6 years old, Sipplen, his mother, brother and sister made ends meet picking crops for $25 each per day on weekends and in the summer. (He's the youngest of his mother's seven children.)

"I remember we were working as migrant workers picking tomato plants. The sun was hot, and I said, 'Mom, this is backbreaking work,' and she said, 'Well, you won't have to do this if you get an education.'

"She and I are probably the only people who read every book in our hometown library − hundreds of books," he said.

Sipplen said his days on the farm planted the seeds of his success.

"What I learned is this world is never going to give you what you want. The only way you get what you want is you go out there and work for it and take what you want."

Sipplen achieves his dream, at last, in a law office

Sipplen did well in school and was guaranteed seats in around 20 colleges and universities, he said.

"When I graduated I was the first Black valedictorian since integration," Sipplen added, noting the expectation was he would attend a military academy, as had the previous two valedictorians.

"Peer pressure is nothing unless you have an entire town telling you, 'This is what you're going to do,'" he said. "I was the face of little ol' Quitman, Georgia. A poor Black kid going to West Point. That was a decision that my family and my town made for me."

It didn't last, as he departed before he had to commit to service.

"I knew that I didn't want a career in the military, so I left and finished up at Clark Atlanta University with a bachelor's degree in mathematics.

"I am someone who innately questions authority," he said. "I question authority all the time, and I think that's why I do some of the things that I do in my practice."

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He said he was inspired by the examples set by others at Clark Atlanta, one of the oldest historically Black universities in the nation.

"That's where my eyes were truly opened. I was in an environment where I saw other Black folks being doctors and lawyers and professionals, and it validated for me that the choices I made for me were right all along, by being at Clark."

Sipplen gives his clients their best chance

Sipplen said he's represented hundreds of criminal defendants over the years, many of them young Black men who remind him of what could have happened to him, had he grown up differently.

"Emotions are emotions, and you're no less of a man by expressing emotions of love, pain and, you know, happiness and all of that. But we're taught to put on a tough exterior," he said. "When you got these kids who are all in that environment and haven't been taught how to resolve issues through conflict resolution, guess what? How do they resolve conflicts? With aggression, and unfortunately, that's what we get ...

"From my standpoint what I try to do is each time I come across one of these young men, I just let them know that, you know, there's a different way. There's a better option, no matter how bleak it seems, your life has value. And to get them to see that, but even though they're in big trouble," he added.

"One of the things I let them know also is that part of being an adult is that there's a price to pay for the decisions we make, and hopefully it has been a learning lesson and you don't make the same one − and then my role becomes to try and minimize their exposure."

Sipplen has respect for law enforcement, little faith in Akron police force

Sipplen said he is very pro-law enforcement, "however, I do not and will not tolerate rogue officers who violate people's rights on the force. Those are the officers who have to fear me coming after them."

He's sued the city on behalf of clients, including a middle school girl whose arm was broken by a police officer and a man who had snow stuffed into his mouth during an encounter, among others.

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"I have very little faith in the way the police department operates here in Akron. The people at the top shape the character of the people that are under them," he said. "What I see − and this is just from my perspective − is that when there's something going on that may be racially sensitive, the city will send out their self-appointed Black gatekeepers to appease the masses of the Black folks and give lip service to make the situation calm and say the right thing, kneel at the right time, but nothing of any substance comes out of any of those facades."

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He said police culture requires officers to band together with the result being bad cops are protected.

"But there are a lot of good cops out there who want a lot of the bad apples off of the Akron Police Department," he added. "The administrations, because of liability reasons or for other reasons, will keep those officers on and fight to support them so that they can keep the dirt under control, as opposed to saying, 'Look you messed up, this was a violation. We don't need someone like you on the department' − but they don't do that."

Sipplen says he has 'no future' in politics

When asked about his prior bids for public office, Sipplen admits he doesn't like losing, and said he has no further political ambitions.

"I'm focusing on my law practice and my family," he said. "Politics has no future for me. It was a great experience. I learned a lot about the city and its people ... but getting into politics is not in my short-term or long-term future."

"I always try to learn something from each loss," he said. "I'm in it to make a change, a difference, and that's really why I love what I do as an attorney. I think that's what I was meant to be, is an attorney, and it's consistent with the goals that I set when I was 6 years old."

Eric Marotta can be reached at emarotta@recordpub.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarottaEric.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron defense attorney Eddie Sipplen fulfilling childhood dream