When John Coble was studying at the University of Toledo College of Law in the early 1980s, he and fellow student Joe Albrechta often talked of one day of forming their own law firm.

In 1996, after both spent 12 years gaining experience with others, they realize their dream of a shared practice by opening the doors to Albrechta & Coble.

Like his law partner, Coble believes that law firm should strive to provide a diverse array of services to clients, and his own practice reflects that belief. He represents individuals in personal injury, domestic, employment, and civil rights cases; he also handles probate, estate planning, general litigation, and appellate matters.

Friends since college, John and Joe both received B.PH. degrees from Miami University in 1978. After receiving his J.D. in 1984, Coble was an attorney for the Toledo Legal Aid Society and then worked in two general practice law firms before he and Albrechta opened their firm in Fremont and Toledo.

Initially, most of their work was personal injury litigation.

"But over time, we found that our clients wanted us to do even more things for them," Coble says. "So we started doing a fair amount of probate work, and today we have a large practice of trusts, estates, and estate planning.”

While Coble’s practice is diverse in its legal range, it also has geographic reach. He has handled cases in every county in Northwest Ohio, three Ohio appellate courts, the Ohio Supreme Court, and several federal courts (he is admitted to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court). His success in many courts and jurisdictions attracted the attention of a gubernatorial panel who selected him as one of three finalists for appointment to the Sixth District Court of Appeals in Toledo.

Not surprisingly, Coble loves the fact that his practice is diverse and far ranging.

"I've always enjoyed the intellectual challenge of making the legal arguments as well as the actual trial work and examining witnesses," he says. "I'm also interested in various areas of the law I think that, over time, if you're doing just one thing, it can be a little boring.”

In addition to his day-to-day work as a lawyer, Coble finds time to serve his community and his profession in other ways. He has served three terms as president of the Toledo Fair Housing Center and two as head of the Greater Toledo Housing Correlation, as well as serving on a variety of boards for groups helping at-risk youth, including Self-Expression Teen Theater and the Homeless Awareness Project (now called 1matters). He has served two terms on the board of the Toledo Bar Association, chaired a number of committees for that body, and received an award for professionalism in 2001.

His other interests include reading, good food and wine, and spending time with his wife and children.