Buckingham MP receives Akron Law’s Outstanding Alumni Award
Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs Managing Partner Steve Dimengo received an Outstanding Alumni Award from The University of Akron School of Law on May 13. Dimengo is pictured here at the awards ceremony with Akron Law Dean Emily Janoski-Haehlen. (Photo courtesy of Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs).
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: July 29, 2022
It’s an honor that only a small percentage of those graduating from The University of Akron School of Law receive, and in 2022 Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs Managing Partner Steve Dimengo became one of two legal professionals to obtain an Outstanding Alumni Award.
Recipients are selected by members of the Akron Law Alumni Board based on their professional accomplishments, service to the law school, the community and/or the profession.
“Honorees must be living graduates of the law school,” said Akron Law Alumni Board President Darrin Toney. “There’s usually a short list of individuals to choose from and we generally have three winners. This year we only had two.”
The other award went to Akron Municipal Court Judge Annalisa Stubbs Williams.
The accolades were presented to both honorees on May 13 during a breakfast ceremony at the university’s Jean Hower Taber Student Union.
Dimengo said he was “extremely honored” to receive the award.
“To me it is a crowning achievement,” said Dimengo. “I have been fortunate enough to be recognized with similar awards by my high school and the College of Business at UA,” he said. “My juris doctorate is my top professional degree and to be recognized by my peers was a really nice moment.”
“Steve Dimengo has been practicing law for quite some time and has made a name for himself as a tax lawyer,” said Toney, director of human resources and general counsel at the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority. “Further, he is the managing partner of Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, one of the area’s preeminent law firms.
“Steve Dimengo’s contributions as a practicing attorney and as a leader in the field have served to benefit the practice of law and the community greatly. He is an excellent choice for the award.”
“We are incredibly proud and honored to have Steve as an Akron Law alumnus,” said Akron Law Dean Emily Janoski-Haehlen. “Steve is an outstanding lawyer whose work ethic and commitment to the greater Akron community set him apart from other lawyers.
“He is consistently recognized as a top lawyer in Ohio and in the field of tax law,” said Janoski-Haehlen. “He has also mentored countless attorneys and Akron Law graduates in his 33 years at Buckingham and we were delighted that he was chosen for this award. Akron Law cannot thank him enough for his contributions to the School of Law and the community.”
A native of Akron, Dimengo graduated from Hoban High School and obtained his bachelor’s degree in accounting from The University of Akron.
“I chose accounting because I understood it to be a good major for law school and the practice of law,” said Dimengo. “As an accounting undergrad, I received a solid structured financial base.”
After earning a dual JD/MTax (Master of Taxation) degree from The University of Akron in 1986, he began working as a tax attorney at the accounting firm then known as Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young).
“I decided to go to law school because all of my dad’s Akron teaching buddies went to law school,” he said. “In law school, I learned the value of a theoretical base. I learned that precedents and principles pivot and so should I.”
Dimengo joined Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs as an associate in 1989.
“I first interviewed at Buckingham when I was a 3L at Akron Law,” said Dimengo.
“I didn’t even make it past the first interview.
“That first failure and then later success is how I see life, through my work ethic, driving my perseverance to reach my desired destination.”
Dimengo became a partner at Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs in 1994. He primarily represents clients in federal, multistate and Ohio tax law matters.
He’s served as managing partner since 2018 and has held prior leadership positions at the firm.
From 1993 to 2021, Dimengo was an adjunct professor for The University of Akron’s Master of Taxation Program.
“Over the course of being a student, teaching at the university for many years and hiring their law school graduates, I have gained tremendous respect for The University of Akron,” said Dimengo.
A longtime member of the Akron and Ohio State bar associations, Dimengo said he’s committed to giving back to the legal profession and the community.
The Cuyahoga Falls resident is currently a member of the Greater Akron Chamber Chair’s Circle, which provides strategic guidance to the chamber and serves on the board of United Way of Summit and Medina.
Dimengo is also on the board of Hoban High School, where he chairs the school’s trust fund.
In 2013, Hoban High School presented Dimengo with a Distinguished Alumni Award and two years later he received the Dr. Frank L. Simonetti Distinguished Alumni Award from the UA College of Business.
“As I reflect on my career, I can’t think of anything I would have done differently,” said Dimengo. “I’ve been quite lucky to have such tremendous opportunities to make a difference, bringing great results to my clients and firm, while having a lot of fun in the process.”