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West grad will put law degree to work on Hilltop
(by Sean Lehosit, staff writer - January 18, 2011)
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 Lane Newcome (center) at his law school graduation with his father (right) and grandfather (left).
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For the span of four generations, the Newcome family has called the Hilltop their home – all of them graduates of West High School.
Now, a member of the most recent generation, Lane Newcome, has graduated from Capital University Law School and plans to stay on the Hilltop and use his education to help support the community his family has called home for generations.
“When I heard that he came back here to practice law I was so elated, because I’m a strong advocate for the community I work and live in,” said community leader Monty Chase. “To find a young person that would do that speaks volumes for the character of the family and the kind of people the Newcomes are. I have great respect for that family.”
Chase added, “I don’t know too many people that can say their parents and grandparents, and great-grandparents graduated from West High School.”
Newcome graduated from West High School as valedictorian, where he played varsity soccer and tennis. While he was still in high school, Newcome took it upon himself to enroll in post-secondary classes at Columbus State Community College. In result, upon graduating high school he was accepted into The Ohio State University as a sophomore and graduated in three years as cum lade. In 2010, Newcome graduated from Capital University Law School with his Juris Doctorate as cum laude.
Newcome said he was practically raised in the law library, thanks to his grandfather and father who worked as partners at their law firm. Instead of taking his degree and running, Newcome wants to apply his learning to further serve the Hilltop community.
“I know a lot of people that I grew up with, at least, are in a rush to get out and I always wanted to stay,” said Newcome. “At least do my best to redevelop the area, because some things are still great, but there are pieces here and there that are slowly falling off and it would be nice to give back to the community and help redevelop things.”
A great sense of family history and close neighborly bonds have been engrained into Newcome throughout his youth. Newcome said he feels deep and personal roots in the Hilltop and that was a driving force in his decision to practice law where he grew up – he loves the sense of community value that sometimes is not present in larger corporate firms.
“When you’re on the Westside, you get Westside clients. You get more of a sense of community,” Newcome said. “…they’re friends just as much as they're clients.”
Newcome is doing general law practice at the Elleman and Newcome Law Firm, where the community may hire their services with real estate, probate, and domestic law. Newcome said he would eventually like to take the federal bar exam and also work in bankruptcy court.
Nevertheless, no matter what form of law Newcome continues to practice, he wants to stay on the Hilltop.
“I plan on working on the Hilltop, likely the rest of my life, unless something big changes,” Newcome said.
Chase has known the Newcome family for 25 years.
“I’ve been a lifelong resident of the Hilltop USA and I live here and I work here at Heartland Bank,” said Chase. “I’ve known the Newcome family since the middle of the 1980s and I used to attend church with the Newcomes…and I watched these boys grow up and become men.”
Added Chase, “Now he’s practicing law with his father, Ron Newcome, and they stayed on the Westside, they didn’t leave, when so many other families left. As things changed in the neighborhood – they stayed in the neighborhood and I think that’s commendable.”
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