Ohio’s agriculture loses a great man: A tribute to Paul Wright

Agricultural Advocate, Mentor, Leader, Professor, Farmer Advocate and Founder

PUBLISHED ON 28 August 2024

COLUMBUS, Ohio — We mourn the loss of Paul L. Wright, an agricultural lawyer, mentor, leader, professor, farmer advocate, and founder of our OSU Agricultural Law Program. Paul died of cancer on July 17, 2024.

I still remember my first letter from Paul Wright. I had sent him my resume in the hope that he and his partner Tony Logan would hire me for their firm, Wright & Logan. I was a young lawyer and knew Paul Wright and his reputation as an agricultural lawyer. Paul wrote back, commending my interest in agricultural law and asking for an interview. A few months later, I was working with Paul. That letter gave me the opportunity I wanted so badly, and I took it for years.

Paul didn’t actually set out to become an agricultural lawyer, but his passion for agriculture led him there. He grew up on a farm in Coshocton County, Ohio, became involved in 4-H and agriculture, and decided to pursue a degree in agricultural education at Ohio State University. Then, in 1959, he began his career as an OSU Extension 4-H agent in Madison and Clinton counties. But it wasn’t long before he realized his curiosity and natural talent for farm management and agricultural economics. While he was earning his Master of Science in agricultural economics, OSU Extension promoted Paul to Farm Management Area Extension Agent in Fremont, Ohio.

Paul once told me how his work as a Farm Management Specialist for OSU kept getting him into legal problems and he felt compelled to solve those problems for farmers. I can imagine that, because his desire to help farmers always seemed to be on his mind. That desire led him to the University of Toledo College of Law to study law, and soon he became Ohio State University’s first Agricultural Law Specialist, a faculty member in what was then the Department of Agricultural Economics. He told me stories of his time driving around Ohio to teach at farm meetings, armed with boxes full of files, articles he had written, and “overhead transparencies.” Paul said he always tried to be prepared for “any legal problem they wanted to talk about.” He loved teaching about these legal problems and solving problems and questions farmers had. In addition to teaching farmers, Paul also established the first agricultural law course at Ohio State, a course that is still offered today to students in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

With his knowledge of law and economics, Paul and Ohio State were well-equipped to help farmers during the economic crisis that hit agriculture in the mid-1980s. He talked to me about the often painful kitchen-table meetings and discussions he had with farmers back then, and how despite his knowledge, he again felt the need to do more for farmers. He began making connections with other lawyers in the Midwest, and those contacts eventually led to the formation of the American Agricultural Law Association—the first official recognition of lawyers who practice agriculture as “agricultural lawyers.” Paul shared that he and other founding members of AALA recognized the role they could fill for farmers and the need to continually expand their knowledge base and expand the network of agricultural lawyers and other professionals who could help farmers. He taught at AALA’s annual conferences, served on committees and the board, and was elected to a one-term position as AALA president. In 1994, the AALA awarded Paul its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award.

For years, Paul maintained contacts with AALA colleagues across the country and met regularly with a group of AALA friends who were constantly identifying and analyzing problems and needs in agricultural law. When he welcomed me into this community of colleagues, I always learned something that I could use in my work as an agricultural lawyer. This type of networking was a common practice for Paul that imparts wisdom to us today. In his 1998 address to AALA, Paul challenged association members to become better lawyers by networking within the agricultural community. “I wonder how many disparities are due to a lack of thorough communication or a lack of time to create a forum to really listen to the thoughts and knowledge of others,” Paul explained. “With trust and resources, there is hardly an agricultural law problem that cannot be refined and improved through networking.”

Paul retired from OSU in 1988, but many in Ohio know that Paul’s career did not end there. He wanted to be a private attorney who could provide personal advice to the farming community. Paul formed the law firm of Wright & Logan with Tony Logan, which was probably the first “agricultural law firm” in Ohio focused on representing farmers. That was when I met Paul and joined the firm. As a young attorney working with Paul, I lived in awe and fear – awe of all he had accomplished in agricultural law and fear that I would not measure up to his level of knowledge and standards. On the contrary, Paul always encouraged and taught me. I often struggled to keep up with his expertise, but he never expressed disappointment in me.

Wright & Logan later became Wright Law Co., LPA. When Robert and Kelly Moore joined, the firm became the current Wright & Moore Co., LPA, now led by Ryan Conklin. Like the farmers he admired, Paul never fully retired from Wright & Moore, but remained as Of Counsel until his death, serving his clients. In his private law practice, Paul is estimated to have served hundreds of farming families and prepared hundreds of business, estate and transition plans. He was well known in Ohio’s farming community and had clients across the state. I wonder how many times farmers and others asked me, “Do you know Paul Wright?” and how many times my answer, “Yes, I used to work for him,” opened doors and gave me instant credibility. In Ohio’s farming community, Paul was a celebrity.

The Ohio agricultural community honored Paul by inducting him into the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2006. I remember receiving an invitation from Paul to sit at his table at the induction ceremony. He was nervous, excited and humbled. I had seen this before with Paul when Ohio State presented him with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2003. These awards meant a lot to him and he once said he couldn’t believe a farm boy who had spent his time fixing fences in Coshocton County could ever be so lucky to have such a career and recognition.

Paul’s career, recognition and influence on Ohio agriculture certainly do not end with his death. As a conscientious and creative estate planner, Paul developed a succession plan for agricultural law in Ohio. In 2006, he established an endowment with OSU’s College of Food, Agricultural & Environmental Sciences to support agricultural law and farm management education in Ohio. Following in Paul’s footsteps as an agricultural law specialist at OSU, I was able to leverage Paul’s funds in OSU’s Agricultural and Resource Law Program to provide educational programs for attorneys, farmers and Extension faculty, as well as scholarships for law students and undergraduates interested in agricultural law. Paul’s goal was to ensure a long-term commitment to agricultural law and farm management at Ohio State, and his endowment will continue to support that goal well into the future.

I have been thinking about finding the old, worn letter I received from Paul when I asked him to hire me. That letter, and knowing Paul, changed my life. Thanks to Paul, I and many of my colleagues can echo his words about how incredibly fortunate it is to be an agricultural lawyer in Ohio. But I don’t need the letter to remember Paul, because his presence was and will always be embedded in me, in others he mentored, in the state of Ohio, and in the Ohio agricultural community. The loss is immeasurable, but so is the legacy he left us.

— Peggy Kirk Hall, attorney and director of the Agricultural and Natural Resources Law Program
Ohio State University CFAES