Betras, Kopp & Harshman Adds Markota as Equity Partner
CANFIELD, Ohio – Attorneys David Betras, Brian Kopp and Mike Harshman announced this week that Attorney Justin Markota has become an equity partner in the firm, which will now operate as Betras, Kopp, and Markota. Harshman will continue to serve as a senior advisor to BK&M.
“Since joining us in 2015, Justin has become an integral and essential member of our legal team,” says Betras, BK&M managing partner. “His outstanding performance in multiple areas of the law impressed us, the legal community, and most importantly his clients. His partnership is hard-earned, well-deserved and signals our ongoing commitment to the Valley.”
Markota is a native of Girard who graduated from Ursuline High School, Youngstown State University, and Capital Law School in Columbus.
“In 2015, two of the area’s most prominent lawyers took a chance on local kid who had just passed the bar exam. They gave me a desk, a chair, a computer, some business cards and immediately began teaching me what you can’t learn from a textbook or by sitting in a lecture hall: how to practice law in the real world,” Markota says. “David [Betras] and Brian [Kopp] mentored me, generously shared their experience, insight, and knowledge, and allowed me to work alongside them on high-stakes criminal and complex personal injury and business litigation cases.”
Markota’s work on cases included gaining an acquittal in federal court for a client charged with a serious firearms-related offense and securing millions of dollars in settlements and jury awards for accident and injury victims. He was named to firm’s complex litigation practice group in 2020 and offered a partnership this year.
Betras notes that Markota’s partnership will extend a family tradition that began in 1929.
“For nearly a century residents of the Valley have relied on us to meet their legal needs,” he says. “It started in 1929 when my Uncle Pete opened a small law office in downtown Youngstown. When my dad, Joe, returned from serving in World War II, he used the GI Bill to go to law school and joined him. After being immersed in the law our entire lives, my cousin Brian and I launched our first firm in 1999. Now, two decades and thousands of satisfied clients later, Brian, I and our cousin Justin are ready to write a new chapter in our family’s legal legacy.”
Betras and Kopp say that Harshman’s decision to step away from day-to-day involvement in the firm, while understandable, is bittersweet.
“In 2005 Mike, David, and I began building a dynamic firm that has made a real difference in thousands of people’s lives,” Kopp says. “We will always be grateful for the advice and counsel he provided along the way, and we are pleased that he will continue to serve in an advisory role as we move forward.”
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