Lou was born in Houston, Texas, on July 7, 1959. Thereafter, his father’s employment with the J. C. Penney Co. required transfers to Mattawan, New Jersey; Cedarburg, Wisconsin; Duluth, Minnesota; and Fort Madison, Iowa. In 1975, Lou’s family moved to Union City, Indiana, where his father owned and operated a Ben Franklin Store. Lou graduated from Union City Community High School in 1977.

Lou graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from Ball State University in 1981, and received his Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1984. He is admitted to practice in the State of Ohio and before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Ohio.

Lou has served as President of the Mercer County Bar Association and as a member of the Council of Delegates of the Ohio State Bar Association. He has recently been inducted as a Fellow of the Ohio State Bar Foundation and is a member of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Following the examples of Don Purdy and Tom Lammers, Lou has been actively involved in the local community. He served 9 years as a Trustee for the Celina – Mercer County Area Chamber of Commerce, 8 years as an ACBALSA/WOLSA legal aid trustee, 14 years as a member of the Celina Governor’s Cup Regatta Boat Race Committee, and was Co-Chairperson for 9 of those years.

Lou is an original Governor of the Turner-Cisco Endowment fund which was established in 1991 by the Mercer County Council on Aging. He is a former member of the Cheryl Ann School Humans Rights Committee, Chairperson of the Mercer County Law Library Resources Board and a member of the Mercer County Community Corrections Board since 1996. Lou serves on the Advisory Committee of the Mercer County Drug Court Program and was appointed a member of the State of Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee in 2015.