Robert B. Weltman

In 1962, Robert “Bob” began his career when he joined his father, Maurice, at the law firm then known as Gardner, Spilka and Weltman. Instead of relying on the family name, however, Bob got right to work. He took charge of the firm’s small collection department and worked diligently to create and grow what was at that time an entirely new concept: a collection agency operating within a creditors’ rights law firm. By the late 1970’s - under Bob’s leadership - the firm had become one of the most well-known creditors’ rights firms in the country.
 
For more than 60 years, Bob arrived to the office every day at 6:30 a.m. and left in the afternoon with a carload full of files to work on at home that evening. It’s been the same routine for decades, and Bob shows no sign of slowing down. As he says, “I intend to keep working until I get it right!” Many in the creditors’ rights industry would argue that he’s already done just that.
 
Early on in his career, Bob drove the firm to be among the first in the country to embrace computerization. This bold implementation, many years ahead of the competition, allowed the firm to handle an extensive volume of business, become an industry leader, and expand to eight offices across the country. Today, Bob remains well-known in the Northeast Ohio legal community. He has hired and trained hundreds of attorneys currently practicing in creditors’ rights law, and still volunteers as a mentor for the Ohio State Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Program. Bob has always been passionate about helping future attorneys. As a proud second generation business owner, Bob established the Maurice M. WWR Endowed Scholarship Fund at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in honor of his late father.
 
If you strike up a conversation with Bob, you’re more than likely to spend time talking about Cleveland sports than just about anything else. As a Cleveland native and die-hard fan, Bob has attended, watched, or listened to the vast majority of the 17,000+ games played among our three major sports teams in his lifetime – despite their combined overall losing record (0.44925). Perhaps that’s due to another favorite quote of Bob’s – “Success is never final; failure is never fatal.”