On the Pulse…Expanding Our Presence In Ohio

By Samuel G. Casolari, Jr., Esq.*

From historic Public Square in Cleveland to Fountain Square in Cincinnati, Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin is expanding and strengthening its statewide presence in Ohio. On March 10, 2014, Marshall Dennehey opens its newest office in Cincinnati. Located downtown, right along the Ohio River bordering Kentucky, the office will serve the needs of clients in the greater Cincinnati region and throughout all of southwestern Ohio.

Ray Freudiger and I are the founding shareholders of the new office, where I will also serve as the office's managing attorney. Both Ray and I have statewide practices and represent clients in all the major state and federal courts. My practice includes casualty, retail and restaurant liability, product liability defense, trucking and other civil litigation.

A seasoned attorney with decades of legal practice in Ohio, Ray is joining the firm as a shareholder in the new office. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ray has over 22 years of litigation experience in all aspects of insurance defense matters, including personal injury, premises liability, realtors errors and omissions, business litigation, political subdivision and education law. Ray's practice encompasses not only casualty, but also professional liability, school law and other complex litigation.

Before entering law school, Ray earned a property and casualty insurance agent license, developing an expertise in insurance contract interpretation that has served him well in his career as an insurance defense attorney. He has successfully tried numerous jury and bench trials in state and federal courts throughout southwestern, central, eastern and northeastern Ohio, and he also represents clients before administrative agencies such as the Ohio Division of Real Estate and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. His education law practice includes representation of school districts and charter schools on a myriad of matters, including special education, employment termination and personal injury.

Ray is an active member of the Ohio State Bar Association, serving on the Civil Trial Practice Committee, and is a former member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. He is also a member of the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys (OACTA) and the Cincinnati and Dayton Bar Associations.

Community involvement is important to Ray. He participates in the public television fundraiser, Great TV Auction of Think TV, and he has served as a youth mentor for the Goodwill Easter Seals of Miami Valley. He has also volunteered for the Montgomery County START Program.

While the Cincinnati office grows, the Cleveland office strengthens. Leslie Jenny, the new managing attorney of the Cleveland office, leads a dedicated team of professionals in health care liability and other complex defense litigation. Representing medical professionals and providers, including physicians, hospitals and nursing home/extended care facilities, Leslie is an experienced litigator who has tried more than 40 cases to verdict. A Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM), she also counsels clients on the prevention, reduction and control of loss within their organizations. Cleveland shareholder Andy Wargo heads a casualty team involving auto, premises, trucking, product and construction defense. Recently, both Leslie and Andy successfully defended their clients in complex jury trials.

Our work in Ohio includes a growing special investigations/insurance fraud practice. Beau Hollowell leads this effort and works closely with Jeff Rapattoni (Cherry Hill, New Jersey) and Jim Cole (Doylestown, Pennsylvania) in that capacity. Recently, he and Jeff Rapattoni were featured speakers at the annual conference of the National Society of Professional Insurance Investigators (NSPII), and Beau is actively involved in NSPII's Ohio Chapter.

Also in Cleveland, Jason Ferrante is an integral part of our Health Care Liability Practice Group and represents hospitals, physicians and other medical practice professionals in all manner of health care liability defense. Jason is admitted to practice in both Ohio and Kentucky.

Community service and professional affiliations and activities are important to all of our Ohio lawyers. I am active in education, serving on the Board of Advisers of a law school in Virginia and on the Executive Committee, Governance Committee, and Finance and Audit Committees of the Board of Trustees of Grove City College, my alma mater. I previously served as an adjunct faculty member at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati and as secretary to the Board of an inner city school in Cincinnati.

Beau Hollowell is active in his local community and serves on the Alumni Council of Westminster College, his alma mater. Recently, Beau became the chair of the Council's alumni relations and donor relations committee. Beau has also devoted time to a non-profit organization serving those with special communication needs.

Jason Ferrante is a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association's Civility and Professionalism task force, and his active community involvement includes serving as secretary of the Charter Commission for the City of University Heights, Ohio.

The Ohio lawyers, collectively, belong to such professional associations as The Defense Research Institute (DRI), the International Amusement & Leisure Defense Association (IALDA), the National Retail & Restaurant Defense Association (NRRDA), the University Risk Management & Insurance Association (URMIA), the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) and the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM), among others.

Marshall Dennehey is confident that its strengthened presence in Ohio—with the addition of Ray Freudiger and a new Cincinnati location—will enhance its ability to deliver excellence in legal representation to clients across the Buckeye state and beyond. Our attorneys in Cincinnati and Cleveland are already collaborating and sharing resources to service clients in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. Whether closer to Public Square, or Fountain Square, the firm's attorneys look forward to working with you and providing solutions to your most complicated legal challenges for many years to come.

*Sam is the managing attorney for our Cincinnti, OH office. He can be reached at 513.372.6802 or sgcasolari@mdwcg.com.

Defense Digest, Vol. 20, No. 1, March 2014

Defense Digest is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2014 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.