The Cincinnati office of BakerHostetler opened in June 1997 and since that time, our complement of attorneys has steadily increased. Leading practitioners from the firm’s Cleveland and Washington, D.C., offices who transferred to Cincinnati have been joined in recent years by noted practitioners from major firms in the Cincinnati market.
The Cincinnati office of BakerHostetler represents some of the most widely recognized companies in the Greater Cincinnati region, including The E.W. Scripps Company, a client of the firm for more than 80 years; Scripps Family of Companies; Vantiv LLC; AK Steel; Cincinnati Bell; Turner Construction; Funai; Toyota; RBC Capital Markets; Dental Care Plus; Aero Fulfillment; UC Health and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, among many others. Attorneys in our Cincinnati office are known for outstanding client service to these and other companies. Recently, David Holcombe, the partner-in-charge of our Cincinnati office, was recognized by BTI Consulting as a 2010 Client Service All-Star for providing exceptional client service.
Our Cincinnati attorneys handle a wide array of matters in major practice areas, including intellectual property, white collar defense and corporate investigations, business, finance, litigation and arbitration, employment and labor and healthcare regulation. A vital part of a growing national law firm ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States, the Cincinnati office also affords its clients integrated full service capabilities within a national platform, which includes such additional practice areas as First Amendment, securities litigation, tax, personal planning, employee benefits and legislative and governmental affairs.
Since opening the Cincinnati office, BakerHostetler and its attorneys have taken their place as committed and responsible members of the community. In conjunction with the University of Cincinnati Law School and with the support of the Scripps Howard Foundation, as well as other institutions, the firm sponsors the annual John H. Burlingame Lecture Series, bringing into focus Cincinnati issues of importance in areas where the law and the media intersect. Cincinnati office attorneys have been active in numerous civic, philanthropic and arts organizations, including the Cincinnati Museum Center, The United Way, FreeStore/FoodBank, the May Festival, Cincinnati Opera, Hebrew Union College, CAN and Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity.
The corporate attorneys in the Cincinnati office have extensive experience in handling a broad range of transactional work in domestic and international arenas for diverse national and local clientele in the media, healthcare, banking, industrial packaging, equipment leasing and chemical manufacturing industries. They represent companies in mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, reorganizations, joint ventures and strategic alliances, complex contract matters, public and private securities offerings, securities regulation and corporate governance matters.
Our locally based finance attorneys represent financial institutions and borrowers in complex secured and unsecured credit transactions, including working capital and fixed asset loans, leveraged acquisition and recapitalization financing, and equipment leasing and financing. They also represent underwriters, issuers and trustees in all aspects of state and local government securities offerings, including offerings of notes, bonds, certificates of participation and other forms of tax-exempt debt securities.
Our Cincinnati corporate and finance attorneys represent a variety of private equity funds, as well as companies funded by angel, venture capital and private equity investors, in acquisition, sale and financing transactions. Many of these matters involve technology companies that operate web-based business models, including search engines, directories and enterprise software solutions.
BakerHostetler's Cincinnati office includes attorneys focusing on White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations. Our team represents clients who are facing federal and state criminal and SEC investigations and litigation, and in parallel civil and administrative proceedings. We also represent clients in FTC, IRS and other agency matters. In addition, we are routinely engaged to provide counsel on and have served as government-appointed monitors and examiners of financial institutions and other entities, compliance programs, preventive measures and the collateral consequences of government proceedings.
With regard to corporate investigations, our Cincinnati team has experience conducting internal investigations on behalf of corporate boards, audit committees and special committees, and provides legal and tactical advice to those entities in response to the findings of such investigations. Representative matters involve analysis of the entity’s application of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), SEC enforcement inquiries, FCPA issues and other governmental investigations, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and financial disclosure issues in connection with Section 10A investigations.
Our Cincinnati office’s litigation practice group handles commercial litigation for healthcare providers, insurance and manufacturing companies, technology and software developers and financial institutions. Our litigation lawyers have experience in a range of matters, including business disputes, commercial law, contracts, real estate rights, covenants not to compete, Uniform Commercial Code, construction issues, broker dealer disputes and arbitration.
Our lawyers represent employers in employment litigation involving discrimination, breach of contract, wrongful discharge, defamation, ERISA, OSHA, Fair Labor Standards Act, trade secrets and executive compensation disputes.
BakerHostetler serves on the national asbestos trial teams for Uniroyal and Georgia Pacific, and is actively involved in products liability defense on behalf of equipment, consumer products, pharmaceutical, medical device and chemical manufacturers.
The employment and labor practice group in the Cincinnati office provides comprehensive employment law advice and representation in a variety of industries, including banking, information and entertainment, pharmaceutical, consumer electronics and manufacturing.
Our employment and labor attorneys regularly advise clients on a broad range of matters including those relating to employer policy and procedure, discharge and discipline, to strikes, lockouts, subcontracting and bargaining, and to restrictive covenants and trade secrets. This practice group is well versed in preparing for collective bargaining, in training supervisors and in coordinating multiple location employment law representation. Our employment and labor attorneys also have extensive experience representing employers in negotiations, arbitrations, dispute resolution proceedings and litigation concerning such matters as sex, race and age discrimination, harassment, wage disputes and wrongful discharge.
The healthcare attorneys in our Cincinnati office represent and counsel individual and allied hospitals, long-term care facilities, physician groups, health maintenance organizations and other providers of healthcare services. They provide various services to our healthcare clientele, often on an integrated regional or national basis, in merger, affiliation, sale and finance transactions, as well as regulatory compliance, tax, litigation and labor and employment matters.
BakerHostetler’s Cincinnati office is home to a group of experienced intellectual property and patent attorneys. Our team provides guidance in all phases of IP planning—from the formulation of initial strategies and “best practices” to securing IP rights, creating strategies for commercialization (licensing, joint development, etc.), litigation and other forms of dispute resolution. From aerospace technology to antiviral drugs, from software and web content to consumer goods, entertainment, advertising, cartoon character rights and financial services, we have the hands-on knowledge to help our clients secure, use and protect IP assets for maximum competitive advantage. In addition, our Cincinnati attorneys draft and prosecute utility and design patent applications and provide patent counseling and litigation services across a full range of technologies and arts. Through our network of international affiliates, patent protection can also be assessed, secured and enforced worldwide.
BakerHostetler’s Cincinnati IP team has the core strengths required to ensure that the full spectrum of domestic and international IP is considered in securing IP and formulating IP strategies.