CINCINNATI, OH – April 16, 2009 – Baker Hostetler announced today the expansion of its Litigation Group with the addition of partner W. Breck Weigel. Mr. Weigel, who was most recently a partner with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, will be resident in Baker Hostetler's Cincinnati Office.
Mr. Weigel's practice focuses on complex business and construction disputes in courts and other venues throughout the United States and internationally. Mr. Weigel regularly represents Fortune 500 companies and their boards of directors as lead counsel in shareholder derivative cases, as well as multi-party disputes and class actions.
His extensive experience includes defending dozens of putative class actions in federal courts across the country arising from highly publicized computer data breaches; representing international contractors on construction projects throughout the United States and Middle East in the pursuit and defense of claims involving tens of millions of dollars; successfully defending one of Cincinnati's largest employers in multiple discrimination cases arising out of reductions in force and a plant closing; and establishing new precedent protecting trade secrets of corporations.
A member of the American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and a trustee and officer of the Cincinnati Bar Association, Mr. Weigel has given seminar presentations relating to alternative dispute resolution, construction claims and civil procedure, and currently sits on the Steering Committee for the Institute of Trial Advocacy at the University of Cincinnati. Mr. Weigel is in line to succeed to the presidency of the Cincinnati Bar Association in 2011.
"We feel extremely lucky to have a lawyer of Breck's caliber joining our office and litigation practice," said Dave Holcombe, Partner-in-Charge of the firm's Cincinnati Office. "Adding talented lawyers like Breck and Bill Hawkins, who joined us last month, further enhances our reputation and is consistent with the core growth strategy of the office, which represents local, national and global companies," said Holcombe.
"Breck's experience in complex business litigation will add yet another dimension to our group, which includes former prosecutors, veteran civil trial lawyers and former enforcement officials from various agencies," said Ray Whitman, Group Chair of the firm's national Litigation Group. "With his experience counseling clients through high-stakes litigation in federal and state courts, as well as in the international arena, he will be a valuable resource to our clients," Whitman said.
About Baker Hostetler Founded over 90 years ago in 1916, Baker Hostetler is among the nation’s 100 largest law firms with 600 attorneys coast to coast. The firm has 10 offices nationwide: New York, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Costa Mesa, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Orlando and Washington, D.C. Its five primary practice groups are Business, Employment, Intellectual Property, Litigation and Tax. For more information, visit the firm’s Web site at www.bakerlaw.com. # # #
Contact: Christine L. Gill Communications Manager (216) 861-7852 cgill@bakerlaw.com