KOHNEN & PATTON - Key Persons
Aaron is a Partner and Chair of the firm's Business Law and Transactions Practice Group. Aaron's work focuses on assisting both privately-held and venture-backed companies in a broad range of general corporate issues including company formation and governance, equity incentive plans, mergers and acquisitions, private securities offerings, private equity and venture capital financing. Aaron also counsels families in legal areas related to succession planning in both business and personal wealth. In addition, he is on the Kohnen & Patton Hiring Committee and the firm's Attorney Development Committee.
Aaron is actively involved in the Greater Cincinnati business community. Aaron serves on the Board of Directors for the Association for Corporate Growth (Cincinnati chapter) and is a legal advisor at Cintrifuse and the Brandery.
Job Titles:
- President of Tower Land Title Agency, Inc
Mr. Hogan, a Partner with Kohnen & Patton, joined the firm in 1987. His practice focuses primarily in the following fields:
Real Estate - with an emphasis on the acquisition, leasing, sale and development of commercial real property;
Banking, Finance and Creditor's Rights - with an emphasis on commercial lending and debtor/creditor matters, generally serving as lender's counsel in the preparation of documentation for, and the closing of, commercial loan transactions;
Title Insurance - a licensed title insurance agent, Mr. Hogan is the President of Tower Land Title Agency, Inc., and serves as the Agency's primary commercial agent and underwriting analyst. Tower Land Title Agency, Inc. is a licensed Ohio agent for First American Title Insurance Company.
As a life-long resident of Cincinnati, he has been involved with a number of local charitable organizations. When not practicing law, Mr. Hogan enjoys sports, including playing golf (although his game needs a little work) and serving as an off-ice official for the Cincinnati Cyclones, and singing with his church choir and the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Glee Club.
Ann's work focuses primarily in estate planning and estate and trust administration. Ann works with clients, their families, and their advisors on the transition of wealth over multiple generations in a manner that protects family members but also encourages them to continue the family legacy. As part of her practice, Ann concentrates on aspects of international estate planning including: the creation of wills and trusts for multi-national families, estate and gift tax issues that arise with the ownership of cross border property, and advising clients about the U.S. Expatriation Tax. During her law school career, she externed for the Honorable S. Arthur Spiegel at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and participated in the Advocacy for the Elderly clinic through the Legal Aid Justice Center.
Before attending law school, Ann worked at the Greater Ohio Policy Center in Columbus, Ohio. She has also lived and traveled internationally, including her time in London where she obtained her Masters at the London School of Economics.
Anthony J. Caruso is a Partner and has spent his entire career with Kohnen & Patton. He handles all areas of litigation defense, including insurance defense, professional liability claims, E&O claims, personal injury claims, products liability, and medical malpractice.
He has extensive experience handling discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, ADA, FMLA, sexual harassment, and other types of employment litigation in state and federal courts throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, as well as claims before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other state agencies. He consults with a wide range of individual and corporate clients on a daily basis regarding employment law issues, including:
employee handbooks and policies;
employee termination and discipline issues;
severance agreements;
unemployment and workers' compensation claims;
non-compete and confidentiality agreements; and
compliance with state and federal law.
Mr. Caruso is the proud father of two daughters. An avid Springsteen fan and concertgoer since the early 1980s, Mr. Caruso has also enjoyed taking his daughters to their favorite concerts.
Clarke Cotton is an associate in Kohnen & Patton's litigation group. Since graduating from the University of Cincinnati in 2018, Clarke has focused his legal career on insurance and general litigation defense.
Clarke utilizes a practical approach in defending clients. His goal is to solve complex problems in an economical and efficient manner while still achieving the best possible outcome. He has defended clients before circuit, district, and administrative courts throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Clarke grew up in Alabama and is an avid supporter of his alma mater, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. Now living in Northern Kentucky, he is a fan of Cincinnati sports, particularly the Reds. Clarke spends most of his free time with his wife and their two pets, a dog and a cat.
Mrs. Blandford is a commercial litigator who practices in areas including insurance law, employment law, construction litigation, higher education litigation, construction, real estate and homeowners disputes, products liability, personal injury and general tort and contract litigation.
Mrs. Blandford is experienced at analyzing insurance coverage issues involving CGL policies, homeowners policies, auto policies, umbrella policies, disability insurance, professional liability insurance and other insurance policies, through coverage opinions and declaratory judgment litigation. This insurance litigation includes experience defending bad faith claims, and has resulted in several appellate decisions interpreting policy provisions. Mrs. Blandford has also been qualified as an expert witness regarding insurance coverage issues, and testified at trial.
Mrs. Blandford counsels clients with regard to employment issues, and has defended discrimination claims at the OCRC, EEOC and trial and appellate court levels, as well as trade secret, unfair competition, non-compete and other employment litigation. She has investigated claims of harassment and discrimination, and has drafted and negotiated severance agreements. She has represented institutions of higher education in employment disputes and defended contract and Title IX claims. She has represented builders, developers and homeowners associations in construction and other disputes. She has defended manufacturers of products such as escalators and elevators against product liability claims. She also assists clients with Board of Revision hearings, trust matters and other contract and commercial litigation.
Mrs. Blandford is a native Cincinnatian, married with four children. In addition to spending many hours cheering on her children, she also enjoys playing indoor soccer year round.
Job Titles:
- Associate in Kohnen & Patton 's Estate Planning
Emily Janowski is an associate in Kohnen & Patton's Estate Planning and Administration Group. Her practice focuses primarily on estate planning and trust administration. She plans to practice estate planning and administration with an open mind to all different types of clients and families. Her goal is to tailor the best plan for each individual client, be receptive to any changes that may come along the way, and create a sense of ease for family members after a loved one has passed.
Emily grew up in the small town of Lima, Ohio. She graduated from the University of Dayton with a Bachelor's Degree in History and from the University of Cincinnati with her Juris Doctorate. During her law school career, Emily clerked for both the Hamilton County Juvenile Court and Ohio's First District Court of Appeals. Outside of practicing law, Emily enjoys exploring the Cincinnati area and traveling.
Ms. Gores, who is Of Counsel to Kohnen & Patton, focused on providing legal advice to small and start-up businesses, and assisting clients with estate planning and administration. Before joining the firm, she was president of Drew's Bookshop, Inc., an independent bookstore in Hyde Park Square, from 1980 through 1994.
Ms. Gores is married and lives in East Walnut Hills. She and her husband have two grown sons. Since going Of Counsel, Ms. Gores has enjoyed giving back to the Greater Cincinnati community by increasing her participation in non-profit boards.
John Campbell is Of Counsel to the firm after having been a Partner from 1992 through 2022. Mr. Campbell continues to work primarily in estate planning and probate administration. He advises clients worldwide in matters relating to United States transfer taxes and the use of trusts, partnerships and limited liability companies to accomplish personal, financial and charitable objectives.
Mr. Campbell practiced international law in Auckland, New Zealand as a barrister and solicitor with Chapman Tripp Sheffield Young from 1989 to 1992.
Mr. Tafaro has been affiliated with the firm since 2000, and Of Counsel since 2009, when he became president of Chatfield College.
Mr. Tafaro's litigation experience includes representation of plaintiffs in commercial disputes in federal court in Ohio and Wisconsin. His commercial transaction work includes representation of both buyers and sellers in business transactions ranging in size from $100,000 to more than $20 million. He has extensive experience in real estate transactions, including leases, sales, purchases, condemnation, finance, historic tax credit work and zoning and variance disputes.
In addition to his legal experience, Mr. Tafaro has served as the CEO of various businesses, including Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum (a multi-purpose sports and entertainment facility), Beechmont Optical Retail Stores, NuOptics (an optical manufacturer and wholesaler), Kleancom, Inc. (commercial cleaning services), Select-A-Seat (a computerized entertainment ticketing company), and Buddy's Carpet & Flooring LLC.
Now, as president of Chatfield College, he is responsible for all aspects of this accredited Catholic school. During his tenure, enrollment at Chatfield has more than doubled, fundraising has tripled, the endowment has increased by 550 percent, and the College launched a $5 million Capital Campaign, which will fund numerous initiatives, including a new campus in Over-The-Rhine.
Tafaro and his wife, Charlotte, have three children and two grandchildren.
Job Titles:
- Associate in Kohnen & Patton 's Litigation Practice Group
Jordan McSayles is an associate in Kohnen & Patton's Litigation Practice Group. Her practice focuses primarily on insurance law, construction litigation, homeowner's disputes, products liability, personal injury and general tort and contract litigation. During her law school career, she was a member of the W. Bruce Lunsford Academy and a student clinician in the Small Business and Non-Profit Transactional Clinic.
Mr. Beech practices in the corporate area with emphasis on mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance activity. He represents privately held corporations in a variety of industries.
Mr. Beech has served on the boards of numerous civic, charitable and educational organizations. He enjoys reading, golf, racquet sports and spending time with his seven grandchildren.
Mr. Cottingham is a Partner at Kohnen & Patton in the Business Law and Transactions and Estate Planning Groups. Prior to joining Kohnen & Patton, Joe was a partner in a small Northern Kentucky firm. Joe assists many small businesses in their legal affairs and serves as general counsel to governmental entities including multiple emergency service providers. He has handled many novel and complex issues facing business owners.
Joe is a life-long Northern Kentucky resident and lives in Independence, Kentucky with his wife and five daughters. When not practicing law, Joe enjoys spending time with family, and fishing in local waterways.
Josh is an associate in the firm's Business Law and Transactions Practice Group. Josh's work focuses on assisting established and emerging businesses with a broad range of general corporate issues, including entity selection, formation, and governance, corporate restructuring and reorganization, mergers and acquisitions, private securities offerings and venture capital financing, commercial lending and debt refinancing, and franchising.
Born and raised in Northern Ohio, Mr. Schoeni worked in private practice in St. Paul, Minnesota, and then as litigation counsel for Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company before accepting a position as an associate at Kohnen & Patton in January 1985. He became Partner in 1991.
He is a former civil trial lawyer who now focuses his practice on mediation. He successfully tried numerous cases to verdict in federal and state courts. Although he typically represented businesses and individuals in defense of claims pursued by injured or aggrieved parties, he served as counsel on behalf of both claimants and defendants. Over the course of his trial career, he has represented claimants who have recovered more than $21 million through settlement or verdict.
Mr. Schoeni is a skilled, experienced and well-trained negotiator and mediator who has written and lectured on effective negotiating skills and completed an intensive, weeklong mediation training program at Northwestern University's School of Continuing Studies in 2013. He maintains an active private mediation practice, resolving all types of disputes. He is a tireless worker committed to finding creative and fair solutions for the parties who ask him to mediate their disputes.
He has served on various boards and committees of his church and non-profit organizations in his community. When not at the office, Mr. Schoeni enjoys spending time with his children, his three granddaughters and grandson, and all sorts of sports, especially golf, soccer and college football.
Mr. Meyer is a Partner, and as an estate planning and probate attorney, his principal focus is on representing clients who wish to take control of their financial and personal affairs during their lifetimes, in order to ensure a smooth transfer of their accumulated wealth upon their deaths. He works with local attorneys on a consulting basis to assist them in fulfilling the estate planning needs of their clients. Mr. Meyer also concentrates his practice in the representation of trustees in furtherance of the fulfillment of their fiduciary duties.
Mr. Meyer also serves as corporate counsel to a number of local companies, representing their business interests in contractual matters, employee issues, compensation and benefits planning, real estate transactions and financial matters. His knowledge of small business issues makes Mr. Meyer uniquely qualified to assist his clients with business succession planning.
Prior to joining Kohnen & Patton in 1987, Mr. Meyer practiced law in Chicago, Illinois. He also obtained his CPA certificate while working in the tax department in the Chicago office of a multinational accounting firm.
The father of two adult sons, Mr. Meyer lives in Blue Ash with his wife, Terri, his dog Milo, and cats Sophie and Quincy. If not at work or home, you may find Mr. Meyer searching for his golf ball in the woods at one of the local golf courses.
Ms. Kyle is a Partner who seeks to efficiently and effectively resolve the disputes of her clients. At the outset of each claim or lawsuit, she investigates the relevant facts, law and desired outcome, and draws on the breadth of her experience to determine if there is an efficient and desirable manner in which to quickly resolve the dispute without drawn-out litigation, time and expense. If litigation is necessary, she develops an early and effective strategy to obtain success for her client. Ms. Kyle views herself and her clients as partners in resolving disputes in a manner most conducive to the client's business, personal interests and concerns.
She has extensive experience in evaluating and litigating insurance coverage issues involving personal injury, property damage, UM/UIM and other claims by first parties and third parties, as well as insurers' duties to defend and/or indemnify under homeowners policies, commercial general liability coverages, builders risk policies, property coverages, inland marine coverages, auto policies and umbrella/excess policies. Her coverage opinions and declaratory judgment actions have provided guidance for insureds and insurers on the entire spectrum of today's insurance issues, in jurisdictions around the country.
Ms. Kyle is also experienced in defending professional liability claims, as well as defending and prosecuting employment, premises liability, auto accident, construction defect, personal injury, products liability and contract dispute lawsuits. She has an appellate practice in multiple Ohio and Kentucky state appellate courts as well as federal courts, and is experienced in handling EEOC and OCRC charges.
Growing up on a 500-acre farm in Greene County, Ohio, Ms. Kyle was an active 4-H member for 10 years, showing sheep at the annual county fair.
Michelle Cheek is Partner in the Litigation Practice Group and is licensed to practice in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. She is experienced in a variety of civil litigation fields including medical malpractice, professional negligence, higher education, wrongful death, personal injury, and products liability. Michelle has experience evaluating insurance coverage issues involving CGL policies, homeowners' policies, auto policies, umbrella policies, and other insurance policies.
Michelle has a strong commitment to client service and staying up to date with the latest legal developments and trends. Her priorities are understanding client goals, maintaining active and thorough communication with clients, anticipating the unexpected, and crafting creative solutions to complex problems.
A Cincinnati native, Michelle graduated from Miami University and earned her J.D. from the University of Cincinnati, College of Law. Outside of the office, Michelle enjoys spending time with her daughter and cheering on the Reds and Buckeyes.
Naveen focuses his representation on estate planning, estate/trust administration, and estate/trust litigation. Before becoming an estate planner, Naveen was a civil litigator in the private sector and Ohio attorney general. His experience in litigation helps him cross-examine his work to confirm he has captured his clients' estate plan intentions and avoid potential issues.
Outside of work, Naveen enjoys spending time with his wife and two little girls. Outside of the law and family, his passion is golfing. However, he knows his skill will never match his passion.
Job Titles:
- Associate in Kohnen & Patton 's Business Law
Sarah is an associate in Kohnen & Patton's Business Law and Transactions and Real Estate Practice Groups. Her business law practice focuses on helping new and established businesses address and plan for a variety of corporate issues relating to the formation, operation, and growth of their business. Her real estate practice focuses on a variety of commercial real estate issues, including acquisition, leasing, sale and development. She also assists in a variety of commercial lending and debtor/creditor matters and title insurance matters.
Sarah earned her J.D. summa cum laude from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law. During her time at Chase, she was a member of the W. Bruce Lunsford Academy for Law, Business + Technology and was a student clinician in the Small Business and Non-Profit Transactional Clinic. She also served as Symposium Editor for the Northern Kentucky Law Review, and was published in the Law Review's 2022 Symposium Issue as an Associate Editor.
Sarah is a Northern Kentucky native. When she's not at the office, she enjoys reading, attending local theater productions, and being outside (hopefully camping).
Mr. Moore is a Partner with over 30 years of experience as a business and transactional attorney. He has handled a wide variety of issues for his clients, including business formations, real estate acquisitions, lease negotiations, contract drafting and review, distribution and supply arrangements, employment issues, advertising and marketing issues, technology acquisition and licensing, mergers and acquisitions and regulatory compliance. He prides himself on providing practical, grounded advice.
With extensive experience in the franchise industry, Mr. Moore represents both franchisors and franchisees. He has assisted clients with a range of issues, including the preparation of disclosure documents required for the sale of franchises, registration of franchise offerings with state authorities, establishment of advertising and purchasing cooperatives, negotiation of individual and multi-unit franchise agreements, franchise terminations, and the acquisition and sale of franchised businesses.
Mr. Moore has represented a number of technology companies including software developers, web designers, technology service companies, resellers and technology startups. He has assisted clients with the formation of technology start-ups, drafting and review of software and technology licenses and maintenance agreements, OEM and distribution agreements, cloud services agreements, web site development agreements, hosting agreements and other general business needs, including the drafting of employment agreements for technical personnel.
Born and raised in Kettering, Ohio, Mr. Moore met his wife Laura while they were both students at the University of Cincinnati. He and Laura are the proud parents of two children, Sarah and Sean.
Ms. Zummo, who is Of Counsel to Kohnen & Patton LLP, practices in the areas of domestic relations, probate and juvenile law and provides mediation services in those areas, as well. Areas of concentration include:
Divorce
Dissolution
Domestic Violence
Custody/Parenting Issues
Collaborative Divorce
Guardianship
Mental Health/Civil Commitment Hearings
Personal Injury matters, including financial settlements involving minors
Adoption
She has served as a Magistrate for 22 years in both the Hamilton County Court of Domestic Relations and the Hamilton County Probate Court. Prior to serving on the bench Val was engaged in the private practice of law; served as a Guardian Ad Litem; was a court-appointed mediator; was an attorney in the office of the Hamilton County Public Defender; and was the Assistant Dean at the Chase College of Law.
Mr. Patton, who is Of Counsel, started with the firm at its founding in March 1974, and served as Partner until 2007. He has broad experience in many areas of civil litigation and dispute resolution. He has tried and arbitrated a number of professional liability, legal and medical malpractice suits, commercial disputes and a wide variety of personal injury matters.
Mr. Patton currently represents and advises clients in association with other attorneys in the firm. He has represented clients before a number of administrative boards, including zoning boards, workers compensation boards and the Ohio Industrial Commission. He has represented the appropriating agencies in several major eminent domain proceedings in Hamilton County, Ohio. He has also acted as an arbitrator and mediator in commercial cases.
Mr. Patton has been admitted to practice, pro hac vice, in a number of state and federal courts.
He is a life-long resident of Cincinnati, and enjoys travel, golf and fishing.