KMK Elects Four New Partners to Its Litigation and Business Representation & Transactions Groups

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL (KMK®) is pleased to announce that Charles M. Miller, Michael J. Moeddel, Jennifer J. Morales, and W. Jeffrey Sefton were elected as partners of the firm.

Charles (Chip) M. Miller, a litigator with KMK, is particularly adept at fast paced, legally intensive cases and matters that present novel issues of law.  Miller has successfully handled expedited elections cases, challenges to state legislation, and injunction matters.  He regularly returns to the Ohio Supreme Court as counsel for appellate litigants.  Miller has represented parties in nine cases in front of the Ohio Supreme Court.  In addition to traditional engagements, he has been appointed by the Court to represent pro se parties in merit cases on which the Court has ordered briefing and oral argument.  Miller acutely understands the types of arguments that have the highest likelihood to persuade – or dissuade – the Supreme Court of Ohio to decide a case.  He clerked for two years with the Supreme Court of Ohio and worked closely with the justices and the staff involved with the operations of the Court.  Through this experience, Miller gained a level of familiarity with the institution and the justices that few practitioners have achieved.  Prior to joining KMK, Miller served as a law clerk to the Honorable Justice Maureen O’Connor, Supreme Court of Ohio (2003–2005) and as a litigation associate at Gallagher, Sharp, Fulton & Norman in Cleveland, Ohio (2002–2003).  Miller earned his J.D. from Boston University School of Law (2001) and his B.A. from The Ohio State University (1998). 

Michael J. Moeddel has a breadth of experience in structuring and negotiating complex business transactions.  He has represented both publicly-held and privately-owned companies in acquisitions and divestures of existing businesses and structuring joint ventures and other strategic alliances.  Moeddel regularly represents investors in structuring and negotiating private placements of securities, including venture capital and private equity transactions.  He has represented venture capital firms, private equity investors, and mezzanine lenders in structuring investments in start-up and existing businesses.  In addition, Moeddel has worked with a number of distressed business owners in the restructuring of their businesses.  He also has represented a number of investors in structuring investments in or acquiring distressed businesses.  Moeddel earned his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law (2002) where he was a Corporate Law Fellow and graduated Order of the Coif.  He earned his B.A. from The Ohio State University, cum laude (1999).  Moeddel also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

Jennifer J. Morales practices primarily in the areas of business litigation, mass tort bankruptcy, and mass tort settlement trusts.  Morales has litigated before various state trial and appellate courts, as well as federal bankruptcy, district, and circuit courts.  While in law school, Morales served as a judicial intern in the chambers of the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, then of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  She is a member of KMK’s diversity and hiring committees.  Morales earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law (2002) and her A.B. from Harvard University, magna cum laude (1999).

W. Jeffrey (Jeff) Sefton is a trial lawyer with extensive experience at both the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts throughout the United States.  He has obtained successful decisions, verdicts, and results for his clients at the trial level as well as through the appellate process.  His practice focuses on highly complex, highly contentious litigation, including multidistrict litigation, class action litigation, complex product liability and personal injury litigation, financial and tax litigation, and antitrust litigation.  Prior to joining KMK, Sefton served as a Judicial Law Clerk for The Honorable S. Arthur Spiegel, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (2003-2005) and for The Honorable Terence P. Kemp, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio (2000-2002).  He was also an Associate with Sebaly Shillito + Dyer in Dayton, Ohio (2000, 2002-2003).  Among his professional activities, Sefton routinely teaches in the areas of taxation, fraud, and antitrust, including teaching antitrust law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.  Sefton earned his J.D. from Capital University Law School, summa cum laude (2000), his LL.M. from Capital University Law School (2003), and his B.A. from The Ohio State University (1999). 

About Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL
The law firm of Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL (KMK®), based in Cincinnati, was founded in 1954.  KMK has approximately 115 lawyers and a support staff of 150 employees.  For the past 55 years, KMK has contributed to the success of many businesses, from Fortune 500 corporations to start-up companies.  KMK’s mission is to provide high-quality legal counsel to business clients by meeting their identified needs and developing appropriate solutions.