Keating Muething & Klekamp Lawyers Recognized in Top 5 Percent of All Lawyers in Ohio

Twenty-nine lawyers at Keating Muething & Klekamp (KMK) made the 2009 Ohio Super Lawyers^® list which will be published in the January 2009 issues of Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition and Cincinnati Magazine. Ohio Super Lawyers is a comprehensive listing of outstanding lawyers in more than 70 areas of practice. Each attorney listed in Ohio Super Lawyers was chosen by their peers as being among the best in their profession.

The KMK lawyers recognized in the 2009 Ohio Super Lawyers listing are noted below with the practice area for which they are recognized:

James E. Burke – Business Litigation, Named to the Top 10 Ohio Super Lawyers list, Named to the Top 50 Cincinnati list.
Robert E. Coletti – Mergers & Acquisitions
Paul D. Dorger – Employment & Labor
Patrick F. Fischer – Business Litigation
Gail King Gibson – Mergers & Acquisitions
Louis F. Gilligan – Class Action / Mass Torts
Stephen M. Goodson – Employee Benefits / ERISA
Patricia B. Hogan – Intellectual Property
Kevin E. Irwin – Bankruptcy & Creditor / Debtor Rights
William J. Keating, Jr. – Business / Corporate
Donald P. Klekamp – Business / Corporate
Gary P. Kreider – Securities & Corporate Finance
Mary Ellen Malas – Family Law
Timothy B. Matthews – Business / Corporate
Robert W. Maxwell II – Employment & Labor
Lisa Wintersheimer Michel – Employee Benefits / ERISA
David K. Montgomery – Employment & Labor
Paul V. Muething – Business / Corporate
William A. Posey – Personal Injury Plaintiff: General
Gail Glassmeyer Pryse – Real Estate
Joseph P. Rouse – Estate Planning & Probate
Robert G. Sanker – Bankruptcy & Creditor / Debtor Rights
Michael L. Scheier – Business Litigation
Edward E. Steiner – Mergers & Acquisitions, Named to the Top 100 Ohio Super Lawyers list, Named to the Top 50 Cincinnati list
Joseph L. Trauth, Jr. – Land Use / Zoning
Gregory M. Utter – Class Actions / Mass Torts
Mark J. Weber – Banking
Herbert B. Weiss – Real Estate
Jill A. Weller – Environmental

In addition, 21 lawyers at Keating Muething & Klekamp made the 2009 Ohio Rising Stars® list which also will be listed in the January 2009 issues of Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition and Cincinnati Magazine. Law & Politics has been publishing Ohio Rising Stars for three years. The selection process for Rising Stars is the same as the Super Lawyers selection process except that to be eligible for inclusion in Rising Stars, a candidate must be either 40 years old or younger or in practice for 10 years or less. Candidates for Rising Stars do not go through peer evaluation by practice area. While up to 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are named to Super Lawyers, no more than 2.5 percent are named to the Rising Stars list.

The KMK lawyers recognized in the 2009 Ohio Rising Stars list are noted below with the practice area for which they are recognized:

Joseph L. Bruemmer – Business Litigation
Michael T. Cappel – Business Litigation
Gregory L. Cecil – Real Estate
Steven C. Coffaro – Business Litigation
D. Brock Denton – Mergers & Acquisitions
Caroline M. DiMauro – Employment & Labor
Sue A. Erhart – Business Litigation
Drew M. Hicks – Business Litigation
Robert C. Lesan, III – Business / Corporate
David A. Meyer – Environmental
Michael J. Moeddel – Mergers & Acquisitions
Jennifer J. Morales – Business Litigation
Brian P. Muething –Business Litigation
Christy M. Nageleisen-Blades – Business Litigation
Mark L. Opitz – Securities & Corporate Finance
Jamie M. Ramsey – Business Litigation
F. Mark Reuter – Securities & Corporate Finance
Rachael A. Rowe – Business Litigation
Jason V. Stitt – Business / Corporate
Sean S. Suder – Real Estate
Thomas M. Tepe, Jr. – Land Use / Zoning

Polling, research and selection are performed by Law & Politics, a publication of Key Professional Media, Inc. Law & Politics has been publishing Super Lawyers for 18 years. According to Mr. William C. White, publisher of Law & Politics, the selection process involved the following:

The general survey process began in May 2008 when the Ohio Super Lawyer staff mailed more than 28,700 ballots to lawyers across Ohio. They asked lawyers to vote for the best lawyers they have personally observed in action. Each lawyer was given a score based on the number of votes received. Votes received from lawyers in other firms were awarded significantly more points than votes received from lawyers in the same firm. Lawyers who received only same-firm votes were eliminated from the list of candidates.

As part of the screening process, the Ohio Super Lawyer staff also kept track of “back-scratch voting;” that is, two lawyers voting for each other. Indications of back-scratch votes eliminated that lawyer from the list of candidates. In addition to the general survey, the research staff reviewed the credentials of Ohio attorneys and assigned points based upon defined evaluation criteria. The Ohio Super Lawyer staff also conducted research on candidates to ensure that the lawyer is properly licensed, is in good standing with the Bar, and has no history of disciplinary actions.

A blue ribbon panel consisting of the top vote-getters from the general survey was assembled for each area of practice. These panels reviewed the list of nominees in their areas of practice. The blue ribbon review process yielded a positive or negative point total for each nominee. This point total was then added to the lawyers’ scores.

The point totals from the General Survey, Screening Process and Blue Ribbon Panel were added to arrive at a final point total. The final point totals were then segregated by firm size (small, medium, and large). Top vote getters from each of the three firm size categories were selected to identify the top attorneys in the state of Ohio, “Super Lawyers,” generally consisting of the top 5 percent of the attorneys in the state. The list of Super Lawyers includes lawyers in private practice, as well as lawyers in non-private practice, such as prosecutors, in-house counsel and public service lawyers.

The law firm of Keating Muething & Klekamp, based in Cincinnati, was founded in 1954. KMK has approximately 115 lawyers and a support staff of 150 employees. For more than 50 years, KMK has contributed to the success of many businesses, from Fortune 500 corporations to small start-up companies. Their mission is to provide high quality legal counsel to business clients by meeting their identified needs and developing appropriate solutions. KMK’s vision is to excel as a law firm by recruiting and retaining the highest quality attorneys and personnel with diverse social, ethnic, and political backgrounds.