Frost Brown Todd Names 13 New Members

January 9, 2009

January 9, 2009 (Louisville, KY) – Frost Brown Todd is pleased to announce the appointment of 13 new Members throughout the Firm. Attorneys Stacy Blomeke, Julie Bruns, Chris Coffman, Jan de Beer, Tom Flanigan, Peggy Godar, Kyle Grubbs, Colleen Haas, Bill Harter, Chris Karo, Kim Mauer, Karlyn Schnapp and Jeff Shoskin’s Membership took effect January 1, 2009.

Stacy Christman Blomeke (Cincinnati) practices in the Firm’s Personal Planning and Family Business Department with a concentration in the areas of estate planning, probate and trust administration, guardianship implementation and management, special needs and Medicaid planning, asset protection, family business succession planning, entity selection, business formation, charitable giving and adoption law. Ms. Blomeke is certified by the Ohio State Bar Association as a Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. Ms. Blomeke is a magna cum laude graduate of The University of Dayton School of Law, and obtained a B.S., cum laude, from Xavier University and an M.S. from the The University of Cincinnati. Ms. Blomeke is licensed to practice law in Ohio and Kentucky.

Julie M. Bruns (Cincinnati) represents employers in all phases of workers’ compensation matters including administrative hearings and judicial matters before various levels of Ohio state courts. She counsels employers regarding the administration of workers' compensation claims, claims management and cost containment, accident investigation, violation of specific safety requirement (VSSR) claims, premium and group ratings, attaining and maintaining self-insured status, and other related matters. She also defends employers in post-administrative litigation in common pleas courts throughout Ohio.

J. Christopher Coffman (Louisville) practices in civil and criminal tax controversy matters and white-collar criminal defense. Mr. Coffman has represented both individual and corporate clients in administrative proceedings before local and state taxing authorities and the Internal Revenue Service. In addition, Mr. Coffman has represented clients before the United States Tax Court. As part of his criminal defense practice, Mr. Coffman has defended clients at both the federal and state level through investigation and at trial against criminal allegations relating to many significant areas of white-collar crime, including tax fraud and evasion, bank fraud, Medicare/Medicaid fraud, mortgage fraud, securities fraud, RICO conspiracies, mislabeling of food products, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, voting fraud, money laundering, and state consumer protection act violations. Mr. Coffman is a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School.

Jan de Beer (Lexington) practices in the firm’s Corporate Department with a concentration in the area of international regulation and trade. Mr. de Beer has significant experience in counseling clients as to their export licensing obligations under the Department of Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations and the Department of State’s International Traffic In Arms Regulations. In addition, Mr. de Beer advises companies and individuals in matters relating to U.S. embargoes and sanctions, with experience in both the voluntary disclosure of violations and obtaining appropriate licenses for international transactions, importing goods into the United States with customs law issues, including classification and valuation of products; Customs duty protests; and country of origin and other labeling requirements.

Thomas D. Flanigan (Lexington) concentrates his practice in corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financing and commercial litigation. His experience includes assisting clients in negotiating, structuring and documenting mergers, acquisitions, asset and equity interest sales, private equity offerings, commercial lending transactions and other general commercial transactions.

Mary M. (Peggy) Godar (Cincinnati) practices U.S. Immigration and Nationality Law. She primarily represents clients in obtaining non-immigrant and immigrant employment based visas for foreign national employees. She also trains employers on immigration compliance issues. Prior to joining Frost Brown Todd LLC, she handled family based non-immigrant and immigrant petitions as well as removal proceedings.

Kyle Grubbs (Cincinnati) focuses his practice in three primary areas: Shopping Center/Retail Development, Office, Warehouse and Industrial Real Estate, and Financial Restructuring/Bankruptcy. Mr. Grubbs has significant experience in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions and chapter 11 bankruptcies and restructurings. His real estate practice focuses on representing developers, landlords , local governments, non-profits, tenants and retailers in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions including the development, acquisition, sale, and leasing of shopping centers, office buildings, warehouses and industrial facilities. His bankruptcy and restructuring practice includes counseling developers, landlords, lenders, debtors, creditors and creditors' committees in the areas of bankruptcy and financial restructuring primarily representing shopping center landlords in retail bankruptcy cases and bankruptcy litigation throughout the United States.

Colleen M. Haas (Cincinnati) practices in the area of commercial lending and real estate. She represents numerous banking institutions in connection with negotiating and closing commercial loans secured by real estate and personal property and is particularly experienced in the area of commercial construction lending. She has worked extensively with large real estate developer/builder clients in the acquisition and sale of real property. Ms. Haas also assists in the representation of both qualified businesses and community development entities in connection with documenting and closing new markets tax credit transactions.

William M. Harter (Columbus) practices in the Litigation Department and works extensively in Ohio and West Virginia. Mr. Harter's practice involves a significant amount of insurance coverage analysis and "bad faith" litigation. Mr. Harter has experience across several lines of insurance and has twice been recognized by Ohio Super Lawyers® magazine as a "Rising Star" in the area of insurance coverage. Mr. Harter also heads the Ohio and West Virginia portion of the Trucking and Commercial Transportation Group. Mr. Harter helped create and is a member of Frost Brown Todd's 24/7 Accident Response Team. Mr. Harter has a sizeable amount of first-chair trial experience and enjoys working on cases at all stages of litigation, including to and through jury verdict.

Christopher J. Karo (Lexington) practices in the Firm’s Insurance Regulation Practice Group. He focuses on insurance regulatory and corporate matters for insurers, insurance agents and agencies, third party administrators, and service contract providers before regulatory agencies in all 50 states. As a former attorney with the Florida Department of Insurance, Mr. Karo brings a broad legal and regulatory perspective to the challenges faced by various entities and individuals in navigating the complexities of doing business in the insurance industry.

Kimberly K. Mauer (Cincinnati) practices in the commercial real estate area. She represents clients in a wide array of banking, commercial and real estate matters. She represents banks in commercial loan transactions in a wide variety of transactions, including but not limited to New Markets Tax Credits. She has also represented public and private acquirers, targets and investment banks in connection with negotiated and contested mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts and proxy contests. Ms. Mauer has worked with a variety of financial institutions that were under a Memorandum of Understanding. In each case, this required working out troubled assets, creating compliance and reporting systems, and preparing loan documents to address regulatory issues.

Karlyn A. Schnapp, Ph. D. (Cincinnati) practices in the areas of patent prosecution and opinion work, including patentability, freedom-to-practice and invalidity opinions. Her practice is concentrated in the areas of chemistry and pharmaceuticals. Dr. Schnapp represents a variety of clients including corporate clients, university researchers, pharmaceutical companies, and entrepreneurial start-up companies. She is admitted to practice in Ohio and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Prior to joining Frost Brown Todd, Dr. Schnapp was an Associate Professor at Northern Kentucky University, where she taught organic chemistry and maintained an active research practice. Dr. Schnapp has also worked as a research scientist prior to her academic career. Dr. Schnapp is also frequently a guest lecturer at the College of Business, Northern Kentucky University, speaking about intellectual property law and its impact on entrepreneurial start-up companies.

Jeffrey S. Shoskin (Cincinnati) represents employers in all aspects of private and public sector employment and labor relations matters. He has served as lead counsel in numerous state and federal court and administrative proceedings. Mr. Shoskin also has represented clients in labor negotiations and arbitrations. He has provided in-depth counseling and training on a variety of employment law topics (e.g., FMLA, ADA, wage/hour, discrimination, harassment, wrongful discharge) and has assisted clients in drafting employee handbooks, employment forms, and confidentiality, non-compete, employment and separation agreements.

Additional information on these new members and Frost Brown Todd is available at www.frostbrowntodd.com.

About Frost Brown Todd
Frost Brown Todd is a full-service law firm serving some of America’s top corporations and emerging companies. With attorneys regularly identified by clients, peers and industry organizations as leaders in their practice areas, the firm advises and protects clients in business transactions and litigation in industries including insurance, banking, financial services, manufacturing, transportation, real estate, construction, energy and healthcare. Its attorneys in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia provide unparalleled service to meet clients’ needs; deliver the insights and solutions available only from a diverse group of professionals; and support the communities in which it operates. The firm has been recognized with numerous awards, and was recently named to the “BTI Client Service A-Team,” meaning clients from large and Fortune 1000 companies credited Frost Brown Todd with delivering superior client service. To learn more, visit www.frostbrowntodd.com.

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