Vorys Welcomes 2012 Summer Associates

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease is pleased to welcome 10 summer associates to five of its offices.  Susan Shutts, Kara Singleton, Thomas Vetter and Cecil Patterson joined the Columbus office; Katherine Barrett, Matthew Magner and Megan Westenberg joined the Cincinnati office; Eric Yoon joined the Cleveland office; Andrew Guran joined the Akron office; and William Barrett joined the Washington, D.C. office.

Susan L. Shutts recently completed her second year at the University of Michigan Law School, where she is editor-in-chief of the Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law and a student in the Michigan Innocence Clinic.  She received her B.S. in journalism, magna cum laude, from Ohio University.   Prior to entering law school, Shutts worked as an editorial assistant for YES! magazine in Seattle.  Last summer, she worked as an intern for the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Office in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Kara M. Singleton recently completed her second year at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.  She received her B.A. in philosophy and political science, cum laude, with honors and research distinction, from The Ohio State University.  Singleton has worked for the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee and an Ohio lobbying firm specializing in politics and legislation.  Prior to entering law school, she was a legal assistant at the Behal Law Group in Columbus, working mainly with the firm’s domestic relations practice.

Thomas A. Vetter recently completed his second year at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he is the symposium editor for the Ohio State Law Journal.  He received his B.S.B.A. with specializations in finance and real estate, and a minor in entrepreneurship, summa cum laude, from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business.  While he was an undergraduate student, Vetter spent summers working in various real estate and finance capacities, including internships with Lancaster Pollard and Abbott Laboratories. 

Cecil B. Patterson recently completed his first year at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.  He received his B.A. in communications from Georgia Southern University.  Before starting law school, Patterson worked in the human resources departments of three Fortune 100 companies.  He also served as the president of Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory’s Young Professionals Kitchen Cabinet (YPKC) and as chair of YPKC’s Health and Environment Committee.  Patterson does volunteer legal work for Children’s Defense Fund during the school year.  In addition, he has been an active volunteer for Children’s Restoration Network and served on the leadership board of the National Kidney Foundation for the Greater Cincinnati Region.

Katherine E. Barrett recently completed her second year at The University of Cincinnati College of Law.  She received her B.A. in philosophy, politics and the public, summa cum laude, from Xavier University.  During her time as an undergraduate student, Barrett studied abroad in Rome and spent three summers working for a publishing company in New York City.  Last summer, she worked as a fellow at the Ohio Innocence Project.

Matthew P. Magner recently completed his second year at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he is an executive articles editor of the Georgetown Journal of Poverty Law & Policy.  He received his B.S. in mathematics and theatre, magna cum laude, from the University of Dayton.  Last summer, Magner interned at the Pro Bono Institute in Washington, D.C. 

Megan M. Westenberg recently completed her second year at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where she is a notes and comments editor for the University of Cincinnati Law Review.  She received her B.A. in American culture, with honors, from the University of Michigan.  Last summer, Westenberg was the Scripps Howard Foundation Fellow at the Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio.  In the fall of 2011, she was an extern for the Hon. Michael R. Barrett of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. 

Eric Yoon recently completed his second year at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he is on the editorial board of the Virginia Law and Business Review.  He received his B.A. in political science and philosophy, cum laude, from Colgate University.  Prior to entering law school, Yoon spent a semester at St. Andrews University in Scotland and two years in the political science doctoral program at Michigan State University.  He is fluent in Korean and, last summer, worked as an intern at an international business law firm in Seoul, Korea. 

Andrew P. Guran recently completed his second year at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he is a senior editor of the Case Western Reserve Law Review and president/editor-in-chief of the law school’s newspaper, The Docket.  He received his B.A. in international affairs, summa cum laude, from the George Washington University.  In the fall of 2011, Guran was an intern for the Hon. Eileen A. Gallagher in the Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth Appellate District, and last summer he was an intern for the Hon. David D. Dowd, Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. 

William M.R. Barrett recently completed his second year at the George Washington University Law School.  He received his B.A. in journalism and economics, summa cum laude, from Loyola University of Chicago.  Barrett is proficient in Mandarin Chinese.  Prior to entering law school, he studied at Peking University and worked with a micro-finance non-profit in China.  Barrett spent his most recent academic year working as an extern for the Hon. Richard J. Leon, U.S. District Court, and for the Department of Justice Fraud Section.  Barrett also volunteers with George Washington Law’s Homeless Pro Bono Project. 

About Vorys: Vorys was established in 1909 and has grown to be one of the largest Ohio-based law firms with nearly 375 attorneys in six offices in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Akron, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; and Houston, Texas.  Vorys currently ranks as one of the 200 largest law firms in the United States according to American Lawyer magazine.