Vorys Elevates 13 to Partner

Vorys is pleased to announce that Jessica K. Baverman, James (Jay) A. Carr II, Andrew E. DeBord, Laura E. Erdman, Lauren L. Gilbert, Barbara J. Jordan, Mihsun Koh, Jeffrey A. Miller, Kara M. Mundy, Patrick J. Reardon, Michael J. Shoenfelt, Janay M. Stevens and Mitchell A. Tobias became partners of the law firm on January 1, 2022. Learn more about each of them below.

Jessica Baverman is a member of the litigation group in the firm’s Cincinnati office. She practices general and complex civil litigation and has represented parties in commercial disputes, class actions, fiduciary, employment, and False Claims Act (FCA) litigation. Jessica has significant experience with fiduciary disputes, including shareholder derivative actions. She also has experience defending corporations in cases brought under the Federal False Claims Act by the government or whistleblowers. Jessica has represented large corporations and small businesses in both federal and state court.

Jay Carr is a member of the energy, finance and real estate group in the firm’s Columbus office. His practice and experience span several areas, including oil and gas transactional matters, title review and due diligence, and litigation. He routinely prepares original title opinions and division order title opinions as well as assignments, amendments and ratifications, and releases of oil and gas leases for producers. Jay also litigates, or assists others in litigating, claims involving breach of an oil and gas lease, wrongful payment of royalties, and title to leasehold properties.

Andrew DeBord is a member of the tax group in the firm’s Cincinnati office. His practice is focused on real property tax valuation disputes and appeals throughout the United States.  Andrew has obtained substantial real estate tax reductions for retail, office, industrial, multifamily and other types of commercial properties in more than 20 states. In addition to appearing before the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals and more than 25 county boards of revision in Ohio, Andrew has appeared before numerous other state and local tax appeal boards across the country on behalf of taxpayers.

Laura Erdman is a member of the Vorys eControl group in the firm’s Cincinnati office. She counsels businesses on issues related to e-commerce and online brand protection and has assisted in facilitating the expansion of the illegal online seller enforcement program on a global scale.  Laura also works with manufacturers on Minimum Advertised Pricing policies and issues related to Resale Price Maintenance.  Laura has diverse civil litigation experience, representing clients in both state and federal courts.

Lauren Gilbert is a member of the finance, energy and real estate group in the firm’s Cincinnati office.  Her practice focuses primarily on commercial finance matters. Lauren represents a variety of lenders in a wide range of financing transactions, including franchise financing, syndicated and participated lending facilities, asset-based and leveraged lending facilities, acquisition financings, structured and mezzanine lending facilities, and loan workouts.

Barbara Jordan is a member of the firm’s finance, energy and real estate group in the firm’s Columbus office. In addition to being an attorney, she is also a licensed professional engineer and surveyor intern. Her practice focuses on assisting clients with the acquisition, disposition, leasing, development, operation and maintenance of real property, including due diligence, title, survey, environmental, geotechnical, regulatory and other general real estate matters.  She is also versed in construction documentation, design professional and contractor procurement, and contract administration. 

Mihsun Koh is a member of the technology and intellectual property group in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. She has extensive experience conducting due diligence and writing legal analysis regarding freedom to operate, patentability, patent invalidity and non-infringement.  Mihsun also has extensive experience procuring U.S. and foreign patent prosecution in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, pharmacognosy, chemistry, chemical materials, nanotechnology, polymers and green technology. Mihsun's practice also includes patent validity challenges before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Inter Partes Review; Ex Parte Reexamination) and pre-litigation strategy counseling to clients.

Jeffrey Miller is a member of the litigation group in the firm’s Cincinnati office.  He focuses on complex litigation matters and False Claims Act (FCA) cases, and he has successfully represented numerous clients in the federal and state courts of appeal. Jeff has presented at several conferences on topics including alternative dispute resolution, motion practice, construction law and technology issues.

Kara Mundy is a member of the antitrust subgroup, and a member of the litigation practice group in the firm’s Columbus office.  Her practice focuses on antitrust advising and litigation, land use and eminent domain litigation, and general complex commercial and business litigation.  Kara also has experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust class action litigation. She has significant experience counseling clients on antitrust issues related to price fixing, no-poach, no-hire and non-solicitation arrangements, compliance, competitive bidding, and mergers and acquisitions.  As part of her antitrust practice, Kara works with manufacturers and retailers on issues relating to Minimum Advertised Pricing policies and Resale Price Maintenance.

Patrick Reardon is a member of the finance, energy and real estate group in the firm’s Cincinnati office. His practice focuses on commercial real estate and related business matters, with a specialty in multifamily affordable housing finance, including representing lenders and owners in the financing of multifamily and senior housing under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) insured funding programs and other agency financing, including Fannie Mae.  Most of the FHA financing transactions Patrick handles involve projects syndicated using low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) and tax-exempt bonds.

Michael Shoenfelt is a member of the labor and employment group in the firm’s Columbus office. He has experience litigating and counseling clients on employment discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, wage and hour, and accommodation issues. Michael also has substantial experience defending wage and hour collective and class actions in state and federal court. Michael’s practice also involves all aspects of traditional labor law, including union avoidance, appearing before the National Labor Relations Board, collective bargaining negotiations, and labor arbitrations. 

Janay Stevens is a member of the labor and employment group in the firm’s Columbus office.  She focuses her practice on counseling employers in both employment and traditional labor law matters. Janay regularly assists employers in complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act, the National Labor Relations Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and its amendments, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  Janay has represented clients in state and federal court, before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and other similar state agencies throughout the country.

Mitchell Tobias is a member of the litigation group in the firm’s Columbus office. His practice focuses on product liability litigation, business and commercial litigation and construction-related litigation. Mitch is also a member of Vorys' drone and autonomous vehicle working group. Prior to joining Vorys, he practiced as a mechanical engineer. Mitch has been able to apply his education and experience as a mechanical engineer to support his efforts defending product liability claims.