Stephen W. Funk is a shareholder with the law firm of Roetzel & Andress, where he practices in business and public law litigation, appellate law, constitutional law, municipal law, and land use and zoning law. He has over 33 years of litigation experience, with the last 27 years working in Roetzel. Mr. Funk is a member of the Akron, Ohio State and Federal bar associations; and a member of the advisory group for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He earned his B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Miami University and his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
Daniel A. Griffith is the managing attorney of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP's Delaware office, and co-head of the firm's Tort and Insurance Litigation Department. He specializes in the areas of commercial litigation and professional liability defense, with a concentration in the defense of municipal liability matters, particularly those involving alleged police misconduct. Mr. Griffith has defended police officers from approximately 15 Delaware municipalities, in claims ranging from Fourth Amendment search and seizure issues, to excessive force claims involving tasers and/or canines. He has significant trial experience in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Mr. Griffith has tried cases in a wide variety of areas including copyright infringement, insurance coverage/bad faith, employment discrimination, municipal liability, civil rights, and professional negligence. In addition to representing professionals (attorneys, insurance professionals, private and public employers, and police officers) in litigated matters, he has represented commercial and personal line insurance carriers, multi-national corporations, municipal entities and state governments. Mr. Griffith is a frequent speaker and writer on issues related to civil trial practice, including evidence, federal pre-trial practice, expert issues, building civil trial skills and ethics. He wrote
What the Civil Court Judges (in Delaware) Want You to Know, and moderated a judicial panel seminar of the same title. Mr. Griffith has written for and spoken at Delaware seminars titled "Advanced Police Liability Issues Under §1983," "Defending Claims Against Public Entities," "Police Liability Claims," and "Handling Claims Against the Local Government." He is admitted to practice in New Jersey and Delaware state and federal courts, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Griffith earned his B.A. degree from Rutgers University and his J.D. degree from Rutgers University School of Law.
Shlomo D. Katz is counsel with Brown Rudnick, LLP in the firm's litigation and arbitration practice group, where he focuses on the areas of government contracts / procurement and commercial law and litigation, wage and hour law and construction law. He has significant experience in preparing, negotiating and litigating contract claims and bid protests, as well as advising clients on contract compliance, small business, subcontracting, data rights and labor law issues under government contracts. Mr. Katz has participated in mergers and acquisitions of government contractors, advising on issues of assignment and novation, intellectual property / data rights, size determinations, and security clearances. He has successfully litigated before federal, state and local courts and the Government Accountability Office and Boards of Contract Appeals. In addition, Mr. Katz is the Lead Lawyer in the firm's wage and hour practice group, representing clients in connection with minimum wage, working time and overtime issues under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Service Contract Act (SCA), Davis-Bacon Act, Presidential Executive Orders affecting government contractors, and state wage payment and prevailing wage laws. This includes conducting proactive wage-hour audits for employers as well as litigation of minimum wage, overtime and wage payment claims by federal and state labor departments and private litigants, including class and collective actions. He also has represented parties in wrongful termination and discrimination cases before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and in federal court. In mergers and acquisitions, he advises on wage and hour issues as part of due diligence. Mr. Katz earned his B.S. degree from the University of Maryland School of Architecture and his J.D. degree from George Washington University Law School. He is admitted to practice in District of Columbia (state and federal) and Maryland (state and federal).
Matthew E. Miller-Novak earned his J.D. degree from Chase School of Law, his Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the University of Cincinnati, and his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from Youngstown State University. He first moved to Cincinnati in 2001 to study painting at the University of Cincinnati after marrying his wife Jamie. Jamie began teaching high school English in the Three Rivers School District, and Mr. Miller-Novak began teaching painting and drawing at Northern Kentucky University while exhibiting his art regionally and nationally. He soon developed an interest in local government and began getting involved in campaigns and other community service. Mr. Miller-Novak decided to stop teaching and attend law school. Upon his admission at Chase Law, he focused his studies on constitutional jurisprudence and employment discrimination. He graduated cum laude, and he received honors for his trial advocacy skills and legal writing. In addition, Mr. Miller-Novak published two law review articles and spoke at Whittier Law School regarding employment matters in 2014. He is now focusing his practice on employment matters, government accountability, business law, and civil litigation. He is currently assistant prosecutor in Hamilton County, Ohio.
Usman Mohammad is counsel at the New York City office of Kostelanetz LLP. His practice includes New York City and state government procurement matters, civil and criminal tax controversies including tax whistleblower matters, and commercial litigation. Mr. Mohammad has litigated cases in a variety of forums, including New York State Court, federal district courts, U.S. Tax Court and AAA and private party arbitrations. He has extensive experience with government procurement award protests, Article 78 proceedings involving procurement matters, foreign asset reporting issues, IRS responsible person and trust fund recovery penalty matters, IRS whistleblower matters, and IRS collection cases. Mr. Mohammad earned his B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995, and graduated cum laude and Order of the Coif (top 10 percent) from the University of Michigan Law School in 1998. He was the associate editor of the
Michigan
Law Review from 1996 to 1997, and an executive editor from 1997 to 1998. Mr. Mohammad joined Kostelanetz LLP in 2000.
Alfred E. Schrader is principal with Roderick Linton Belfance, LLP. Mr. Schrader primarily focuses on representing all forms of local government throughout the state of Ohio, including townships, water districts, villages, fire districts, joint economic development districts (JEDD) cities and counties. He is admitted to all Ohio courts, the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of Ohio, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court, where he has filed two petitions for certiorari. Mr. Schrader has represented local governments in over half of Ohio's 88 counties. He acts as special counsel for zoning, joint economic development district formation, land use planning, annexation, and general local government law matters. Mr. Schrader served as special counsel to Sugar Creek Township in Wayne County, Ohio and Westfield Township in Medina County, Ohio. He is township attorney for Boston Township and counsel for Valley Fire District. Mr. Schrader is a frequent lecturer on topics such as annexation, joint economic development districts, employee discipline, zoning, fire and police issues, and other local government law issues. He is a life member, Bencher, and treasurer of the Scanlon Inn of Court in Akron, Ohio. Mr. Schrader earned his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Kent State University and his J.D. degree from The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law.
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