Bricker & Eckler announces five new partners

The law firm of Bricker & Eckler LLP recently elected three new partners and elevated two income partners to equity status.

Justin Cook’s practice focuses on matters of federal and state taxation. He frequently advises 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) organizations, including hospitals, foundations, political organizations and trade associations, on federal tax issues related to formation, attaining recognition of exemption, operational structures, transactions and dissolution. In doing so, he helps clients navigate the complex supporting organization rules, comply with rules against private inurement and excess benefits, and develop efficient corporate structures for unrelated business activities. With respect to state taxation, Justin advises businesses on corporate and transaction structures with an emphasis on Ohio’s sales, use and commercial activity taxes. He is also experienced in matters of state tax controversy. In this capacity, he represents taxpayers under audit by the State of Ohio, as well as taxpayers challenging assessments of tax through the administrative process. Justin became an income partner on October 1, 2021.

The firm’s new income partners effective January 1, 2022 are Kara Herrnstein and Jason Stuckey.

Kara is an experienced energy attorney focusing on facilitating renewable generation in Ohio.  She provides legal assistance and problem-solving to developers at every stage of their projects, from land access to permitting to operation.  Her practice also includes litigation on behalf of a variety of energy companies including producers and midstream companies.  In everything, she is a passionate about helping her clients build Ohio into a major energy-producing state.

Jason advises a multitude of public sector clients with a focus on school districts and higher education institutions. He advises clients on compliance with a wide array of issues including but not limited to federal and state labor and employment issues, employee disciplinary concerns, contract issues, licensure issues, FERPA issues, ethics issues, the Ohio Open Meetings Act, student-related disciplinary matters, residency and custody disputes and the drafting and implementation of policies. Jason also has extensive experience representing clients in collective bargaining negotiations, labor arbitrations, and employee grievances. He has also represented clients before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, state and federal courts; including the Court of Appeals. Additionally, Jason counsels higher education clients on Title IX and NCAA compliance issues.

The firm’s new equity partners effective January 1, 2022 are Dylan Borchers and Devin Parram.

Dylan has a practice that focuses on energy infrastructure development, regulatory proceedings, and energy policy. During the course of his career, Dylan has represented developers of new generation facilities totaling more than 7,000 MW of new electricity capacity in Ohio before the Ohio Power Siting Board. These projects include six new natural gas combined cycle power plants, four utility scale wind farms, and over one dozen utility scale solar facilities. He is also heavily engaged in Ohio's growing solar sector, representing multiple developers of utility scale solar projects, as well as multiple behind the meter projects. He also represents a variety of clients, including trade associations, municipal aggregators, electric vehicle charging companies and suppliers in adjudicatory hearings, rulemakings and other proceedings before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

Devin provides counsel to clients on a wide range of energy and utility issues. A significant portion of his practice focuses on litigating and processing cases before the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Devin advises clients on various PUCO matters, ranging from routine regulatory filings to complex rate cases. Devin regularly represents the Ohio Hospital Association in electric cases before the PUCO and advises hospitals regarding ratemaking proceedings, energy efficiency, energy procurement, distributed energy resource opportunities and all PUCO regulatory matters that potentially impact the unique needs of health care providers. Devin also represents the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) before the PUCO in a variety of matters affecting residential and commercial consumers’ electric and natural gas rates. NOPEC is the largest public retail energy aggregation in the U.S., with approximately 220 county, township and municipal members. Devin also represents competitive energy suppliers on PUCO matters, including advising suppliers regarding the PUCO’s consumer protection rules. At the OPSB, Devin represents major electric generation facility developers and natural gas utilities. He has served as lead counsel in fully-contested wind farm cases before the OPSB and as regulatory counsel in dozens of cases involving the development of natural gas pipeline infrastructure.

ABOUT BRICKER & ECKLER:

With offices throughout the state, Bricker & Eckler is one of Ohio’s leading law firms. Bricker represents a wide variety of clients, with particular strength in the health care, public sector, financial services and energy industries in Ohio and beyond. The firm has a long history of promoting and supporting diversity and inclusion in our ongoing effort to reflect the communities and clients that we serve. Connect with us online on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.