GRAYDON IS GROWING!

We are proud to announce the addition of eight new team members - five attorneys, two paralegals, and an international fellow - to our Downtown Cincinnati office.

Roula Allouch joins as an attorney in the Firm’s Litigation practice group. Roula’s practice focuses on employment law, civil rights, insurance defense, and general civil litigation. A graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law, Roula is active in legal community, serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative and a Kentucky delegate to the Association’s House of Delegates. She also currently serves as Chair of the National Board of Directors of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest civil rights and advocacy group for the American Muslim community. Roula is licensed to practice in Ohio and Kentucky.

Lauren Christine González joins as an attorney in the Firm’s Business Services practice group. Lauren’s practice includes a wide variety of business services, including corporate governance, business planning & entity formation, private & family business, financing & capital raising, mergers, acquisitions & sales, non-profits, and succession planning. Lauren also has extensive experience in intellectual property matters and is a registered patent attorney with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Lauren earned her JD from the University of Miami School of Law and her BA in Finance, International Business, and Chemistry from Florida International University. Lauren is licensed to practice in Ohio.

John R. Kirk joins the Firm’s Benefits & Compensation practice group. John’s practice focuses on the design and implementation of large employer-sponsored health and wellness plans. John also advises clients on all issues relating to offering employee benefits, including: reporting and disclosure requirements, COBRA and HIPAA compliance, and regulations governing HSAs, FSAs, and HRAs. John is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law and earned his BS in Accounting from Georgetown College. John is licensed to practice in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Javan A. Kline joins the Firm’s Business Services practice group. Javan’s practice focuses on assisting clients with complex federal, state, and local tax matters, as well as representing clients in tax controversies before the IRS, the Ohio Department of Taxation, and other state and local taxing authorities. Javan earned his JD from the University of Cincinnati College of Law and his BBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame. Javan is also an Adjunct Instructor in the University of Cincinnati College of Business where he teaches tax courses. Javan is licensed to practice in Ohio.

S. Scott Wick joins the Firm’s Business Services practice group. Scott’s practice focuses on counseling closely-held businesses in a variety of issues, including contract review and negotiation, merger and acquisition, and all aspects of initial startup and succession planning. Scott also serves as a tax advisor with a focus on assisting clients in federal and state tax controversies. Scott earned his JD from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, LLM in Taxation from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, and BA in History from Wittenberg University. Scott is licenses to practice in Ohio and Minnesota.

Julie Ashby and Austin Baurichter join as paralegals in the Firm’s Labor and Employment and Litigation practice groups, focusing on Worker’s Compensation and Creditors’ Rights, respectively.

Kitso T. Malthape joins the Firm as the first-ever University of Cincinnati College of Law LLM Fellow. A partnership with UC Law’s LLM program (Masters of Laws in the U.S. Legal System), the fellowship provides post-graduate work experience for internationally trained lawyers. Kitso earned her LLM from UC in May 2019 and her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Botswana in 2018. Kitso previously worked for Dow & Associates, Botswana’s first all-female law firm founded by Unity Dow, the country’s first female High Court Judge and current Minister of International Affairs & Cooperation. Kitso is experienced in real estate, corporate, and commercial transactions, as well as human rights.