Vorys Elevates Ten to Partner

Vorys is pleased to announce that Elizabeth Alexander, Deanna Cook, Erin French, Jocelyn Hoffman, Lauren Johnson, Christopher Knezevic, Christopher LaRocco, George Stevens, Wendy Swary and Daniel Wucherer became partners of the law firm on January 1, 2024.  Learn more about each of them below:

COLUMBUS:

Liz Alexander is a member of the litigation group.  Her practice focuses on complex business, commercial, and contract litigation.  In addition, Liz has substantial experience representing real estate developers, individuals, and businesses in land use and zoning disputes before local administrative and legislative bodies as well as state and federal courts.  Liz also has experience representing businesses and financial institutions defending against claims related to cyber security incidents, including in putative class actions.

Deanna Cook is a member of the finance, energy and real estate group.  She focuses her practice in the areas of real estate law, franchising and distribution law and general commercial transactions.  Deanna assists clients in preparing franchise agreements and franchise disclosure documents and in obtaining state franchise registrations.  She also represents clients in the acquisition, sale, zoning, leasing, disposition and re‑financing of real property.

Lauren Johnson is a member of the tax and probate group.  Her practice is focused on state and local taxes, with an emphasis on real property tax valuation disputes and appeals.  Lauren has represented clients across the country and in Ohio before numerous county boards of revision, the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals, Ohio Appellate Courts and the Ohio Supreme Court.  Lauren also assists clients in real estate transactions, including helping with preparing real estate tax provisions utilized in underwriting, drafting real estate tax provisions in sale and lease agreements and pursuing the resulting real property tax cases. 

Chris Knezevic is a member of the probate and tax group.  He counsels clients on identifying, negotiating and implementing economic development incentives and tax credits for clients relocating, expanding, consolidating or experiencing significant operational changes.  He has significant experience working with developers, operating businesses and political subdivisions throughout the country to utilize tax credits, economic development incentives, abatements, economic development financing mechanisms, and public-private partnerships. Chris has experience assisting clients from a variety of industries, including manufacturing, financial services, energy, distribution, transportation, biopharmaceutical, healthcare, education and retail.

Chris LaRocco is a member of the litigation group.  His practice focuses on complex business, construction, commercial, class action, consumer rights and contract litigation.  He has significant experience in counseling large commercial clients related to potential litigation, including breach of contract, statutory and regulatory compliance, and general best business practices.  Chris also maintains a significant privacy, data security and retail operations practice, advising some of the largest companies in the country on privacy compliance and technology. 

George Stevens is a member of the labor and employment group.  He has significant experience litigating all types of employment discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, accommodation and wage and hour cases in state and federal court.  His practice also involves day-to-day counseling on a wide range of issues, including employee termination and discipline, employment contracts, severance and termination agreements, employee and public accommodation, and reductions in force.  He has developed a strategy in handling website accessibility issues and advising on pay equity analyses.

Wendy Swary is a member of the labor and employment group.  Her practice focuses on employee benefits, executive compensation and related tax matters.  Wendy has extensive experience in the design, implementation and administration of retirement plans, deferred compensation, incentive compensation, health and welfare plans, insurance benefits, and fringe benefits, as well as payroll matters.

Cincinnati:

Erin French is a member of the litigation group.  She has ten years of experience litigating complex commercial, general business and employment matters in state and federal courts.  She also represents clients in a variety of administrative proceedings.  Erin’s experience includes matters relating to patent infringement, products liability, shareholder disputes, corporate governance, contracts, banking, insurance, environmental claims, public records, education, disabilities and employment disputes, including harassment, discrimination, retaliation and non-compete agreements.

Daniel Wucherer is a member of the Vorys eControl group.  He counsels businesses on issues related to eCommerce, online brand protection, and product diversion.  Dan also has significant experience litigating against unauthorized sellers in actions involving trademark infringement, unfair competition, counterfeiting, and false advertisement.  Through litigation, he has been able to secure favorable outcomes in numerous actions involving unauthorized sales on the internet.

Orange County:

Jocelyn Hoffman is a member of the labor and employment group.  She handles a broad range of labor and employment law matters for employers in various industries.  Jocelyn represents employers in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, and wage-and-hour litigation in state and federal courts across the country.  Jocelyn also represents employers before numerous local, state, and federal administrative agencies.  In addition, Jocelyn counsels employers on compliance with state and federal employment laws, employee discipline and termination, internal complaints and investigations, and maintaining compliant employment policies.

About Vorys: Vorys was established in 1909 and currently has nearly 375 attorneys in 10 offices in Ohio, Washington, D.C., Texas, Pennsylvania, California, London and Berlin.  Vorys currently ranks as one of the 200 largest law firms in the United States according to American Lawyer magazine.  Learn more at vorys.com.