Vorys Welcomes 14 Summer Associates
The law firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP (Vorys) is pleased to welcome 14 summer associates to four of its offices. Alejandro A. Abreu, Richard J. Balazs, Erin K. Eckles, Melissa L. James, Carmen E. Smith, Owen R. Wolfe and Holly L. Coats have joined the Columbus office; Nicholas A. Casto, Angela M. Neyer, Ann M. Seller and John B. Wasserman have joined the Cincinnati office; Kyle S. Baird has joined the Cleveland office; and Ellen M. Lander and Christy L. Wesig have joined the Akron office.
Alejandro A. Abreu recently completed his second year at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he will be next year’s managing editor – practitioner’s commentary for the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law. He received his B.A. in English from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to completing his undergraduate degree, Abreu served four years in the U.S. Army as a cavalry scout and was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas.
Richard J. Balazs recently completed his second year at the University of Virginia School of Law. He received his B.S. in accounting, summa cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University, and his master’s degree in accounting from The Ohio State University. Balazs is a licensed certified public accountant (CPA) in Ohio and, before law school, worked as a tax consultant for Deloitte in Cleveland. Balazs worked for the PGA Tour’s corporate tax department last summer.
Erin K. Eckles recently completed her second year at the University of Michigan Law School, where she is managing editor of the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. She received her B.A. in political science, with distinction, from the University of Michigan. As an undergraduate, Eckles spent a semester in Washington, D.C. interning for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. Last summer, she interned for the Hon. Jack Zouhary in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Melissa L. James recently completed her third year in the evening program at the Georgetown University Law Center. She received her B.A. in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from The Ohio State University. James has served as the associate director for policy analysis at the National Association of Children’s Hospitals. Prior to that, she also worked at the Office of Ohio Health Plans (Ohio’s Medicaid agency) and in government relations at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Carmen E. Smith recently completed her second year at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. She received her B.A. in accountancy from Miami University. Prior to entering law school, Smith was employed as an auditor at Deloitte & Touche LLP in Columbus. She also received her CPA license during this time.
Owen R. Wolfe recently completed his second year at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. He received his B.A. in history, magna cum laude, from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Wolfe has studied abroad at the University of Oxford as part of the Moritz College of Law’s summer program. Before attending law school, he worked for many years in a Subway restaurant franchise, serving as a store manager and as a general manager of several restaurants during that period.
Holly L. Coats recently completed her first year at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. She received her B.A. in political science and sociology, magna cum laude with honors, from The Ohio State University. Prior to law school, Holly managed T.U.S.A. (Toledoans United for Social Action), a non-profit organization in Toledo, where she developed and organized community leaders to provide a voice on local policy issues.
Nicholas A. Casto recently completed his second year at the University of Michigan Law School. He received his B.A. in English, with distinction, from the University of Michigan. In college, Casto spent two summers at Fidelity Investments in Covington, Kentucky.
Angela M. Neyer recently completed her second year at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. She received her B.A. in political science, as well as philosophy, politics and the public, magna cum laude, from Xavier University. Neyer has interned with Congressman Steve Chabot in Washington, D.C. and spent 2008 working on his congressional campaign. Last summer, she was a fellow with the Ohio Innocence Project out of the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
Ann M. Seller recently completed her second year at University of Virginia School of Law. She received her MSc in global politics from the London School of Economics and her B.A. in conflict studies from DePauw University. Seller also studied abroad in Argentina and Spain. Before entering law school, she worked as the outreach coordinator for Greater Ohio, a non-profit, Smart Growth organization. Last summer, Seller was a summer extern for Hon. Arthur Spiegel, U.S. District Court.
John B. Wasserman recently completed his second year at the University of Chicago Law School. He received his B.A. in philosophy, summa cum laude, from The Ohio State University. While in Chicago, Wasserman serves as the vice president of the Labor & Employment Law Society, and as a comment editor on The University of Chicago Legal Forum. Last summer, he was a judicial extern to the Hon. Michael H. Watson in Columbus, Ohio.
Kyle S. Baird recently completed his second year at the University of Virginia School of Law. He received his B.A. in political science and Russian language from Brigham Young University. Baird mentored first-year law students in their writing as a Dillard fellow for the UVA Legal Research and Writing course.
Ellen M. Lander recently completed her second year at the University of Akron School of Law, where she currently serves as an articles and symposium editor for the Akron Law Review. She received her B.A. in social sciences – political science, philosophy and economics - summa cum laude, from the University of Akron. During her undergraduate education, Lander interned with the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, Child Support Enforcement Agency. Lander also externed for Judge Deborah Cook of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and worked as a tutor for first-year Contracts students.
Christy L. Wesig recently completed her second year at the University of Akron School of Law where she is the articles and symposium editor of the Akron Law Review. She received her B.A. in English, summa cum laude, from the University of Akron. Wesig has also studied at the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked as an independent law clerk since last summer and has also externed for Chief Justice Alice Batchelder, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Wesig placed second in the annual Internal Moot Court Competition and will have an article published in the 2011-12 Akron Law Review.