Authored Articles

A Washington appellate court offered defamation plaintiffs a friendly reminder last week: if you want to unmask the identity of an unknown internet poster, you better present evidence to back up your defamation claims.

Jackie Ford, a partner in the Vorys Houston office and a member of the labor and employment group, authored an article titled “Same-Sex Marriage Decision a Win for Employers?” for Texas Lawyer.

Jackie Ford and Elizabeth T. Smith, attorneys in the Vorys Columbus and Houston offices and members of the litigation and labor and employment groups, co-authored an article titled “Crisis Management Takes a Team.” It was featured in the June 2015 edition of the AICUO Affiliate Member Newsletter.

Greg Russell, Pete Lusenhop and Steven Chang, attorneys in the Vorys Columbus office, co-authored an article for the June 2015 edition of the Oil and Gas Journal titled “Ohio Weighs Post-Production Costs, Royalty Calculations.”

Heather Kabele, a partner in the Vorys Houston office and a member of the litigation group, authored an article for the Journal of Commerce titled “Treasury Targets Electronics Exporters, Carriers in Miami.”

Tom Crookes, a partner in the Vorys Akron office and a member of the labor and employment group, authored an article for Crain’s Cleveland Business titled “Prep For, But Don't Ban Politics Talk.”

Nelson Cary, a partner in the Columbus office, and Ashley Manfull, a senior attorney in the Akron office, co-authored an article for Crain’s Cleveland Business titled “Policies on Employee Appearance and Social Media Use Declared Unlawful.”

Blending of families and the handling of the financial assets brought into a new marriage require estate planning solutions specially tailored to meet the unique circumstances inherent in such situations.

Jackie Ford, partner in the Vorys Houston and Columbus offices, authored an article for Law360 on whether traditional definitions of property and ownership include social media accounts.

Eve Stratton, of counsel in the Vorys Columbus office who prior to joining Vorys served as justice on the Supreme Court of Ohio for 16 years, authored an article for the Daily Reporter titled “Shuttering of Mental Hospitals Led to Flood of Mentally Ill into the Legal System.”

Vic Ferguson and Rich Seils, attorneys in the Columbus office and members of the trusts, estates and wealth transfer group, co-authored an article titled “Keeping the (Potential) Disgruntled Beneficiary at Bay – the Current Effectiveness of “No Contest” Clauses in Ohio.”

Nelson Cary, a partner in the Columbus office and a member of the labor and employment group, and George Stevens, an associate in the Columbus office and a member of the labor and employment group, co-authored an article for TLNT.com titled “Court Won’t Give Legal Relief From NLRB’s ‘Quickie’ Election Rule.”

Monica Oathout, a partner in the Vorys Houston office and a member of the labor and employment group, and Jim Barnish, an associate in the Houston office and a member of the litigation group, co-authored an article for Law360 titled “Figuring Out Family Responsibilities Discrimination.”

Jeff Smith, a partner in the Vorys Columbus office, and Jeffrey Quayle, senior vice president and general counsel for the Ohio Bankers League (OBL), co-authored an article for the Spring 2015 edition of the Ohio Record (the magazine of the OBL) titled “Joining Forces to Enhance Competitiveness.”

Nelson Cary, a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the labor and employment group, authored an article for TLNT.com titled “Believe It or Not, NLRB Protects Foul Facebook Attack on Supervisor.”

Jackie Ford, a partner in the Vorys Houston and Columbus offices, authored an article for the National Law Journal titled “What Clinton's Email Troubles Can Teach Employers.”

As 2015 gets under way, bank compensation committees are tasked with setting the bank’s executive compensation strategy for the year and effectively communicating that compensation structure to shareholders. Compensation committees need to strike a balance between a compensation program that attracts and retains employees and encourages those employees to take appropriate business risks while advancing the bank’s growth strategies and discouraging inappropriate risks.

Maybe at one time your company was reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and your company’s stock was listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ). You were relieved when the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act allowed you to terminate your SEC registration, even though it meant that your stock could no longer be listed on NASDAQ.

During the past three years, a significant number of community banks and their holding companies (collectively, banks) throughout the United States elected to “go dark” by taking advantage of a provision in The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act). These banks were able to suspend their reporting obligations under Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and deregister with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) because they had fewer than 1,200 shareholders of record.

In December 2014, Congress modified portions of Dodd-Frank to provide additional opportunities to reduce the regulatory burden on community banks. In response to this legislation, on January 29, 2015 the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) requested comment on several related proposals (and an interim rule) focused primarily on increasing the number of holding companies eligible for the reduced reporting and other requirements under the “small” holding company exclusion.