MRR announces 2018 Ohio Super Lawyers & Rising Stars

Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder Co., LPA, today announced that nine of its Ohio-based attorneys have been selected to the 2018 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists. In the firm’s Cleveland office, Todd Raskin, John McLandrich, Frank Scialdone, and Jeff Kay were named to the Super Lawyers list, while Tami Hannon and Kyle Melling were included in the ranks of Rising Stars. In the Columbus office, Doug Holthus earned Super Lawyers honors and Stacy Pollock and Cara Wright were both named Rising Stars. Each year, no more than five percent of lawyers in the state are named to the Super Lawyers list, and no more 2.5 percent are selected to the Rising Stars list.

Todd M. Raskin is a founding partner of Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder, Co., LPA, and is based in the firm’s Cleveland office. He has a diverse legal practice with an emphasis on civil rights and government liability defense, as well as the defense of employers, both public and private. He has tried more than 100 cases to conclusion in 35 years of private practice in many courts throughout Ohio and the Midwest and is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, and the Litigation Counsel of America. Todd earned his Super Lawyer rating for his work in State, Local & Municipal Law.

 

John T. McLandrich is a partner and Chairman of the Board. John’s practice focuses on the representation of municipalities, including defending cases on behalf of police and public entities accused of violations of civil rights and in employment matters. For over 29 years he has handled matters including claims of jail suicide, police pursuit, false arrest, excessive force by police officers, and failure to properly train police officers. He has represented civil defendants in federal and state courts throughout Ohio, serving as lead trial counsel. He has represented clients in class action matters, including municipalities relating to class action sewer cases. His appellate experience consists of handling and arguing matters before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, where he has argued over 100 cases, as well as hundreds of cases before many of Ohio’s Courts of Appeal, including the Ohio Supreme Court, where he has won eight favorable decisions. John earned his Super Lawyer rating for his work in Civil Rights Law.

 

Doug Holthus is listed as a Super Lawyer for his work in Civil Litigation: Defense. His primary areas of focus are professional negligence defense, civil rights and government liability, corporate law, employment, and general liability matters. He has tried, advocated and or arbitrated nearly one hundred cases before civil juries, administrative licensing (and other) boards and arbitration panels throughout Ohio (and California), in both state and federal court. Among other professional and civic activities, Doug is immediate past-Chair of the Columbus Bar Association’s Professionalism Committee (by appointment) and is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Professional Liability Defense Federation.

 

 

Frank H. Scialdone is a partner in the firm’s Cleveland office and focuses his practice on appellate advocacy in state and federal courts with an emphasis on employment law, constitutional torts (Section 1983), public entity defense, and insurance defense. He has handled more than 200 appellate cases in the Ohio Supreme Court, Ohio’s intermediate appellate district courts, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. He routinely consults with trial attorneys on error preservation and pre-appeal strategy. Frank has prosecuted and defended original actions (e.g., mandamus, prohibition, etc.) and has submitted amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs on behalf of clients and organizations. Frank is also one of the first attorneys to be certified as a specialist in appellate law by the Ohio State Bar Association. He is listed as Super Lawyer in the categories of Appellate Law.

 

Jeffrey T. Kay is a partner in the firm’s Cleveland office and focuses his practice on civil rights and governmental liability, business and commercial law, and appellate law, with a concentration on civil litigation defense. Jeff represents insurance companies/risk pools and their insureds with respect to both first and third-party claims, including employment discrimination, professional liability, municipal liability, automobile negligence claims, general commercial matters, bad faith claims, uninsured claims, products liability, wrongful death claims, commercial premises liability claims, and property and casualty claims. He also has significant experience counseling clients in insurance coverage matters, including the securing of declaratory judgments on policy interpretations. Often in conjunction with an insurance company’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Jeff handles the investigation and coverage analysis of suspicious/fraudulent insurance claims, including complex fire and homeowners loss claims.  Jeff has considerable trial experience defending and litigating every aspect of first and third-party fraudulent claims in mediations, arbitrations, and trials in state and federal courts. He is listed as Super Lawyer in the category of Civil Litigation: Defense.

 

Tami Z. Hannon is a partner in the firm’s Cleveland office and is a listed Rising Star in State, Local & Municipal Law. She focuses her practice on defending governmental entities, their employees and elected and appointed officials, particularly those in law enforcement and corrections. Tami also practices extensively in the field of employment law, providing personalized and comprehensive guidance to address not only the direct employment issue at hand but also the larger civil liability context. In addition to providing guidance during the critical decision making process, Ms. Hannon assists in later defending decisions should they be challenged before the courts or an administrative agency. She also provides timely and personalized training in various employment matters, and has experience under the ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, Title VII, and their state-law counterparts.

 

Stacy V. Pollock, a Partner in the firm’s Columbus office, focuses her practice on employment and labor law and has been a certified Professional in Human Resources since 2013. Stacy earned Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment Law from the Ohio State Bar Association in 2017. She advises public and private employers in matters involving leave and discipline issues, personnel policy matters, and labor negotiations and arbitrations. She has experience representing clients before various governmental administrative agencies including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the State Personnel Board of Review, the State Employment Relations Board, and the Ohio Department of Education. Additionally, Stacy has considerable experience in education law, representing schools and school administrators in matters involving employee and student discipline. Stacy is listed as a Rising Star for her work in Employment & Labor Law.

 

Cara M. Wright, a Columbus associate, represents counties, municipalities, and their employees in a variety of cases, including claims related to alleged violations of the United States Constitution, violations of Ohio’s public record laws, and state law tort claims. She has successfully defended clients in cases involving the use of deadly force, jail suicides, and claims that inmates were provided inadequate medical care while incarcerated in county jails. Cara also represents public and private employers in cases alleging employment discrimination. Additionally, her experience includes representing professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, behavioral health specialists, accountants and attorneys, in claims of professional negligence. In addition to her representation of clients in state and federal court, she has also appeared in cases before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Cara earned the designation of Rising Star for State, Local & Municipal Law.

 

Kyle B. Melling is an associate in the firm’s Cleveland office.  He represents counties, municipalities, and their employees in civil rights and government liability matters, in addition to employment discrimination. Kyle served on the Federal Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section, and is also Vice President of Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital Foundation Associate Board. He earned the designation of Rising Star for Civil Rights Law.

 

 

 

 

Super Lawyers and Rising Stars have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. For more information about Super Lawyers, visit SuperLawyers.com.