Taft Stettinius & Hollister proudly announces the election of nine new partners:

• Philip R. Bautista – Litigation Practice, Cleveland Office
• Stacia A. Buechler – Business & Finance Practice, Indianapolis Office
• Ryan C. Edwards – Litigation Practice, Cincinnati Office
• Tamara A. Miano – Real Estate Practice, Cincinnati Office
• Rodney L. Michael – Litigation and Environmental Practices, Indianapolis Office
• Timothy G. Pepper – Litigation Practice, Dayton Office
• Trent J. Sandifur – Litigation Practice, Indianapolis Office
• Julia E. Tarvin – Private Client Practice, Cincinnati Office
• Ryan L. Willis – Intellectual Property Practice, Cincinnati Office

Philip R. Bautista has extensive experience in matters involving intellectual property and litigation. Bautista advises clients on the management of their trademark portfolios and on the protection and licensing of their brands, prosecutes and monitors the prosecution of trademark applications nationally and internationally, and has litigated numerous cases involving the Lanham Act, Ohio Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and analog statutes in federal and state courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Bautista also has litigated numerous cases throughout the United States involving patents, copyrights, and trade secrets before federal and state courts and arbitrators. Due to his background in science, Bautista has also gained extensive experience in litigation involving product liability, engineering, and construction matters in federal and state courts and before arbitrators.

In addition to his intellectual property focus, Bautista also has extensive experience in matters involving insurance. Bautista has litigated on behalf of both insureds and insurers in matters involving general liability, commercial auto, directors and officers, employment practices, errors and omissions, and specialty lines insurance. He also has extensive experience with coverage disputes.

Finally, Bautista has extensive experience in litigating general commercial matters as well, including disputes involving financial institutions, disputes between shareholders, employer-employee matters, landlord-tenant matters, accounting matters, and business breach of contract and tort cases.

Since 2005, Bautista has been named to the Ohio Rising Stars list, selected through a rigorous nomination and selection process that honors only the top 2.5% of attorneys in Ohio. He received his law degree from The Ohio State University College of Law and his undergraduate degree from Duke University.

Stacia A. Buechler practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate finance and general corporate transactions. She has served on the board of directors of several networking and community organizations in Indiana and Illinois and has spearheaded several projects for inner city students, including a college preparatory and scholarship program for the McCormick Boys and Girls Club in Chicago, Illinois. Buechler is also a guest lecturer for the communication studies department of Butler University, where she teaches students about professional and interpersonal communications. Buechler is a graduate of the 2010 Lacy Leadership L.E.A.D. Program and a member of Giving Sum.

Buechler received her law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law and her undergraduate degree from Butler University.

Ryan C. Edwards devotes a substantial portion of his litigation practice to personal injury, product liability, and wrongful death actions. He has experience in state and federal courts throughout Ohio and Kentucky and in all aspects of the litigation process, including bench and jury trials, arbitrations, and mediations. Edwards represents retailers and manufacturers in product liability claims, both individuals and retailers in slip and falls and construction site accidents, and both individuals and business entities in automobile, trucking and pedestrian accidents, many of which include death and permanent and catastrophic injuries.

Edwards was recently selected to participate in the 2012 Class of Leadership Northern Kentucky. One of only 50 members, he was selected on the basis of demonstrated leadership ability, as well as evidence of community interest and commitments. Edwards was also recently included as a "Top Local Plaintiff Litigation Star" in the first annual edition of Benchmark Plaintiff, the definitive guide to America’s leading plaintiff’s firms and attorneys. Edwards received his law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law and his undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky.

Tamara A. Miano focuses her practice primarily on commercial real estate law, representing corporate, institutional, contractor, developer and lender clients in a variety of transactions, including sales and acquisitions, leasing, construction contracting, zoning, financing and development.

Miano has been a member of the Kenton County Board of Education since 2001 and formerly served as vice president of the board. For her work in real estate, she was honored in 2009 and 2010 as an Ohio Rising Star, selected through a rigorous nomination and selection process that honors only the top 2.5% of attorneys in Ohio. Miano received her law degree from Salmon P. Chase College of Law – Northern Kentucky University and her undergraduate degree from Cornell University.

Rodney L. Michael focuses his practice primarily on complex environmental and toxic tort matters. He represents clients in federal and state courts, and has extensive litigation experience in dozens of states from coast to coast.

Michael has prevailed in several notable environmental cases, including a class action case against a nationwide convenience store chain. His environmental practice is broad ranging and includes representing families in cases involving contaminated drinking water, as well as representing businesses involved in cleanup actions ordered by regulatory authorities.

Prior to law school, Michael worked as a research scientist at the Indiana University School of Medicine. His research resulted in two peer reviewed publications in the areas of cancer and molecular biology.

Michael received his law degree from the Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis and his undergraduate degree from Indiana University Purdue University – Indianapolis.

Timothy G. Pepper is a proven advocate in all phases of civil litigation, from initial case investigation through jury verdict. He represents clients in federal and state courts, in administrative adjudications, in the defense of government investigations, and in arbitration proceedings.

The majority of Pepper’s experience involves the defense of employment practices claims, civil rights claims, and related torts; the prosecution and defense of business competition claims, including trade secret and restrictive covenant claims involving injunctive relief; and counseling clients on ways to achieve their objectives without litigation.

Pepper currently is a member of the board of trustees of the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton, and was a participant in Leadership Dayton’s Class of 2010. In addition, he is the immediate past chair of the board of trustees of the Dayton Society of Natural History, Inc. Pepper received his law degree from The Ohio State University College of Law and his undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University.

Trent J. Sandifur is a member of the firm’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and International Anti-Corruption practice area, and focuses his practice on FCPA and international anti-corruption compliance, investigations, and defense. He provides a broad array of services related to the FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act, and other international anti-corruption laws on a global basis. Sandifur, a former federal prosecutor who has tried more than thirty cases to verdict, has conducted numerous cross-border internal investigations, and has extensive experience in the development and implementation of international anti-corruption compliance programs.

In addition to his anti-corruption practice, Sandifur practices in the areas of white collar criminal defense, corporate internal investigations, government contractor compliance, and complex commercial litigation. He has significant experience in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) compliance.

Sandifur, an Operation Enduring Freedom veteran, served four years on active duty in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, and currently is the Senior Defense Counsel for the Indiana Army National Guard. From 2003–2006, he served on special assignment from the U.S. Army JAG Corps to the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky.

In 2008, Benchmark Litigation named Sandifur a Future Star in Indiana litigation. Law & Politics magazine named him an Indiana Rising Star in litigation in 2008 and white collar criminal defense in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Sandifur received his law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School, his master’s degree from the University of Chicago, and his undergraduate degree from Harvard University.

Julia E. Tarvin focuses her practice on estate planning and probate and trust administration, advising clients on lifetime gifts and transfers at death and resulting tax issues. Prior to attending law school, she worked with adults with chronic mental illness in Hamilton County, Ohio, and continues to help meet the needs of those with special needs through estate planning for families with children with disabilities.

Tarvin currently serves on the Cincinnati Bar Association’s Advanced Estate Planning Seminar Steering Committee, and she is a member of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section of the Florida Bar. Tarvin received her law degree from Salmon P. Chase College of Law – Northern Kentucky University and her undergraduate degree from Northern Kentucky University.

Ryan L. Willis is a registered patent attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and has extensive experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications, including thermoelectrics, chemical coatings, medical/surgical prosthetics and equipment, and chemical separation technology. He regularly conducts patentability studies, authors legal opinions regarding infringement and non-infringement, and prepares and negotiates intellectual property licenses, including software licenses. Willis gained experience as a patent examiner, particularly in the area of semiconductors, at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D. C. prior to joining the firm.

Willis received his law degree from the University of Dayton School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana.