Cincinnati, OH – In response to the significant pressures that the 2008 market disruption and the resulting uncertainties in the global economy have created, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP announced today that it has formed its Business Recovery Solutions Team to assist clients in navigating the complex and evolving financial and regulatory environment. (Visit www.taftlaw.com/solutionsteam). The team is composed of an integrated group of senior attorneys from across the firm’s Business and Finance, Tax, Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights and Litigation departments, including attorneys from its White Collar Criminal Litigation and Real Estate practice areas.

“This is a multi-faceted, complex financial crisis, so we created an integrated team of attorneys who can provide responsive, comprehensive legal advice in the broad range of areas that the market disruption has affected,” said Robert J. Hicks, who, together with Jeffrey S. Schloemer, were tapped to lead the team. Hicks and Schloemer are both partners in Taft’s Business & Finance Department and Hicks is Partner-in-Charge of Taft’s Indianapolis office.  “Our focus when building the team was to use Taft’s broad range of experiences and core competencies to select and organize the right small group of attorneys to be on the front line in assisting our clients,” said Schloemer. 

The goals of the Business Recovery Solutions Team are to:
 

• Keep abreast of legislative, regulatory and market developments relating to the 2008 market disruption and its outgrowths and to help clients understand how these changes will affect them. The firm has created a new Web branch that summarizes key features of recent legislation and provides a centralized location for federal, state and local agency information as well as relevant news articles at www.taftlaw.com/solutionsteam.
• Work together as a team to develop innovative and effective solutions and strategies to help Taft’s clients anticipate and proactively manage the challenges that lie ahead, including raising capital, restructuring credit facilities, pursuing strategic transactions and relationships, responding to governmental investigations, and all other similar matters affecting clients.
• Evaluate and respond to legislative and regulatory proposals designed to address the 2008 market disruption and to help Taft’s clients craft cost-effective best practices for complying with new regulations.

Members of Taft’s Business Recovery Solutions Team were selected based on their legal expertise in dealing with troubled businesses and crisis management, strategic investments, joint ventures, restructurings and workouts, mergers and acquisitions, navigating government regulations and responding to regulatory reforms in such fields as banking, securities, tax and employee benefits, complex commercial litigation (including class actions regarding securities fraud and fiduciary duties), white collar criminal matters (including defense of claims as well as internal, grand jury and governmental investigations), corporate governance, public and corporate finance and executive compensation.

Taft’s Business Recovery Solutions Team members are:

“Taft has a track record of more than 123 years of helping our clients manage their businesses through every type of economic climate,” said Thomas Terp, Taft’s Managing Partner. “With this new team, we’re better prepared to help them weather this economic storm and come out on the other side stronger for it.”