A LETTER FROM THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR
Susan B. Zaunbrecher | Cincinnati, OH
Value creation. On paper or on a website, they’re just two meaningless words.
As Chair of the Corporate Department, I want our group to give them life. It is our mission to give real meaning to value creation by working with our clients to chart their path to success.
Value creation is getting to know our clients and truly understanding not only their needs but their goals and implementing strategies tailored specifically to them. It’s seeing the holistic picture – what do they need from us today? Tomorrow? In a month? What about in five years?
Ours is a partnership with our clients. We work collaboratively to find the best, most innovative, cost-effective solutions to their legal issues. Our firm’s extensive, continued growth enables us to provide better value to our clients by gaining talented attorneys in more practice areas in more regions, which enhances our ability to provide services to our clients. From the largest publically-held corporations to the smallest family-owned businesses, we listen and anticipate clients’ needs, then mobilize to meet them.
Through our firm’s growth, we have also gained strength in specific areas of corporate law and industries. In 2015, we grew our capabilities in many areas, among them the energy industry, financial institutions and regulatory matters, and cyber security. As we begin 2016, we are adding a Corporate Growth and Exit Planning group to the Corporate Department, which we’ll introduce to you more formally later this year.
Our already well-established Banking & Financial team grew even stronger with the addition of more former regulators and more industry insiders. We know how difficult it is to navigate the complex laws and regulations, so we’ve built a team of attorneys who have held senior positions at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions and the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions, in addition to attorneys with significant experience as in-house counsel at financial institutions.
We’ve also added new talent with experience in the energy area. While the depressed pricing for oil and gas has brought challenges to our energy clients, we continue to assist with title work, risk management and contracts. As we continue into 2016, we expect the industry challenges to continue, so we also anticipate that we will be assisting with increased business restructuring matters. We have expanded the team by adding attorneys in Charleston and Washington and expanded our focus to adjust to our clients’ evolving needs.
The hacking of companies’ data is daily headline news and can cause irreparable harm to the most reputable business. In response, we have mobilized a multi-disciplinary cyber security team and staffed it with corporate, intellectual property and litigation attorneys with specific knowledge to help in times of need, and, most importantly, to protect your business’ information so the need does not arise.
One further element of our partnership is helping when it’s time to start a business, grow it or let it go through the process of mergers and acquisitions. Included in 2015 were significant deals in the areas of manufacturing, energy, technology, financial institutions and healthcare industries. We had a busy year and look to continue this trend in 2016.
With the Fed’s first interest rate hike in almost a decade, there will be much focus on the economy to see how this impacts business in this country and globally. We are here to advise you. When you succeed, we succeed.
The most important information I can provide is this: Dinsmore is a team of attorneys – full-service throughout the U.S. No matter what your need, part of the value created for you and your business is a team consisting of familiar faces invested in your success both as your attorneys and as your partners. Value creation – those two words can help you accomplish your goals more effectively, efficiently and decisively in 2016.