News:
Jon A. Woodall, Partner, has been named Chairman of the 2012 High Street YMCA Board of Directors and will serve a 2 year term.
The High Street YMCA is proud to have been an integral part of downtown Lexington since 1957. The High Street Y serves a diverse population and continues to be a great place for friends to meet members and find a home away from home.
Robert T. Watson, Partner of our Louisville office, has been elected to the board of the North East Louisville Business Association. The mission of NELBA is to provide an organization and forum by which businesses and the community work together to grow and create a prosperous, safe and harmonious environment.
Established in 1993, NELBA now includes 200 members and has become a leading voice in the North East Louisville business community. Anyone who serves potential customers or clients in the corridors of US 42, KY 22 and Westport Road from St. Matthews to the Oldham County line area are eligible to join the organization. NELBA's territory is the fastest growing and highest per capita area in Metro Louisville.
McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC is proud to announce that Cynthia L. Effinger has joined the firm's Louisville office. Ms. Effinger has been admitted to the firm as an associate and joins us from the Louisville office of Seiller Waterman, LLC (f/k/a Seiller & Handmaker) and is a recognized attorney throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
She is an accomplished litigation attorney in the areas of employment and commercial litigation. Also has experience with First Amendment litigation, securities litigation and complex litigation. Ms. Effinger has tried approximately two dozen cases, and has been responsible for the preparation of expert and lay witnesses, drafting and responding to pretrial motions, arguing jury instructions and motions for directed verdict as well as post-trial motions. She has prepared and argued briefs and motions before the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals as well as the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.
Ms. Effinger received her J.D. from the University of Louisville in 1998 and graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.A in History in 1994. She is admitted to practice in Kentucky state courts, the U.S. Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Kentucky, and the Sixth Circuit United States Courts of Appeals.
McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC would like to announce that Emily Hord has joined our firm as an associate. Ms. Hord joins our Lexington office and will be practicing in our healthcare department. Ms. Hord is in the process of receiving her masters in healthcare administration. She joins us from the law offices of Overly and Johnson in Paris, Kentucky.
McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC is proud to announce that the following have joined our firm and will begin practicing January 1, 2012; Cecil F. Dunn, Of Counsel; Jason S. Morgan, Associate; Julie Cummins, Paralegal.
Cecil F. Dunn
For over 46 years, Mr. Dunn has served as attorney for non-profit corporations and for profit developers throughout Kentucky that have been funded for Section 202, 221 (d) (3), 221 (d) (4) and Section 811 Housing & Urban Development grants and United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development loans to build housing for low and moderate income individuals and families. Involvement has included preparation of Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and resolutions and advice relative to various legal corporate matters such as conflict of interest questions, IRS tax exemption, contracts, regulatory matters, tax-credit closings, real estate matters and general legal advice. The sole purpose of these corporations and developers is to provide affordable housing for low and moderate-income, elderly, and disabled individuals; therefore, a strong housing expertise has been developed over the years by these associations.
While serving as General and Special Counsel of the Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC), Mr. Dunn was the primary legal advisor to the corporation and its staff and as such provided a broad spectrum of legal services. Not only did he research and provide opinions on legal questions which arose before the Board of Directors and its Chairman and various administrative departments within KHC which involved day-to-day operations, but also provided services with respect to many special legal matters and low and moderate income multi-family housing.
Mr. Dunn graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1965 where he received his L.L.B. He is a member of the Kentucky and Fayette County Bar Associations and Kentucky Board of Tax Appeals, Member, Special Legal Counsel to the Kentucky Housing Corporation and Executive Director of The Hope Center. He is actively involved in various organizations and community activities, including Former Sayre School Trustee, Board Member and past Vice Chairman; Former Bluegrass Regional Mental Health/Mental Retardation Board, Inc., Board Member and past Chairman; Lexington Center Corporation (Rupp Arena), Board Member and Treasurer, past Chairman, past Vice Chairman and past Secretary, present Chairman for over 25 years; Downtown Lexington Committee, past Board Member and past Chairman and Executive Committee and a member and past Chairman of Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, Advisory Council and Recovery Kentucky Task Force, Member.
Mr. Dunn can be reached at cdunn@mmlk.com & cdunn@dfmlaw.com.
Julie Thomas Cummins
Julie Thomas Cummins has worked with Mr. Dunn as a paralegal for over 15 years. A 1998 graduate of Midway College with a Bachelor of Arts in Paralegal Studies, she began her career in 1995 as an intern for the Lexington firm Dunn, Franklin and Murphy. She continued to enjoy her association with each of her original employers after the firm disbanded, providing paralegal services through her company Thomas & Cummins, Inc. In recent years, she has primarily assisted Mr. Dunn in his practice including residential, commercial and multi-family housing loan closings involving and is experienced in title searches, as well as corporate law and general practice.
Ms. Cummins can be reached at jtcummins@mmlk.com & jtcummins@dfmlaw.com.
Jason S. Morgan
Mr. Morgan has worked in the legal field and insurance industry for over a decade. He gained insurance claims and litigation experience working with a Gulf Coast catastrophe insurance service provider handling property damage claims associated with Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Frances, Charlie and Jean. He also handled Department of Insurance compliance issues involving complex claim handling and complaint resolution.
Mr. Morgan has extensive experience with real estate development, residential and commercial construction, and small business management. He actively represents small business owners in a variety of real estate and business management matters. Additionally, he represents clients in the area of domestic relations criminal matters.
He graduated from Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky in 2004. He received his B.S. from the University of Kentucky in business administration and MBA in 2000. Mr. Morgan is admitted to practice in Ohio and Kentucky state courts; U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio; U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky; U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. Mr. Morgan is a member of the Ohio, Kentucky, Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati Bar Associations and Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys.
Mr. Morgan volunteers for several Kentucky/Ohio organizations including Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, the Northern Kentucky Bar Association, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Mr. Morgan can be reached at jmorgan@mmlk.com.
We are excited that Mr. Dunn, Mr. Morgan & Ms. Cummins have joined our team and look forward to working with them!
James H. Frazier, Managing Member, has been elected to the Commerce Lexington Inc. Board of Directors for three-year terms beginning in 2012.
Commerce Lexington Inc. was formed in January 2004 with the merger of the Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce, Lexington United, and the Lexington Partnership for Workforce Development. Commerce Lexington Inc. seeks to promote economic development, job creation, and overall business growth in Lexington and its neighboring communities, while strengthening its existing businesses through the many programs and services that the organization offers. It was created to provide more continuity and enhanced focus in the areas of business, economic development, and workforce development.
For additional information about Commerce Lexington please click here.
McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland, PLLC would like to announce that Best Lawyers has named James H. Frazier, Managing Partner, as the "Lexington Best Lawyers Real Estate Law Lawyer of the Year" for 2012.
After more than a quarter of a century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating "Lawyers of the Year" in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the "Lawyer of the Year."
Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 18th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2012) is based on more than 3.9 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.
The lawyers being honored as "Lawyers of the Year" have received particularly high ratings in the Best Lawyers' surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.
James H. Frazier, Managing Member, in the field of Real Estate Law, Lisa Hinkle, Partner, in the field of Health Care Law, T. Bruce Simpson, Jr., Associate, in the field of Personal Injury Litigation, and Doug Logsdon Associate, in the field of Bankruptcy Litigation have been included in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America ® .
Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence and has earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public, as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals anywhere. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 41,000 leading attorneys cast almost 3.9 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers "the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice."
It is important to note that the lawyers listed in Best Lawyers have no say in deciding which practice areas they are included in. They are voted into practice areas entirely as a result of the votes they receive from their peers. The subspecialties listed after their names are based on information from a variety of sources.
