Charlie Faruki was invited to speak to the Ohio Management Lawyers' Association, at its May meeting in Columbus, on the subject of "Jury Selection and Dynamics Post-Enron."  This talk focused on the specifics of selecting a jury in employment and discrimination cases.

Jeff Sharkey and Melinda Burton represented a large publicly-held consumer products retailer in an American Arbitration Association proceeding in Cincinnati in June against a large, national commercial property management company relating to a dispute involving contract and property management issues at the Forest Fair Mall in suburban Cincinnati.  The six-day arbitration is scheduled to conclude in July.

Karl Neudorfer, Eli Kiefaber, Brian Wright, Tim Pepper, and Katie Wahl are several of the FI&C attorneys who have been busy recently providing pro bono trial representation in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court on behalf of indigent criminal defendants as part of the firm's ongoing commitment to the Dayton Bar Association's Volunteer Lawyers' Project and the Legal Aid Society's Access to Justice Campaign.

The summer months of 2004 find work well underway on the Montgomery County Historical Society's renovation of Dayton's "Old Courthouse" on Courthouse Square adjacent to FI&C's offices.  Located in the heart of Downtown Dayton, the Old Courthouse opened in 1849 and is considered one of the oldest and finest Greek Revival-style buildings in America.  FI&C committed $35,000 as a major donor to the $2 Million capital fund drive in support of the renovations, and Charlie Faruki and Jeff Cox served on the capital campaign leadership committee.  A working courthouse for Montgomery County until the early 1960s, upon completion of the renovations, the Old Courthouse will be used for a variety of special and ceremonial events.