FI&C is happy to congratulate new associates Erin Stefanec, Chad Burton, Lynn Preston, Jacqueline Brown, Erin Bair and Holt Hedrick on passing The Ohio Bar Examination and being sworn in as members of the Bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio on November 8, 2004.

FI&C is, once again, a sponsor of the Dayton Business Journal's Business of The Year Awards Program, recognizing the many outstanding businesses and institutions in the Dayton area. The December 1 dinner and awards program recognizes winners in nine distinct categories, including: Service Business of the Year; Manufacturing Business of the Year; Rookie Business of the Year; Public Organization of the Year; Minority Business of the Year; Community Supporter of the Year; Not-for-Profit Organization of the Year; Executive of the Year; and overall Business of the Year. FI&C's Jeff Cox will be presenting the award this year to the winner of the Rookie Business of the Year. Jeff will be joined by Jeff Ireland, Jeff Sharkey, Julie Zink, Brian Wright, Karl Neudorfer, John Fischer and Andy Reitz in representing the firm at the Awards Ceremony Gala being held this year at downtown Dayton's new performing arts center, the Schuster Center Wintergarden.

The November 19, 2004 Dayton Business Journal article: "Legal Challenge -- Dayton firms find law students prefer bigger cities," featured Jeff Cox, FI&C's partner in charge of recruiting, addressing FI&C's efforts to attract top-flight new attorneys to Dayton. FI&C continues to recruit at several major law schools including Notre Dame, Michigan, Washington University, and Indiana, among others.

Charlie Faruki, Jeff Cox and Andy Reitz are faculty members for The Dayton Bar Association's December 15, 2004 Annual "CLE Round-Up." Charlie is presenting his yearly update on Federal Court Practice and Procedure, while Jeff and Andy are presenting an update on practical legal ethics in Ohio.

Ian Taronji, Holt Hedrick, Chad Burton, Andy Reitz, and Brian Wright are among several FI&C associates who are members of the recently-formed Dayton Young Professionals Association. A networking, social service and community building initiative, the grass-roots group is working to enhance the opportunities for Dayton's ever-growing cadre of young professionals to develop and support the Dayton business community. Andy Reitz is a member of DYPA's membership committee.

For the third year in a row, FI&C will be supporting the Chaminade-Julienne Catholic High School's Mock Trial Program. John Fischer, Erin Stefanec, and Chad Burton provide coaching assistance to the team. Chaminade-Julienne, a National School of Excellence located in downtown Dayton, is a perennial top contender in Ohio's mock trial program.

Jeff Sharkey is giving a December 2004 presentation to the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Dialogue Program dealing with "How a Business can Reduce the Risks and Costs of Litigation." It focuses on common legal issues confronting small businesses, and ways to avoid litigation.

FI&C has received acceptances from all three of its 2004 summer clerks who were extended offers to join the firm as new associates upon graduation in August, 2005. Rebecca Owen (Ohio State), Rob Gurry (University of Dayton), and Adam Sadlowski (Case Western Reserve University) are finishing their third years of law school next summer after successful summer clerkships at FI&C earlier this year. Offers have also been extended to two other associate candidates and five summer clerk candidates, and the firm will report on those offers in next month's newsletter.

FI&C associates were busy in November continuing the firm's support of the University of Dayton School of Law's appellate advocacy development initiatives. Kara Czanik, Tonya Noldon, Angela Sinkovits, Erin Bair, Lynn Preston and Erin Stefanec were among those who judged UDSL's Intellectual Property Moot Court Competition. Several others, including Ian Taronji and Tony Alexander, joined Tonya Noldon, Erin Stefanec, Angela Sinkovits and Erin Bair as judges of the Walter H. Rice Moot Court Competition at the University of Dayton.