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2017 - A YEAR OF CHANGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LETTER FROM
OUR CHAIR
OUR CLIENTS
OUR PEOPLE
3 4 14
COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIPS
GRAYDON
COMPLIANCE
SOLUTIONS
OUR SPACE
GRAYDON
.LAW
38 42 46 48
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OUR VISION
Greater Cincinnati’s most innovative,
vibrant, and inclusive law firm, recognized
by our clients as an indispensable
partner, providing exceptional service
and expertise.
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A LETTER FROM OUR CHAIR
As we turn the corner on yet another year in the Firm’s 145+ year history serving Greater
Cincinnati, we have much to be thankful for. You, specifically!
You, our valued Clients, who give us purpose, dare us with your challenges, and honor us with
your trust. We strive to forever be your indispensable partner in the good times and the bad
times. Thank you for allowing us that privilege.
You, our talented and dedicated People, who enable us to care for our Clients in the manner they
expect and deserve, who care about your fellow colleagues, your community and the Clients you
serve.
You, our Community Partners, who number so high we’re not sure we can account for all of you. From churches to schools,
arts to the professional organizations, from foundations to the myriad of social service partners serving our communities,
you rejuvenate us continuously with the inspiration that only giving back can do.
And thanks to You, our many Friends, who connect us, educate us, and help to keep us grounded in all that is going on around
us. We value your friendship.
We’ve enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with you over the last year, to listen to your voices, and also to welcome you in
to our spaces at Graydon on Main, West Chester, Northern Kentucky, and Lawrenceburg and in our vibrant new space at the
Scripps Center. Our aim is to be as generous with you as possible with these varied spaces, because we know the more we
give the more we receive. Come see us.
With You, we are enjoying a period of great change – in our industry, our community and our Firm. Thank you for joining
us on this exciting journey.
Sincerely,
Thomas A. Prewitt
Chair, Graydon’s Executive Committee
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OUR CLIENTS
Our clients are the very reason we
exist, and the lifeblood of all that we do.
At Graydon, we aren’t just legal service
providers; we’re our clients’ constant
counsel. Our relationships run deep,
often spanning multiple generations,
because we are always there – sharing
our knowledge, anticipating
what lies ahead,
navigating change,
and forging a way to
the best outcomes.
Terry Horan, President & CEO of HORAN
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Some 44 years ago, Terry Horan signed on with the insurance
agency his father, Jack, established a quarter century earlier and
so became employee No. 2.
In 1981, when the business incorporated as Horan Associates and
ventured into the world of employee benefits for small business
owners, Jack appointed himself treasurer. He told his son to pick
a title, not that he put all that much stock in titles anyway. Terry
settled on president and CEO. Why not?
“And off we went,” he says.
The company grew in surges. Most recently, from
about 2012 to the fall of 2017, staff payroll at HORAN
increased by more than a third. Terry’s daughter,
Brooke, one of his seven children, became Employee

No. 100 in 2013. As of this writing, that
number had increased to 140. The
company has corporate headquarters
in Cincinnati, with regional offices in
Dayton, Columbus and Ft. Mitchell,
serving some 250,000 clients in more
than 40 states.
“HORAN offers solutions to three big
challenges Americans will face for the
next several decades,” Terry says.
“First, we provide access to high quality
affordable health care through the
bridge of insurance. And we provide
planning and investment guidance to
build wealth for your retirement and
ultimately for the next generation.
Additionally, we design insurance
products and services to mitigate the
risk of living too long, dying too soon, or
becoming disabled.”
HORAN delivers Health, Wealth, and Life services to
individuals, families and employers designed around
essential client needs, including Employee Benefits
Consulting, Life and Disability Income Insurance, Wealth
Management, Individual Health & Medicare Financial and
Estate Planning & Retirement Plan Consulting.
“We have some headwinds,” Terry says. “Government
safety nets are fraying, the cost of medical care keeps
increasing and we’re living longer. HORAN exists to help
clients prepare for retirement and guide corporate and
individual clients through the maze of health benefits and
financial planning.”
From yesterday and into tomorrow, Terry says HORAN’s
partnership with Graydon has been key to steering his firm
through an array of challenges and opportunities.
“Our evolution as an organization has required lots of
different structures to get to where we are today. We have
two corporations, an LLC, two RIAs and a broker dealer, for
starters. Graydon has been with us all the way with regard to
design and implementation.”
Graydon also has been instrumental in helping HORAN
make the most of trademark laws and branding
opportunities for such initiatives as HORAN Health
Management®, HORAN Capital Advisors, HORANalytics®,
and more.
Finally, HORAN has benefited from Graydon’s deep rolodex
of contacts in every conceivable aspect of life in Greater
Cincinnati and beyond.
Cheryl Campbell, HORAN’s vice president of marketing,
points out that Graydon is a valued partner in other respects,
too.
“They are responsive and proactive,” she says.
“Graydon’s senior members sit down with us regularly to
talk about what’s going on in our business and industries to
ensure they’re forward thinking in terms of supporting our
business strategy and growth.
“They do so much more than simply providing legal insights
and advice. They have been a terrific center of influence for
us as well as a wonderful referral source.”
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Ken Pendery has always tied the growth of the
First Watch group to the ability of his people
to make its restaurants succeed, as opposed to
the more usual approach of growing as this or
that bit of real estate becomes available.
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“We build behind our people growth,” he says.
“The company grew as our people inside
became able. A manager would become an
area supervisor and so on. We were intent on
growing the business, no doubt about that. But
that wasn’t the prime motivator. It was much
more a case of trusting new restaurants to
people who had developed from the inside.”
That same people-centric thinking played
a major role in the kind of workplace First
Watch would be.
“For our employees, we wanted it to be tenhour
days and five days a week,” Ken says.
“There would be no bars, no late night hours.
Management wouldn’t have to work two shifts.
General Manager Jabbar Salaah & server Karleae at the downtown 7th Street First Watch
We’d been in the restaurant business before and knew the long hours
that could be involved -- we’d seen a lot of 18-hour days. So quality of
life was a big part of it.
“We’ve always been able to attract good employees. I think it helped
that we realized he or she might have a family or a soccer team to coach
or homework to do. It was important for our employees to be able to
live somewhat normal lives.”
From strictly a marketing perspective, the First Watch concept was
built on freshness.
“If you think about breakfast in the ‘80s, when we opened our first
restaurant, you had Perkin’s, Denny’s, Bob Evans, and any number of
mom-and-pop diner-type places. For us, the idea was to be different –
and by different, I don’t mean better. We didn’t have a snooty attitude.

“For us, it was about freshness. So we added fresh fruit,
which you couldn’t find in the ‘80s. We had English muffins
instead of toasted white bread, that sort of thing.”
The First Watch recipe has proven successful, far beyond
what Ken envisioned in the early days. The first restaurant
was opened in 1983 in Pacific Grove, California. Two
more opened in Sarasota and Naples, Florida. The first in
Cincinnati was planted in Kenwood in the early ‘90s.
The group comprised 320 stores in late 2017, with plans in
the works for franchisees to open another 100. Additionally,
the group has committed to build more than 25 corporate
restaurants in 2018.
The group has restaurants in 26 states. “I like the fact that
we’re geographically diversified. It’s a marker of success, “
says Ken, who is the group’s CEO.
When First Watch Founder John Sullivan retired in 1998,
the group had 26 restaurants. During its first couple of
decades, the company grew to 50 restaurants. In 2004, a
private equity company from Connecticut approached Ken.
Since then, in 13 years, more than 250 new restaurants have
opened.
“Our mission is expressed in two words: ‘You first.’ That’s
how we treat our employees. In return, we ask them to put
each other first and to put the customer first. It’s a Golden
Rule kind of deal.
“It’s not a flashy story. To me, it’s a matter of us serving
pancakes, serving eggs. What more do you need to know?”
Ken has been a Graydon client since 1983, the same year
the Pacific Grove First Watch opened. His uncle was a
client before that, and his father is a client. The company
headquarters is in Florida, and Ken acknowledges that using
an Ohio-based law firm isn’t always the most convenient
arrangement.
“But Graydon has great people. And great people attract
other great people. After as many years as I’ve been with
them, there is a level of known communication. It goes back
to the word trust. You know the caliber of the work you’ll
get, which is terrific.”
Sometimes, Ken says, he’ll call for good counsel, not just
legal advice, just to bounce thoughts off one of the partners.
“It’s not the flashiest firm, and that’s part of what makes us
a good fit. We’re not flashy either. Wouldn’t want to be.”
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Tim Elsbrock, President of Fifth Third Bank, Greater Cincinnati
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Many of those who turn to Graydon
for counsel say the connection they
make runs deeper than the typical
client-lawyer relationship. One such
person, Tim Elsbrock, describes it as
something more along the lines of
family.
Tim is president of Fifth Third Bank, Greater Cincinnati. He has been with the
bank since 1986 and remembers when the Firm went by Graydon, Head & Ritchey.
He can cite the chairs of Graydon’s executive committee over the years, starting
with Nelson Schwab when Tim joined the bank, followed by Joe Head, Rob Kreidler,
Tom Brennan, John Kropp, Mike Hirschfeld, Mike Debbeler and, today, Tom Prewitt.
Tim was the bank’s relationship manager, or liaison, to the business side of
Graydon’s operation in the early days, along with about 75 Graydon clients.
“I’ve felt a part of the Firm’s family,
both when I was getting advice and
giving it as a business partner, from
early on. Whenever they’d have a
birthday party, the joke was that I’d
show up for the cake. So I feel like I
know the Firm at a deeper level than
just a vender or a business partner.
My relationships with many of them
transcends business altogether.”
The two institutions have been around
long enough to help shape Cincinnati.
Fifth Third traces its origins to 1858,
and Graydon was established in 1871,
some four years after the formal

opening of the Suspension Bridge. Both have endured what could
generously be termed as rough patches. Both have had to innovate
to survive. And both are experiencing upheavals in their respective
industries again today, due largely to the digital age.
“We’re all hurtling down this path of disruption – it’s not the first
age of disruption, but it’s the one we have now,” Tim says.
“The digital age is no longer in its adolescence. The millennial
generation is already 39 percent of the work force. In not too many
years, it’ll be 60 percent. It’s driving us and everyone else toward
being more relevant, doing things differently.
“What’s on my mind as a banker – and I don’t think banks in general
have been good about this – is that we have to invest in relationships,
and continually be better. We have to base our future on building
relationships.”
Fifth Third Bank’s headquarters on Fountain Square in the heart of downtown
He sees Graydon as an old hand at building
relationships. He thinks of the Firm’s Main Street
office in Over-the-Rhine, with the monthly Graydon
on Tap mixers, opening the space to business
partners, social partners and civic partners, weaving
those disparate groups and interests together and
just generally providing a place for ideas to happen.
On another front, Tim has invited new hires to
check out Kent Wellington’s Saturday Hoops, an
outreach the Graydon litigator and Cincinnati Youth
Collaborative Board chairman launched to rally
inner-city kids around basketball and otherwise
positive influences.
“It started out as Kent and two or three others, but it
has turned into a following of people who are engaged
for all the right reasons. It’s also become a hip thing
to be part of, not just an altruistic thing. I send new
hires to things like that, things that are aligned with
our mission at the bank because I know it’s really
pure.
“To a person, they come back and say, wow, what a
great experience it was.”
To that extent, Tim says, it may be that the lasting
value Graydon provides and what it does best of all is
connect people.
“My vision is to continue those deep relationships
that rise above the digital age … I want to make sure
there’s still a face behind everything we do. I want us to
be known as the hometown guys you know and trust.
“Graydon is that. They’re connectors.”
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sense a potential conflict and head it off at the
pass.
“He was smart. His preferred approach was to
compromise rather than take a vote. I think it
tells you a lot when an attorney says, ‘Hey, we’re
above the black and white stuff. We’re working
at a higher, more human level.’ We like that
approach.”
Ted’s predecessor as president and CEO is his
84-year-old father, Tom, who still comes into the
The family business had reached a point where Loretta Sedler knew
it could use legal representation. Her husband, Frank, had died two
years earlier, and it was important to her to find an attorney she could
trust. Which is how she and her two sons, Tom and Frank, came to call
on Nelson Schwab, then a junior partner at what was then known as
Graydon, Head & Ritchey.
An oil painting of Loretta Sedler hanging in the company’s westside
headquarters
That would have been sometime around 1946. Today, Home City Ice is
the largest family-owned ice company in America. It does business in
16 states and operates 40-plus ice-making facilities with a combined
capacity of more than 6,500 tons per day. The company has been
under Sedler family ownership for 93 years – including some 70 years
as a Graydon client.
“Nelson went on to have bigger clients – I think he kept us because we
were a sentimental favorite and because we were his first corporate
client,” says Ted Sedler, Loretta’s grandson and Home City’s president
and CEO.
“Nelson always did a very good job of making sure all the family
members – and there have always been a good number of cousins
– never had to vote on anything. He worked it out so we came to a
consensus before we actually had to take a vote. He had an ability to
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office. Ted says his dad doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to
do, but he definitely knows what’s going on. For both of them,
Ted says, the business has been their job and their hobby.
“By that, I mean there is no hobby,” he adds. “I might have
‘Monday Night Football’ on in the background – but I’m
focused either on family, which comes first, or something
with the business.”
Ted still likes to get out with a truck to deliver ice four or five
times a year. All the managers are required to hit the road in
a Home City Ice truck one day a week for four weeks every
September. It’s a blast, he says. That tells you something
about the company’s culture.
Ted believes his grandmother chose wisely when she hired
Nelson Schwab and Home City Ice became a Graydon client.
“We don’t call Graydon every five minutes,” he says.
“But when we’ve needed them, they’ve been there. As we’ve
grown -- and we’re always growing, adding more and more
properties -- the issues increase geometrically. Graydon’s
toolbox is pretty much what we need.”
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e something where he’d have some
semblance of control.
He met Julia Petiprin, who was doing
interior designing for bars and
restaurants and told her about this cool
neighborhood in Cincinnati. He says
he spun a long and impassioned story.
Her excitement prompted him to put in
a call to 3CDC, which works with people
looking to establish great spaces in the
city, including OTR. Julie would design
and become the general manager of
Sundry and Vice.
Stuart King, Owner of Sundry & Vice
“I wrote a business plan in eight hours,
dangling out this idea for an apothecaryslash-old-time-pharmacy-inspired
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The idea for the tasty, high-end watering hole known
as Sundry and Vice on West 13th Street occurred
to Stuart King in the fall of 2010. He’d come home
to Cincinnati from his gig with the Dodgers to have
Thanksgiving dinner with his mother.
“We happened to be having dinner in Over-the-Rhine,” he says.
“I fell in love with the neighborhood. I could see the path of progress unfolding.
I could see what was about to happen. Couldn’t sleep that night. All I was
thinking about was this neighborhood. The next morning, I had a rough outline
for this place.”
Some ideas jump off the napkin. Others need time to percolate. Stuart’s idea
sat in his pocket for three years. At the end of 2013, he left his front-office
job with the Dodgers not knowing what he’d do next, just knowing it would

space with an incredibly dynamic cocktail program. Early in 2014, I
flew to Cincinnati with my team – the designer lady and a guy from
L.A. who had 20 years of experience in the bar industry. We settled
on a 3CDC property at 18 West 13th that had sat vacant for a very
long time.”
Another eight months went into translating the design and assorted
other ideas in Stuart’s head into reality. Cost of rehabbing the
1,100-square-foot storefront came to $420,000. The grand opening
was in November 2014.
“It was a sensation from jump street,” Stuart says.
“You couldn’t get in Fridays and Saturdays for the first several
months – we were four and five deep at the bar. Along the way, we’ve
gotten some very positive notice in such national publications as
The New York Times, USA Today and the New York Daily news.
What we’re trying to be now is a world-class neighborhood bar. So,
Interior,Sundry & Vice
yeah, I’m feeling great about how it’s gone and where
it’s going.”
Stuart has dibs on two other locations and is
considering them for what he says are totally different
concepts -- but both in keeping with the tone and feel
of Sundry and Vice.
“We want to do intriguing concepts in historic
structures that will push the envelope of Cincinnati’s
night life scene. Based on the reaction we’ve gotten at
this place, Cincinnati absolutely is fertile ground for
these kinds of investments.”
Stuart has been a Graydon client for nearly three
years. He says he doesn’t see that changing.
“I had another attorney early on who was frustrating
to work with, so I asked my broker to recommend
someone. I was put in a meeting with Dan Reitz and
three of his colleagues at Graydon, and we clicked
immediately. Their hospitality and attentiveness was
the best I’ve ever seen. I enjoyed them as much on a
personal level as a professional level.”
He says this about Graydon’s style of getting things
done:
“They don’t bring a rough-and-tumble act to
negotiations. Everything is done from a place of
thoughtfulness, a place of kindness and a place of
understanding what the other side is trying to achieve.
“That puts us in a position of being able to work
together and move forward, rather than bogging
down.”
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OUR PEOPLE
“We are only as good as our people.”
The truth expressed in this oftenused
adage strikes to the heart of
what really sets our people apart:
the value we place on relationships.
Authentic, empathic, curious, and
generous of heart, our attorneys
and staff are deeply committed to
our client and community
needs.
Celebrating 45 YEARS
with
JAN SCHARF
Jan has done everything. Hired in 1972 as
the Firm’s sole Word Processor, she typed
legal briefs on an IBM MT/ST. (Think
typewriter with accompanying mini-fridge
that plays eight-track tapes.) When the
firm bought word processors for each
assistant, Jan naturally became IT. And
then HR, and billing, and facilities, and IT
again, and, finally, missing hands-on legal
work, an Administrative Assistant. When
asked what kept her at the Firm, Jan says it
was the fact that she was given the opportunity to do so many
different things, so she had no reason to go anywhere else. As a
result, Jan’s fingerprints are all over Graydon and we are better
because they are.
JOHN KROPP
John is so enmeshed in the firm that it is hard to imagine it without him. While his
primary practice area is corporate law, John has worked with Graydon clients on
anything from adoptions to equine contracts. Fiercely loyal and caring, he has the
unique ability to inspire complete trust. John’s co-workers describe him as a servant
leader. When John’s in charge, he rolls up his sleeves and gets in the trenches with
everyone else and refuses to leave the office until the rest of the team goes home,
even if that is two a.m. John is also hilarious. His quick wit and good sense of humor
have been the source of many a side stitch over the years. Not one to take himself too
seriously, John isn’t above buying his blue jeans at Goodwill.
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MILESTONES
Mike Hirschfeld
40 Years
Debbie Durham
35 Years
Christine Buttress
30 Years
Jack Greiner
30 Years
Joy Murphy
25 Years
Judy Stancel
25 Years
Ilya Dolzhansky
20 Years
Karen Renz
20 Years
Judy Galligan
15 Years
Peter Slater
15 Years
Michael Surrey
15 Years
Lisa Diedrichs
10 Years
Kris Noe
10 Years
Julie Sanders
10 Years
J. Stephen Smith
10 Years
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CELEBRATING A CAREER
Everett L. Greene
Ev Greene was having
mixed emotions. He’d
made a deal with his
wife and daughter that,
on reaching age 70,
he’d retire and become
a grandpa. It would mean
that, sometime after Dec. 13,
2017, he’d be obliged to end his law
practice and move to Maryland.
Summer was winding down, and a deal was a deal. On one
hand, Ev felt a deep and abiding sense of accomplishment.
After a 30-year career as a Navy SEAL -- in itself a
remarkable achievement, particularly for an African-
American in the late 1960s, no less for someone who had
failed the swimming test at the U.S. Naval Academy three
times – he was accepted at Howard University School of
Law and went on to have a fulfilling second career with
Cincinnati’s oldest general practice law firm.
“As I think back on law school, I’ve always considered it a
young person’s sport. I was the oldest student, definitely.
My then-adult children were older than any of my
classmates, and I was older than all my professors, except
for two or three World War II veterans who were my
parents’ age and who probably should have been retired.”
But he had advantages. For one, he knew why he was there.
Some of his classmates might not have had the same
commitment, he says. He looked at law school as if it were
his job. He showed up at 8 a.m., even when he didn’t have
classes. If he wasn’t in class, he was in the library until 5
p.m.
His reason for being there, for
choosing to become a lawyer, requires
some peeling of the onion. Toward
the end of his career with the Navy, he
was a captain, rank O6, a senior officer,
equivalent to an army colonel. One of
his jobs was to head up the Navy’s Equal
Opportunity Office in Washington,
D.C. A large part of the role focused on
reviewing and adjudicating complaints
of discrimination relating to race,
gender, sexual harassment, whatever.
He didn’t like what he saw. “I was
disappointed in the way some of the
JAGs -- judge advocate generals -- were
biased in favor of the chain of command.
Early on, I had expected a fair process.
But I was in a position where I could see
what went on behind admirals’ closed
16

doors and how, systematically, certain people weren’t held
accountable.”
So he decided to go to law school, he says, to learn how to
beat lawyers at their own game.
•••
Ev grew up in Cincinnati. His father worked on the line at
the old General Motors assembly plant in Norwood. His
mother’s job was to keep things going at home. As a senior
at Walnut Hills High School, Class of ’66, Ev was captain of
the cross country and track teams and voted most likely to
succeed.
The contrast between the world he knew growing up and
the culture at the Naval Academy could hardly have been
more graphic. Ev found himself in what he describes as an
openly hostile racial environment.
“It has improved significantly – but in 1966, there were very
few African-American graduates. Going into the academy, I
didn’t expect to be treated fairly. And I wasn’t. My first night
there, I prayed for strength to endure what was coming and
the strength to not quit.”
Twelve of the midshipmen in Ev’s class of 1,300 were
African-Americans. Six would graduate. In one incident his
first year, he recalls an upper classman referring during a
meal to a black belt he was wearing as his “(N-word) belt.”
Ev, after running the Hyde Park Blast last summer
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Ev, first row, seventh from the left, with his SEAL team graduating class
“There was silence. People waited to
see how I would react, but I didn’t. Most
midshipmen were not that way, but there
was tolerance for those who abused their
authority and who in some cases were
blatantly prejudiced.
“The academy is where I first encountered
that type of hostility. My years there
taught me how to endure and even thrive
in hostile surroundings.”
He had applied to the U.S. Naval Academy
with the idea of going into the nuclear
power program with submarines. The
plan changed, and he decided to apply
18
to become a SEAL because the physical
aspects of the role appealed to him.
Never mind that he’d be the first black
-commissioned officer ever to complete
SEAL training. Never mind that he had
failed the Navy swimming test three times.
“One of my classmates was on the swim
team, and he worked with me. So did one
of the team’s coaches. I spent months
learning to swim. The day of the actual
screening test, I won the mile run. But I did
it in five minutes instead of closer to 4:10
because I wanted to save my energy for
the swim. I was last to finish the swim, but
I finished in time.”

Ev keeps a photograph of his graduating class, the 59th Navy
SEAL class, dated February 1971. Except for him, the class was
a sea of white faces. Most of the grads are grinning, making
goofy faces. Ev stands out as much for his expression of
relentless determination as for the fact he’s the only black
man in the bunch.
During his three decades as a SEAL, Ev served in Central
America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Persian Gulf,
the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific -- much of the
latter in the Philippines, where he met the woman he
married, Violy. Their children, Josephine and twin sons,
Everett II and Federico, were born in the Philippines.
Publicly, Ev prefers talking in general terms about his SEAL
days. “There were times when I was on the tactical end
directing a small unit in the field, boots on the ground,” he
says. “Other times, my job was to make sure the guerilla got
to where he needed to be and whether the door opened in or
out or right or left.”
•••
Fast forward to his graduation from Howard, where he had
set out to learn to beat lawyers at their own game. Graydon
at one time would recruit from Howard. This is where Ev
gets into the down side of his mixed emotions.
“I hadn’t planned to return to Cincinnati. I was interested in
a general employment discrimination practice, and that was
something I could do anywhere in the country – almost all
law firms have employment law sections.
“Here, it turns out I’m working for the employers’ side of
the equation instead of the employee side. But if I can get
employers to implement discrimination laws fairly, I can
still accomplish the same thing – people being treated fairly.
“Over the years, you get calls from recruiters to entice you to
go somewhere else. I’ve never been tempted. The support
I’ve gotten from Graydon throughout my legal career means
a great deal to me, especially in contrast to the Navy. In the
Navy, I was set up to fail on a number of occasions. Here, I
always had people helping me succeed.”
Once in Maryland, Ev expects to do some substitute teaching.
He still runs almost year round, as does Violy. He plans to
return to Cincinnati every year to run a half marathon in
the Flying Pig and alternate between Cincinnati’s Queen
Bee Marathon and the Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Columbus Marathon. He’s a trustee at Walnut Hills High
and will be back in town a couple more times a year to attend
board meetings.
Here’s what he liked about Graydon from the get-go:
“I was given responsibility right away. As a junior attorney,
a new lawyer, you’re given a project and expected to do
the research and come up with a brief that’s on point
without necessarily being micro-managed. I would say the
confidence senior attorneys had in you was evident early on
when you could see your work product almost verbatim in a
brief they signed and filed with the court.”
And here’s what he’ll miss most:
“In some circumstances during my career as a lawyer, I’ve
been aware of being the only minority present in a room or
a gathering. I have not experienced anything like that here
at Graydon. Not once.”
19

CELEBRATING A CAREER
M. Judith Galligan
When Judy returned to Graydon in 2002, she says, “It was
like coming home.”
Judy had worked as an Administrative Assistant at Graydon
for several years in the mid-1970’s, before leaving to stay
at home after her first son was born. When Judy returned
to work, she initially took a job that required weekly travel.
“That got old quickly,” she says. So she went to work for
an appellate service, preparing federal appeals for the 6 th
Circuit Court.
Eight years later, after a twenty-six year hiatus, Judy returned
to Graydon in 2002 as a Paralegal in the Estate Planning
group. “I am so glad that I made the move,” she says.
What are you most looking forward to
about retirement?
Not having to get up on Monday mornings! Seriously though,
I don’t have any great agenda planned. I will do some
traveling with my husband and spend more time with our
granddaughters. Take some classes, exercise more, garden, do
the things I never seem to have time for now and, generally,
just enjoy life.
What will you miss most about working at
Graydon?
I will definitely miss my friends here at the firm, new and
old, many of whom I have known for over 40 years. I’ll also
miss the interaction I have with certain clients and the Court
personnel whom I have gotten to know over the years.
What is the craziest/oddest case that you
worked on while at Graydon?
I’ve worked on a lot of different estates, so it’s hard to say
what was oddest. One of the weirdest experiences that I ever
had was when Chris Buttress and I were itemizing some estate
jewelry and I opened a small locket and ashes fell all over my
hands and lap. Needless to say, I was washing my hands a
lot for the next few days! We found out later that the ashes
were those of a beloved family pet - at least that’s what they
told us.
20
We are glad she did too.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Cincinnati Enquirer
Top Workplaces 2017
Lisa Diedrichs
Venue & Lead Magazines
Next Generation of Leaders sponsored by
The Greater Cincinnati YMCA
Kara Czanik
West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance
A. Christian Worrell III NEXT Emerging
Leader Award
Crayons to Computers
Corporate Partnership Award
2017 - 20 years of service
Lee Geiger
West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance
Leadership 21 Alumni “Liberty” Award
Amanda Penick
Venue & Lead Magazines
Great Leader Under 40
West Chester & Liberty Lifestyle
Readers’ Choice 2017
Finalist – Best Law Firm
Dwight Packard
Venue & Lead Magazines
C-Suite Award
Jack Greiner
Ohio Society of Professional Journalists
Awards - 2017
2 nd Place – Best Overall Blog (independent)
Jack “Out of the Box”
American Marketing Association
Cincinnati Pinnacle Awards
Finalist – Best BRAND Launch or
Rebranding Effort
Mike Hirschfeld
Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Cincinnati Chapter
2017 National Philanthropy Day Honoree
21

NEW HIRES
The past year has brought with it an
abundance of new talent at all levels
of the Firm. Intellectual firepower is a
given, but the real magic comes in the
strong cultural fit our new hires possess.
We look for well-rounded employees
with the belief that if you are good
outside the walls, you’ll be even better
inside.
Megan K. Roach
Megan Roach’s story is very much about family.
As the first of eight, Megan says she learned the values of
responsibility, dependability and leadership. She spent her
early years in a modest home in Charleston, South Carolina,
where her father attended medical school. Money was tight.
The family’s first home, half of a two-family, didn’t have
central heat.
“When you’re the oldest of that many, you take care of
everybody else. You make sure everyone is accounted
for. You become efficient, responsible. Being part of a big
family helps you learn to go with the flow and get along with
different kinds of personalities.”
22
She describes herself as a child who loved learning. Around
the third or fourth grade, Megan thought she’d like to be
president of the United States. She thought she’d do a better
job than others who have held the office.
The family moved to Cincinnati, where Megan’s father
completed his residency in family medicine at the University
of Cincinnati Medical Center. She took any job she could
from an early age. She was babysitting by the time she was
nine years old, then later worked at McAlpin’s, Riverbend
Music Center and as a camp counselor at the Anderson
YMCA. During her high school summers, she regularly

HIRE DATE - SEPTEMBER 11, 2017
Megan knows just about everyone at Guardian Angels, which makes kids’ sporting events a true social event.
worked 60 hours a week. Again, money was tight.
She met Joe, her husband, when they were both working
summer jobs at the Y. Today, he’s principal at Locust Corner
Elementary School. Megan says they make it a priority to
instill the virtues of hard work and solid values in their four
children.
“I want my children to be good, decent people; people who
care about others and want to make the world a better place.
I don’t want them to be focused only on themselves.”
After her third child was born, Megan put her career on
hold and focused on raising her family. She spent countless
hours volunteering at school. Once her youngest was in
school, she was ready to return to the practice of law.
“I love to be busy, to be intellectually engaged. Staying home
with my kids taught me a lot about patience and perspective.
And that makes me a better attorney.”
23

HIRE DATE - OCTOBER 3, 2016
Branson says there was a time when he spent afternoons watching football. These days he is more likely to be trying to wear out his
daughter Harper, who has a crazy amount of energy and loves to be active. It is a sacrifice that he is willing to make.
Branson Dunlop flows with his curiosity. An off-handed
thought on a random subject will pique his interest and off
he goes. Launching into a Google search, he’ll emerge hours
later, sometime around 2 a.m., look up from his heap of details
and realize he’d better get some sleep.
Branson will tell you he’s interested in everything. He says
it’s how he came to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. Best he
can recall, it started with a movie, which led to research into
the real story and another story and so on until it became an
itch that could only be scratched by experiencing it himself.
Fast-forward to 2004. He was a freshman at Miami University.
After years of quiet deliberation, he decided to call a recruiter
and signed the enlistment papers that same day. No one in
his family had been in the military, so his decision was met
with surprise and concern from those closest to him. He took
their concern into consideration, but his mind was made up
— he had to have the experience, had to find out firsthand
what it was like to be in the military. To get the full experience
he craved, he chose to join the Marines Corps’ infantry
component.
24

Branson D. Dunlop
During his eight years in the Marines,
Branson was deployed to various
corners of the world, including the
former Soviet Republic of Georgia
and a 10-month combat deployment
in Afghanistan. That’s about as much
as he cares to say about it, except that
he (a) formed several life-long bonds
with his fellow Marines and (b) found
what he was looking for. “It wasn’t
necessarily what I thought I was
looking for,” he says, “but I definitely
scratched that itch.”
Branson describes himself as intense
but not overly serious. He’s a planner,
big time. “Even when I’m on vacation, I have a full itinerary,
down to the minute. We’re never sitting around wondering
what to do. I’m fine with not sticking to it, being flexible and
open to spontaneous adventures. But I have to have the plan.
People may not always appreciate my over-preparedness at
the outset. But the minute things go awry, they know who to
come to.”
Branson met his wife, Tasha, at Miami University. She grew up
in San Diego but spent most of her adolescence traveling to
and from Kentucky to train and compete at an international
level showing American Saddlebred horses. On visits with
Tasha’s family in California, Branson often wonders how she
could have ever left San Diego for the landlocked city she
now calls home. Whatever the reason, he’s happy she did.
These days, Branson spends as much time as possible with
Tasha and their toddler daughter, Harper. He tries to find a
new activity for his family every week, often scouring the
Internet to find interesting events in the local area. “We’re
so fortunate to live in a community that puts such a clear
emphasis on childhood development. The number and
variety of events and activities for children of all ages is
second to none.”
Growing up, the practice of law held the same fascination for
Branson as the military and, for that matter, the history of the
United States.
“I’ve done so much reading on the birth of the nation and the
Founding Fathers. The law has always been at the forefront
of change and progress, starting with the Constitution. It was
the lawyers who made it happen. That’s what I want to do
with my life — make things happen.”
25

HIRE DATE - OCTOBER 10, 2016
Laura K. Napolitano
Faith, family, and field hockey are the three factors that have
had the greatest impact on Laura Napolitano.
In some ways, Laura is a product of her West Side upbringing.
She never turns down a chance to spend time with her family.
She was raised in a Catholic home on Cleves Warsaw Pike,
near St. Teresa of Avila Church, not far from Price Hill Chili.
Her father was one of seven kids, her mother one of four; he
is an Elder alum, she graduated from Seton next door.
In other ways, Laura is not so typical. Her parents encouraged
their three daughters to step outside their comfort zones. By
West Side standards, Laura “went away” to high school, to
St. Ursula Academy in faraway East Walnut Hills. She also
left home to attend college at The Ohio State University and
again when she was accepted into law school at Villanova
University.
She is about as far removed from an entitlement mindset as
one can be. “The world doesn’t reward you for just showing
26
up,” she says.
“My parents never put limits on
what my sisters and I could achieve.
If I brought home a report card with
a B, Dad would say that’s not good
enough. ‘We are not a B family.’
My parents went above and beyond
to provide my sisters and me with
every opportunity to succeed. In return, they set high
expectations.”
Athletics were a pastime that bonded the family. All three
Napolitano girls excelled. Laura was a member of the
Buckeye varsity field hockey team and a captain her senior
season. Her older sister, Angela, played varsity soccer at
the University of Florida. Younger sister, Maria, was on the
women’s varsity basketball team at Quinnipiac University
in Connecticut.

Laura is low-key but don’t let her fool you, she plays to win and refuses to give up. Her first year as head coach she led the Saint Ursula
Bulldogs to the state playoffs and was named “Coach of the Year” by the Southwest Ohio Field Hockey League.
“I think a key lesson from my sports experience came
during my sophomore year in college,” she says.
“During the 2010 season, Ohio State was one of the best
teams in the country. We won the Big Ten Conference
and advanced to the National Semifinals of the NCAA
Tournament. I didn’t get much playing time, but I learned
what people can achieve when you combine leadership,
hard work and a common goal.”
Laura’s favorite movie is “My Cousin Vinny,” a staple in
many budding lawyers’ film collection. Growing up, she
was often told she should become an attorney because
she often found herself persuading family and friends to
her viewpoint. As the middle child, she frequently played
mediator.
Laura is excited about being a member of the Graydon
team. “In the words of Woody Hayes, ‘You win with people.’
I believe Graydon embodies this concept. It’s incredibly
exciting to be a part of a firm that puts such a premium on
finding great professionals.”
27

HIRE DATE - NOVEMBER 29, 2016
If you ever wonder where Trish gets her big personality, just ask to meet her mom, Chris. It’s like hanging out with a blond Trish, which is
to say it is a total blast.
Once she settles in at the Firm, the next thing on Trish Hill’s
to-do list is to schedule a gorilla-trekking trip to the Virunga
Mountains in Rwanda. “If my 65-year-old mother can do it, I
can do it,” she says. And that’s that.
The Virunga Mountains are a long haul from Centerville,
the Dayton suburb where Trish grew up. Before she was
a kindergartner, she could read “Little House on the
Prairie.” She says she had the kind of parents who challenged
her; they weren’t big on participation trophies. Trish will
28
also tell you her parents taught her the value of being well
rounded.
Her father, Allen, was an engineer/businessman who began
his career as a co-op student at Dayton Power & Light and, by
the time he retired, was running the utility company. Trish’s
mother, Chris, was an English major and, as of this writing,
had completed her 35th trip to Kenya, where she supports
a Marianist elementary school called Our Lady of Nazareth.

Patricia L. Hill
Trish was 30 years old when her
mother took her on one such
trip. “My whole perspective
changed – I mean in terms of
really understanding what’s
important. You’re with these
children and these people who
have absolutely nothing and they’re
smiling and holding your hand
and so eager to be talking to you
– it humbles you. Their happiness
is so not dependent on physical
possessions.”
It was on that trip that her mother
introduced her to what Trish has
come to call her other half, a born-and-raised Kenyan
fellow named Elly, who owns a photography-based safari
business. She’s been spending her free time designing the
interiors of large, swooping safari tents of the sort they had
in “Out of Africa.”
Trish couldn’t have imagined such a scenario when she
graduated from the University of Dayton and set out on a
career as a civil engineer. She quickly realized she was far
more suited to working with people than with bridges
and culverts. An environmental law professor at UD helped
put her on the path to becoming an attorney.
She is predisposed to laughter and comes across as being
more interested in other people than in herself. She sees her
other half a few times a year – he’s on one safari or another
for four months at a time, then two months in this country
meeting with prospective clients, then back to Africa. For
twelve years they have been taking turns touring each
other’s homelands.
In her relations with clients, she works to do what the best
litigators should do:
“I work hard to educate them to be able to understand
why we’re making the decision we’re making, taking the
approach we’re taking, and what alternatives aren’t the best
… It’s about what’s in the best interests of the client – and
that’s about reaching a resolution with the best possible
outcome.”
29

HIRE DATE - MARCH 27, 2017
Patrick D. Hayes
For almost as long as he can remember, Patrick Hayes has
been drawn to the river. He grew up in a home in Anderson
Township with a panoramic view of the Ohio River. When
his mother sold the house, after his father died, he often
would retreat to a park down the street from their new place,
where he could watch the sunlight glint on the river from
another perspective.
“There was a park nearby, at the end of Golden Avenue,
where I’d go when I was feeling frustrated or missing Dad
and hang out. Sometimes, I’d read or write. Sometimes,
I’d just sit and think. And the river was always there. The
constancy of its eternal nature felt reassuring during what
was a traumatic time in my life. It reminded me of happy
memories with Dad.”
“I’m the youngest of five and was the only one left at home
at the time. It was just Mom and me in that big house.
Emotionally, I had to grow up pretty fast so I could be there for
her. Years after his death, I never lost that ability to connect
with others emotionally, and it’s something I’ve been lucky
to carry with me throughout my
life.”
Patrick used the experience of his
father’s passing as a conduit to
make a difference in the lives of
others. Whether it’s been serving
as a mentor for young adults at the
American Youth Foundation or race
director for the Superhero Run For
Kids benefitting ProKids, Patrick is
serious about wanting to leave the world a better place.
Patrick believes that one’s attitude and effort are choices
we make each day. People often tell him his enthusiasm
is contagious. He maintains active friendships from high
school at St. X, college at John Carroll and Notre Dame, and
law school at UC. He played football through his sophomore
year at John Carroll and continues that active lifestyle today.
He works out daily, whether he’s cycling, swimming, running
or lifting. Patrick never backs down from a challenge – he
30

An active cyclist, Patrick likes to bike just before sunrise or sunset, ideally to a place with a great view so when he arrives he can relax and
enjoy the show.
once ran a marathon to win the heart of the girl he would
marry. He says he is an intense competitor.
He and his wife, Sara, who was born in Paraguay, welcomed
the arrival of their first child, Aislinn Cora, in November.
Sara is a kindergarten teacher for the Sycamore school
district.
Patrick’s uncle, Tom Hayes, helped steer him to a career in
law. Its flexibility and versatile nature provided Patrick the
opportunity to continue his service of others, now into his
professional life.
“People often think of attorneys as the ‘No police.’ The
truth is, I’m here to help you enhance the services you’re
providing your clients. I began my career as a litigator.
Now, as a counselor, I get to play the role of strategic partner,
helping my clients build their businesses, their lives, and
their dreams.”
31

HIRE DATE - MARCH 6, 2017
Kellie A. Kulka
Kellie Kulka likes to be on the move, always has. Back in
her T-ball days, when the other team was up to bat, she was
unable to just stand there in the outfield. She was constantly
twirling or doing somersaults. She had to dance.
She took up dancing around age 4 and kept dancing, off
and on, through her undergrad years at the University of
Cincinnati. She has experience with pretty much any kind
of dance you can think of – jazz, tap, partner, kick, swing,
ballet. She danced pom as an arena cheerleader and, for a
brief time in college, taught ballroom dance at one of the
Arthur Murray studios.
“Dance is challenging. That was the appeal. It’s not
competitive in the sense that you’re competing with other
people. It’s competitive in the sense that you have to work at
it until you get it right.”
Kellie grew up near Toledo, on a suburban tract that bumped
up against the Michigan-Ohio border. Where it turned into
32
Michigan, it was all cornfields. She
used to walk around barefoot among
the corn stalks looking for snakes – or
rather, avoiding them.
“I was rambunctious – always
performing, always dancing, always
the loudest.”
One of her major influences was her Lebanese maternal
grandmother, her “Sittee,” a woman who had been widowed
with six children. Kellie remembers her getting up every
morning for mass and ministering to the sick and elderly
until she was well into her 80s and no longer able to drive.
Kellie’s Sittee used to tell her to put her all into everything
she did and to leave the rest to God. So she has.
Kellie says she was one of the few in her law school class at
UC to attend mass regularly. She met her fiancé – his name is
Chris Brzozowski – on the walk to late mass at St. Monica-St.

Kellie and her fiancé, Chris, enjoy cooking together and are big fans of Findlay Market. There is plenty of joking around but they still manage
to get everything they need.
George in Clifton. They enjoy cooking together and golfing.
She can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a
lawyer. “I was always making things up, presenting stories to
my family. Once when I was in fifth grade, I did a PowerPoint
for my parents as to why they should let me go with my
friend’s family on their vacation to Florida. They said OK.”
She says things don’t always come easily for her and that
she’s no stranger to hard work and long hours. She tends
to say ”yes” as much as possible because she doesn’t want
a single opportunity to get away. She describes herself as
patient, persistent, and persevering.
She is happy to have landed at Graydon. “This is a different
kind of law firm. It’s very team-oriented, very collaborative.
It makes it possible to take a holistic approach to legal
problems. Working alone, it’s easy to miss the finer points.
When you have a few people pulling together, things get
balanced out. The result – you do a better job of serving the
client.”
33

HIRE DATE - OCTOBER 10, 2016
Mark A. Noel
Mark Noel comes from the rural outskirts of Harrodsburg in
central Kentucky. He was a boy before high-speed internet
and spent his early years exploring in the outdoors. He looks
back on it as an innocent place in a much more innocent
time. In the summers, he’d often leave in the morning and
not get home until dinnertime.
His father was self-employed, and he taught Mark the value
of hard work. His mother was an English teacher at Mercer
County High School, and Mark was one of her students. She
had a rich collection of American and international classics.
He used to pull works from authors such as Emerson, Camus,
Thoreau, Dickens, de Tocqueville, and Twain down from the
shelves and spend hours poring through them.
He is drawn to national parks, especially the ones out
West. Just prior to coming on board with the Firm, he took
some time to hike in and around Glacier National Park in
Montana. He’s been to Yellowstone a few times, as well as
Arches National Park in Utah, Denali in Alaska, the Badlands
in South Dakota and the Grand Canyon -- the more scenic
and out of the way, the better. He gravitates to places
34
where the locals advise carrying
bear spray, although he has not yet
encountered any bears.
“The appeal is just seeing those
beautiful places that, for the most
part, have been unaltered by human
contact.You’re generally seeing
the landscape in the same way it
looked to the first humans who
encountered it. Those are unique
places. Everything is huge – huge sky, huge mountains, huge
rivers.”
One thing about Mark is that he can take a joke. He likes
to check out stand-up comedians and has been to dozens of
shows. He puts himself in harm’s way, seeking out seats in the
front row, which is the turf comics mine for heckling sitting
ducks. “I’ve done that a lot – I think it’s important to be able
to laugh at yourself. We must take our work very seriously,
but we shouldn’t always take ourselves so seriously.”

While it admittedly lacks some of the grandeur of Glacier or Yellowstone, Mark still enjoys hiking the hills of Kentucky.
He is also a big fan of and something of an authority on
University of Kentucky basketball, horse racing, and
bourbon, having grown up not far from many of the
distilleries. Mark tries to take in a few UK basketball games
each year, and he particularly enjoys road games where he
can experience unfamiliar cities. His tastes in music run
toward what is often described as Americana, exemplified
by the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, Ryan Bingham
and Hayes Carll. He appreciates talented songwriters. It’s
all about the lyrics, he says – that’s what matters to me.
Mark considers himself an open book. He’s willing to talk
about anything with most people, as long as he believes the
other person is genuine. “As an estate planner, I must ask
clients to be extremely open and honest regarding their
values, wishes, and concerns. I think it’s important that I’m
willing to do the same,” he says.
“I’d like to leave people with the impression that I’m a guy
who’s interesting and approachable, someone they’d like
to get to know better and someone who is interested in
learning more about them.”
35

HIRE DATE - JULY 10, 2017
A perfect example of the strength of Bob’s relationships, he has been a member of the same networking group for over 20 years.
Bob Brown likes to stay in touch. He corresponds via email
with his basketball coach from Perkins High in Sandusky.
He was saddened to learn a week or so prior to this writing
that his high school tennis coach had passed. He still reads
his hometown newspaper, The Sandusky Register, on-line.
He’s also in touch with guys he used to work on the park
services crew at Cedar Point, keeping the place looking good,
picking up trash, squeegeeing the midway after it rained.
“Dad’s rule was, you start a job the day school lets out and you
keep working until the day school starts. So that’s what I did
36
at Cedar Point, from my high school sophomore year to the
summer before my second year of law school. It was good
work, hard work. I remember the Budweiser Clydesdales
coming to parade up and down the midway. Those horses
were awesome. Some of us led the way for them, and the
rest of us followed behind with shovels.”
Bob grew up a Browns/Indians/Cavs fan. He captained
his high school basketball and tennis teams. He played
basketball in four leagues until a hip replacement at age
43. His late parents were long-time teachers for Sandusky

Robert F. Brown
public schools. He says he gets
his work ethic from his father. His
mother instilled a sense of empathy.
Their divorce is likely the most
difficult challenge he has faced.
“I was 14, my sister was 13. We
wanted to stay in the house where
we grew up, and we really didn’t
want to go to a new school. For us to
have that, Mom sacrificed. She had
a job opportunity in another part of
the state, so we stayed in Sandusky
with Dad. Both parents loved us
dearly, but it was toughest on Mom. I think I grew up a little
sooner than I might have otherwise.”
Bob met Toni on a blind date arranged by mutual friends.
She had a three-year-old daughter, Alex, who Bob happily
adopted when he married her mother. He and Toni also
have a daughter, Carly. Both girls are grown and both are
Miami grads, just like their dad.
These days, Bob plays tennis four times a week at Harper’s
Point. He likes working in the yard, gardening, then having
a beer. He loves OSU football. He’d like to travel more. He
enjoys people and describes himself as laid back.
The joy for him in his work as a business lawyer is in
watching his clients’ companies grow, being a part of that
growth. “The thing I like most is the feeling with my clients
that we’re in this together.”
Additional NEW HIRES
ANN BLASÉ - Paralegal
JOHN BECKER - Administrative Assistant
ANNETTE DENTON - Administrative Assistant
CARL DAVIS - Systems Administrator
ELLEN GOTT - Human Resources Assistant
DANIEL MEEK - System Support Analyst
LYSA WHITT - Staff Accountant
TRINA BILKASLEY - Administrative Assistant
KATIE PUCKETT - Paralegal
37

38
OUR COMMUNITY
Graydon is deeply committed to the
Greater Cincinnati area and are extremely
excited about the transformations that
are currently taking place in Greater
Cincinnati. Our region is becoming a hub
for entrepreneurship and innovation, as
well as an arts and culture destination. We
value the institutions and organizations
that form the foundation of our community
and seek to partner with those who are
imagining innovative solutions to our
current challenges.
ORGANIZATIONS WE SUPPORT
Academy of Medicine Foundation
Adopt A Book
AIGA Cincinnati
Alliance Cincinnati
Allied Construction Industries
Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Cincinnati
American Advertising Federation
American Arbitration Association
American Bankruptcy Institute
American Bankruptcy Law Forum
American Bar Association
American Cancer Society
American College of Equine Attorneys
American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
American Health Lawyers Association
American Horse Council
American Immigration Lawyers Association
American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries
American Youth Foundation National Leadership Conference
Anderson Hills United Methodist Church
Anderson Youth Softball League
Archbishop McNicholas Endowment Committee
Archbishop McNicholas High School
Area Progress Council of Warren County
Art Academy of Cincinnati
ArtsWave
Associated Builders & Contractors - Ohio Valley
Association for Corporate Growth
Association of Ohio Commodores
Beechwood Home
Bellarmine Chapel at Xavier University
Beverly Stevens Petrie Fund for Arts Eduation
Beyond Civility
Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati
BLOC Ministries
Boy Scouts of America
Brennan Equine Welfare Fund
Brighton Center
Brown Club of Cincinnati
Building Hope in the City of Cincinnati
Building Owners and Managers
Association (BOMA)
Business Network International (BNI)
Butler County Port Authority
Butler County United Way
Cancer Family Care
Catholic Charities of Northern Kentucky
Catholic Inner-City Schools Education
(CISE)
Center for Chemical Addictions
Treatment
Center for Resolution of Disputes
CFA Institute
Chief Diversity Officer Roundtable
Cincinnati Academy of Collaborative
Professionals
Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for
Lawyers (CALL)
Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors
Cincinnati Area Senior Services
Cincinnati Area Youth Basketball League (CAYBL)
Cincinnati Art Club
Cincinnati Art Museum
Cincinnati Bar Association
Cincinnati Bar Foundation
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital - Pet Therapy
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Brian Thomas talks to
Saturday Hoops about
perseverance.

Steve Goodin presides over
the grand opening of the
new wing of the Center for
Addiction Treatment.
Mortar, who holds
classes in our OTR
office, celebrated the
graduation of its 13th
Class of Entrepreneurs!
The Karen Wellington
Foundation gave 100+
vacations to women and
families LIVING with
cancer this year.
Cincinnati Christian University
Cincinnati Community ToolBank
Cincinnati Compass Partnership
Cincinnati Computer Cooperative
Cincinnati Estate Planning Council
Cincinnati Eye Bank
Cincinnati Golden Gloves
Cincinnati Gyro Club
Cincinnati Museum of Natural History &
Science
Cincinnati Nature Center
Cincinnati Observatory Center
Cincinnati Paralegal Association
Cincinnati Parks Foundation
Cincinnati Playhouse Leading Ladies
Cincinnati Scholarship Foundation
Cincinnati Sight Restoration Foundation
Inc.
Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber
Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber -
C-Change
Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber -
Leadership Cincinnati
Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber - WE
Lead
Cincinnati Youth Collaborative
Cincinnati Zoo
Cleveland Skidmore College Alumni
Association
Cleveland Zoo
Columbus Bar Association
Commercial Real Estate Women
(CREW) Network
Commonwealth Club
Community First Solutions
Contemporary Arts Center
Covington Business Council
Covington Latin School Alumni
Association
Crayons to Computers
Crosby Elementary PTA
Dayton Bar Association
De Cavel SIDS Foundation
Diverse by Design
Down Syndrome Association of Greater
Cincinnati
Downtown Cincinnati Inc.
Dreams Within Reach
Ducks Unlimited Inc.
Duke University Alumni Association
EDOCS Inc.
Elder Classic
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40
Equipment Leasing and Financing Association
Estate Planning Council of Northern Kentucky
European American Chamber of Commerce -
Greater Cincinnati
eWomenNetwork
Excel Development Co.
Executive Women’s Golf Association
Fairfield Chamber of Commerce
Family Nurturing Center
Federation of Lutheran Churches in Cincinnati
FINRA (formerly NASDAQ) licensed Arbitrator
First Step Home Inc.
Florida State Bar
Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Glee Club
Gideons
Girls on the Run of Greater Cincinnati Inc.
Greater Cincinnati Foundation
Greater Cincinnati Green Business Counsel
Greater Cincinnati Human Resources Association
(GCHRA)
Greater Cincinnati Minority Counsel Program
Greater Cincinnati Mutual Funds Association
Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council
Greater Cincinnati Scholarship Association Fund
Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council
Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce
Greenacres Foundation Guild
Habitat for Humanity
Hamilton County Common Pleas Court
Hamilton County Development Company
Hamilton County Public Defender Commission
Hamilton County Republican Party
Hospice of the Bluegrass
Indiana State Bar Association
International Bar Association
International Business Law Consortium
International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
International Municipal Lawyers Assocaition
International Women’s Insolvency and
Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)
Investment Advisor Association
Investment Company Institute
Jesuit Spiritual Center at Milford
Junior Achievement of OKI Partners
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Karen Wellington Foundation for LIVING with
Breast Cancer
Kentucky Bar Association
Kenyon College Alumni Association
Kicks for Kids
Leading Age
LeadingAge Ohio
Legal Marketing Association
Life Skills Center of Cincinnati Charter School
LifeSpan Inc.
Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati Inc.
Love a Golden Rescue
Mariemont Schools Foundation
Mason-Deerfield Chamber of Commerce
Media Law Resource Center
Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar
Milford Basketball Association
Moeller High School Alumni Association
Mortgage Bankers Association
Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary School
National Association of College and University
Attorneys
National Association of Industrial and Office
Properties (NAIOP)
National Diocesan Attorneys Association
Nativity School
Nature Conservancy
New Perceptions Inc.
Northern Kentucky Bar Association
Lisa Diedrichs
welcomes guests to the
Hat’s Off Luncheon
benefiting Cincinnati
Parks.
Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce -
Leadership Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky Tri-ED
Notre Dame Alumni Club of Greater Cincinnati
Notre Dame Sorin Society
Oak Hills Local School District School and
Community Council
Ohio Bar Association
Ohio Coalition for Open Government
Ohio Council of School Board Attorneys
Ohio Craft Brewers Association
Ohio Department of Commerce - Licensed Title
Agent
Ohio Helath Care Association
Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation
Ohio Military Veterans Legal Assistance Program
Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association
Ohio News Media Association
Ohio Newspaper Association
Ohio River Way
Ohio State Bar Association
Ohio State Bar Foundation
Oil Painters of America
Our Lady of Victory Athletic Association

Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce
Parkinson Support and Wellness Inc.
Partners in Medical Relief
Partners in Prime
Partnership for Innovation in Education
People Working Cooperatively
Playhouse in the Park
Potter Stewart American Inn of Court
Production Services Inc.
Professional Leadership Network
ProKids
ProSeniors
Public Media Connect - CET/Think TV
Queen City Optimists Club
Reach Out Lakota
REDI Cincinnati
Redwood
River City Correctional Center
Riverside Academy Charter School
Romanian Handicapped Ministries
Ronald McDonald House
Ross Township Fire Department
Rotary Club of Cincinnati
Rotary Foundation of Cincinnati
Safe Haven Farms Inc.
Saint Ursula Academy - Field Hockey
Salmon P. Chase Inn of Court
Santa Maria Community Services
Saturday Hoops
Seton High School
Sharonville Chamber of Commerce
Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference
Soccer Association for Youth USA (SAY)
Societe Immobiliere de la Rue Tournefort SA
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
St. Elizabeth Healthcare System
St. Elizabeth Hospital Foundation
St. Joseph Home
St. Joseph Orphanage
St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy
St. Vincent de Paul Society
St. Xavier Alumni Association
St. Xavier High School
St. Xavier High School – Water Polo
Stand for Southwest
Stepping Stones Center
Superhero Run for Kids
Supreme Court of Ohio’s Lawyer to Lawyer Program
Talbert House
The American Health Care Lawyers Association
The Carnegie
The Chamber of Commerce Serving Middletown,
Monroe & Trenton
The Children’s Hospital – Board Member
The Circuit
The Commonwealth Club
The Dragonfly Foundation
The First Tee of Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky
The Notre Dame Club of Cincinnati
The Ohio State University Alumni Association
The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton
County
The Smale Family Foundation
The Thomas J. Emery Memorial
Theta Chi Fraternity Alumni Association
Trinity Episcopal Church
Tri-State Association of Corporate Renewal (TACR)
Tri-State Business Connections Chapter of BNI Inc.
Tri-State League of Financial Institutions
Union International des Avocats
United Way of Butler County
University Hospital - Cancer Survivorship
Committee
University of Cincinnati - McMicken Donor
University of Cincinnati College of Law
University of Cincinnati College of Law - Institute for
the Global Practice of Law
University of Cincinnati College of Law Law Alumni
Association
University of Cincinnati Goering Center for Family &
Private Busines
University of Kentucky Law Alumni Association
University of Virginia Colgate Darden Graduate
School of Business Alumni Association
University of Virginia School of Law Alumni
Association
UpTech Inc.
Upward Sports
Urban Land Institute (ULI)
US Conference of Catholic Bishops
VITAS - Pet Therapy
Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor Foundation
Warren County Area Progress Council
Warren County Bar Association
Warren County Board of Developmental Disabilities
Warren County Port Authority
Warren County Small Business Development
Alliance
Wesley Community Services
West Chester Community Foundation
West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance
Westside Professional Women
Women Walking West Inc.
Women’s Committee Cincinnati Riverfront Parks
Xavier University
Xavier University Alumni Association
Xavier University Mentor Program
YWCA
12,108
HOURS SERVING THE
COMMUNITY IN THE PAST YEAR
Jen Hargis works
to rehab a vacant
lot for use as a
community garden
during Community
Toolbank’s, Banking
on the Community.
41

GRAYDON
COMPLIANCE
SOLUTIONS
Graydon is entrepreneurial in spirit, constantly
looking for ways to serve our clients and
those we touch. To this end, the Firm created
a separate LLC three years ago, Graydon
Compliance Solutions (GCS), to meet the
compliance needs of Registered Investment
Advisors (RIAs) across the country. From
consulting on specific projects, to acting as the
outsourced Chief Compliance Officer for RIAs,
GCS has grown to serve dozens of clients from
coast-to-coast.
Graydon Compliance Solutions provides comprehensive,
personalized compliance services though a team of experienced
compliance professionals that operate independently of Graydon’s
legal practice.
We build strong relationships with each client and tailor services to
their specific needs, serving as outsourced Chief Compliance Officer
for some and handling individual projects for others. Our unique flatfee
pricing structure encourages clients to lean on us whenever they
have questions or are looking for advice, regardless of
the level of service they choose.
42

THE TEAM
Matt Swendiman
Chief Executive Officer
Bryan Haft
Chief Operations Officer
Paul Darwish
Chief Business
Development Officer
Perry Owen
Chief Financial Officer
Patrick Hayes
Chief Compliance Officer
Ian Meiksins
Chief Compliance Officer
Lorissa Frazier
Senior Compliance Officer
Jeffrey Groene
Compliance Officer
Ashley Hatt
Compliance Officer
Morgan Grace Milburn
Compliance Officer
Sarah Morgan
Compliance Officer
Justin Fullom
Compliance Intern
43

September 2017, RedTree had more than $3 billion in
assets under management, up from $1B when they became
independent.
Jennifer grew up in Lima, OH. She had what she calls a very
modest upbringing. Her father worked the third shift her
entire life in a factory that makes plastic bottles for Tide and
Coke. Her mom was a secretary in the local hospital.
Matt Swendiman, one of Graydon’s of-counsel attorneys
and CEO of Graydon Compliance Solutions, had been after
Jennifer Trowbridge for years to go out on her own. You
can do this, he would say, thinking she would probably end
up hanging her own shingle eventually. Why put it off?
“My parents never had to push me. I’m always going to do
what I need to do to get that A. It’s a foreign concept to me
when people aren’t like that.”
She graduated from Xavier University with a bachelor’s
in Finance and, in the spring of her senior year, was hired
A significant leap of faith is required in
these endeavors, that and gumption.
It also helps if you aren’t completely
satisfied with where you are and believe
something better suited for you might
be out there. Those were Jennifer’s
circumstances in the spring of 2014
when she and her now-business partner,
Ryan Nelson, told the global investment
firm employing them they’d like to
buy out their public funds investment
management division, located in
Cincinnati.
Redtree founders, Jennifer Trowbridge & Ryan Nelson, in their newly designed office in Oakley
44
The company said OK. Jennifer and
Ryan call their enterprise RedTree
Investment Group, named after a
local coffee shop where much of the
new venture was mapped out. As of

“I thought, ‘Oooh, that’s what I want – the chance to build
something from nothing. So nearly ten years ago, we began
building a division focused on public funds investing. In
seven years, we took it from zero to over one billion in assets
-- billion with a ‘b,’ as in ‘bad ass.’ But we also learned a lot
of lessons about how to run an investment firm during that
time – something we are forever grateful for.”
Another of her closest friends, the similarly aforementioned
Matt Swendiman, had been coaxing her along for months.
into a commercial associate training program with Fifth
Third. She learned about fixed income trading, managing
portfolios and, generally, how to make money sing. Eight
years later, not long after she finished her MBA and CFA
designation, a recruiter called to ask if she’d be interested
in a job with a small investment firm. She was.
“I loved it because you can do so much in a small firm.
You can get your hands into all aspects of the company,
and I wanted to try everything. Plus, I needed a change of
culture. I felt I would thrive in an environment that was less
‘corporate’.”
She was on maternity leave with her son, Ty, when a longtime
friend of hers, the aforementioned Ryan Nelson, called
to ask if she’d help him start a new division for the global
firm.
“Matt would say, ‘You already know how to do all this stuff,”
Jennifer says. “You might as well step out on your own.’ He
said he’d give me all the help I needed in terms of crafting
the language and compliance – and compliance is extremely
important in our business. Matt was a fantastic coach for us.
The buy-out agreement was a critical document, and Matt
helped us make it happen.”
Jennifer, her husband, Todd, and their 10-year-old son, Ty,
live in Montgomery with a yellow lab rescue dog named
Woody and a German short-haired pointer named Casey.
Jennifer is feisty, clever and unafraid – all qualities that can
carry someone who owns their own business a long way.
She finds that having the Graydon team in her corner
makes it much easier to get a good night’s sleep.
“We have two or three people from Matt’s compliance
group working on our stuff all the time. We are heavily
regulated and the Graydon contingent do a ton of heavy
lifting on our behalf to keep us compliant.”
45

OUR SPACE
Space is one of the truest reflections of a
firm’s culture. Our new office space at the
Scripps Center in downtown Cincinnati is an
example of how our organization strongly
prioritizes the values of client-service,
generosity, collaboration, innovation, and
commitment to the community. From
morning coffee to evening cocktails, from
workshops to lectures, we use our space
on a daily basis to connect, learn, and
collaborate.
46

We believe that environment impacts
behavior and have designed our downtown
workplace to encourage creativity,
collaboration, and innovation. Through
the use of natural light, bold colors, glass
walls, and vibrant artwork we have created
a space that reflects our values, reinforces
our aspirations, and pushes us toward the
future.
47

GRAYDON.LAW
PERSONAL STORIES
Our new website provides a warm
introduction to the Firm, where
you will get an idea of what our
clients think about us, as well as
personal stories and photographs
that showcase our attorneys beyond
the law office. Visually interesting
and rich in content, the site is
innovative and vibrant, reinforcing
our connection to our clients, our
colleagues, and our community.
NEWSROOM
Curious about effects
of new legislation or
looking for a legal take
on current events?
We are continuously
updating the Newsroom
with blog posts
on industry news
and links to useful
information.
EVENTS
We regularly host
seminars on a variety
of different topics,
from HR to Estate
Planning. Check out
the Events page for
information about
upcoming events.
48

ART
All of the art in our
downtown space was
created by very talented
local artists. The
Art section celebrates
the career of each
artist and highlights
the specific work that
we are fortunate to
own.
CAREERS
Are you ready to
join us? We are
always looking for
good people to join
our team. Go to the
Careers page for
current opportunities
and a video about
what it’s like to work
at Graydon.
CLIENT AND COMMUNITY PARTNER TESTIMONIALS
49

DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI
312 Walnut Street, Suite 1800
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513. 621. 6464
NORTHERN KENTUCKY
2400 Chamber Center Drive, Suite 300
Fort Mitchell, KY 41017
OVER-THE-RHINE
1421 Main Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
BUTLER/WARREN
7759 University Drive, Suite A
West Chester, OH 45069
INDIANA
15 West Center Street
Lawrenceburg, IN 47025
50
www.graydon.law

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