Susan M. Audey teaches Advanced Brief Writing. She is Counsel in the Cleveland office of Tucker Ellis & West LLP. She practices in the area of general litigation, and primarily focuses on appellate matters. She is one of only 17 attorneys in Ohio certified as an appellate specialist by the Ohio State Bar Association. Ms. Audey received her B.A., M.A. and J.D. degrees from Cleveland State University. After graduating from CSU|LAW in 1993, Ms. Audey clerked for the Honorable Timothy E. McMonagle and the Honorable John T. Patton, both of the Ohio Court of Appeals, Eighth District. She also served as a magistrate in the Lake County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division. She is admitted to practice in Ohio state and federal courts, and the United States Supreme Court.
Jason R. Bristol teaches a course on the Fair Labor Standards Act and taught Advanced Brief Writing/Appellate Advocacy for many years. Mr. Bristol is a Partner in the Cleveland law firm of Cohen Rosenthal & Kramer LLP. His broad experience as a litigator includes numerous state and national class actions involving employee benefits, consumer fraud, subprime mortgage devastation, and environmental contamination. In addition, Mr. Bristol devotes a significant portion of his practice to federal and state wage and hour litigation. In this capacity he has represented thousands of employees in class, collective, and hybrid actions. In 2007, he was named Plaintiff’s Complex Litigation and Class Action Counsel to the State of Ohio. He received his B.A. from Bowling Green University and his J.D. from Cleveland State.
Peter A. Carfagna teaches a variety of courses in the area of Sports & the Law, including development and participation in the Summer Sports & Entertainment Law Academy. He is Chairman/CEO of Magis, LLC, a privately owned sports marketing, management, and investment company, and is current majority owner of the Lake County Captains. He is the former IMG chief legal officer / general counsel who led the company’s 20-plus attorney worldwide legal department while reporting directly to IMG founder Mark McCormack. Carfagna is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College, magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, and Rhodes Scholar who formerly served as Elected Director of the Harvard Alumni Association and Association of American Rhodes Scholars. He has served the HAA as a Member of the Nominating Committee for the Harvard University Board of Overseers. Carfagna was previously a senior partner at Jones Day, during which time he worked as outside counsel to the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers’ ownership groups.
Luis Carrion is an attorney with the IP firm Renner, Otto, Boiselle & Sklar. A licensed engineer, he has handled patent matters in the fields of telecommunication systems, uninterruptible (data center and telco) power supplies, fluorescent lighting and ballasts, digital signal processing, audio signal processing, welding equipment, audience response systems, computer programs, software-based control systems, electrical circuits, optical devices, computer hardware, remote monitoring, and mechanical assemblies. A graduate of The Ohio State University and Cleveland State University College of Law, he teaches Legal Drafting: Patent Prepartion at CSU|LAW.
Julian Emerson co-teaches the Trial Team Competition course with Katie Lynn Zorc. A Partner at Reminger Co., LPA, Julian serves as Chair of Reminger’s Construction Liability practice group, as well as Co-Chair of the Environmental/Mass Tort/Class Action practice group. Julian further handles a very diverse range of matters, including General Casualty and Trucking/Commercial Transportation. Additionally, Julian sits on Reminger’s Law Clerk Hiring Committee, Diversity Committee, Mentoring Committee, and the Reminger Foundation Board. Julian also serves as a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He is a graduate of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and earned his B.A. at Villanova University.
Matthew T. Fitzsimmons co-teaches Mediation with Honorable Dan A. Polster. Mr. Fitzsimmons is a partner at Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper, LLC in Cleveland. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1975 with an A.B. in Government, and the University of Dayton School of Law in 1980. From 1980 through 1982 he served as Law Clerk to Chief Justice Frank D. Celebrezze of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Since 1982, he has been engaged in the private practice of law, with a focus in general civil and business/commercial litigation at the trial and appellate levels. His principal practice areas include business, commercial, employment and product liability litigation; health care law; ad valorem property tax litigation; and non-profit organizations. He is admitted to the bars of the Supreme Court of Ohio, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Ohio, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Gordon Friedman teaches Criminal Procedure I. He is a partner in the law firm of Friedman and Gilbert, where he practices criminal defense in the areas of drug crimes, homicide/murder, white collar crimes, sex crimes, DUI, federal criminal practice and sentencing, tax crimes, fraud, and more. Early in his career, he served as an assistant public defender in Cuyahoga County, and as the director of the Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland.He received his B.A. at Miami University and his J.D. from George Washington University.
Ian N. Friedman teaches Cybercrime and has been teaching at CSU|LAW since 2007. Mr. Friedman is the founding partner of Friedman & Nemecek, LLC. His firm specializes in criminal defense matters at the municipal, state, and federal levels. He has been lead counsel in hundreds of jury trials and has represented clients internationally and in various jurisdictions throughout the United States. He is a nationally recognized expert on electronic evidence and lectures across the country on various matters relating to criminal law. He has written several articles and publications on current criminal topics. He graduated from Ohio University and received his J.D. from CSU|LAW in 1997. He has served as President of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Cleveland State University College of Law Alumni Association.
Alex Frondorf teaches Scholarly Writing at CSU College of Law. He received his JD and MPA degrees from Saint Louis University’s School of Law and College of Public Service in 2007 after which he clerked for the Honorable Ann Aldrich and the Honorable Kathleen M. O’Malley, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, before joining Littler Mendelson, where he represents clients on employment law matters. He received his undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University.
David Fusco teaches ERISA. A partner at Schwarzwald McNair & Fusco, a union side labor law firm representing local and international unions, union officers, ERISA governed health and welfare plans and pension plans, VEBAs, and the trustees of such plans, all in a wide variety of fields. He earned his B.A. at George Washington University and his J.D. at Cleveland State University.
Suzanne K. Hanselman teaches Securities Regulation. She is a Partner at the law firm of Baker Hostetler, a member of the Securities and Corporate Governance Practice Team and is the Business Group Coordinator for the firm’s Cleveland office. Ms. Hanselman represents issuers, investors and underwriters in a variety of financings, including IPOs and other SEC-registered offerings, private placements of debt and equity and venture capital investments.
She earned her B.A. at Miami University and her J.D. at The Ohio State University.
Joshua Klarfeld teaches Scholarly Writing. Mr. Klarfeld is an associate at Thompson Hine in the Product Liability Litigation practice group. His practice focuses on litigation and dispute resolution concerning contracts and leases, commercial and consumer products, injuries to persons and property, and other business transactions and relationships. Mr. Klarfeld received his B.A. in 2002 from Yeshiva University, magna cum laude and his J.D. from Cleveland State University College of Law in 2005, summa cum laude. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Cleveland State Law Review for 2004-2005. He is the author of Chazakah: Judaic Law's Non-Adverse Possession, 52 Clev. St. L. Rev. 623 (2004-05). Mr. Klarfeld served as a Judicial Extern for Judge Karen Nelson Moore, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. He is admitted to practice in the state of Ohio and in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Glenn Krassen teaches Oil & Gas Law. Mr. Krassen is the partner in charge of Bricker & Eckler’s Cleveland office and of its Shale, Oil & Gas practice group. He has over 30 years of broad oil and gas experience. Mr. Krassen practices in the areas of energy, public utilities, complex energy finance, corporate, and real estate, in addition to oil and gas. He represents the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, the largest public retail energy aggregation in the country, comprised of 166 northern Ohio counties, cities and townships, as well as other large public and private energy aggregation groups. He earned his B.A. at George Washington University and his J.D. at The Ohio State University.
Stacey L. McKinley teaches Non-Profit Corporations. Director of Planned Giving at Cleveland State University, Ms. McKinley graduated from CSU|LAW in 1997 and was previously Associate Director of Planned Giving at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and an associate at a number of Cleveland law firms. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Northern Ohio Planned Giving Council. Ms. McKinley received a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University.
Michael Montgomery teaches Advanced Brief Writing at CSU College of Law. He is a member of Baker Hostetler’s Litigation Group and focuses his practice in the areas of general commercial and appellate litigation. Prior to joining Baker Hosteletler, Mr. Montgomery served as law clerk to both the Honorable James S. Gwin, United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and the Honorable Ronald Lee Gilman, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He currently represente clients in various commercial disputes, including defending clients in patent, trade secret, licensing and public utility rate disputes. He has also assisted clients in employment discrimination, consumer class action and bankruptcy litigation. He received his B.A. and his J.D. from The Ohio State University.
David Neel teaches Evidence. He received a B.A. from Kenyon College, a J.D. from CSU College of Law and an LL.M from Columbia. He clerked for Honorable Ann Aldrich of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and then went into private practice. He has more than twenty years of experience as a trial attorney: He was at Benesch Friedlander for eight years, Climaco Lefkowitz for a total of eight years, and Duvin Cahn for five years, and now is a solo practitioner.
R. Russell O’Rourke co-teaches the Mediation short course with Mark Young of Roetzel & Andress LPA. Mr. O’Rourke is the principle attorney of Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis and is chair of the Construction Group. His practice focuses on construction and mechanics liens. As legal counsel for The Builders Exchange and Home Builders Association, Russell O’Rourke’s 30+ years of active involvement in construction industry trade associations – understanding both the requirements of the law and the business savvy to successfully operate within the industry—have allowed him to serve in the roles of client and industry advisor, advocate and leader. Mr. O’Rourke graduated from the University of Vermont and received his J.D. from Cleveland State University, Cleveland State University College of Law in 1984 and was an editor on the Cleveland State Law Review. He is the author of OHIO Mechanics' Liens and Materialmen's Liens (3d Ed.).
Hon. Dan A. Polster co-teaches a course on Mediation with Matthew Fitzsimmons. Judge Polster earned his B.A. and J.D. degrees from Harvard University. He has served as a trial attorney in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, in the Economic Crimes Unit in the Northern District of Ohio. He was appointed to the federal bench in 1998.
Rhonda Porter currently serves as Chair of the Educational Law Group at Day Ketterer, Ltd., and serves as general legal counsel supporting school districts throughout Ohio. Prior to joining Day Ketterer, Ltd., Rhonda was in-house general counsel for the Akron City School District for eleven years and in-house general counsel to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District for four years.
As general counsel, Rhonda has represented school districts and employees in civil litigation matters involving general tort claims, defamation cases, Section 1983 actions, and cases involving application of Ohio statutory immunity. She litigated labor arbitrations, teacher and administrator termination hearings, student disciplinary suspension and expulsion hearings, special education due process hearings, (recently prevailing in Barney v. Akron Bd. of Education, 6th Cir. No. 17-4116, 2019 WL 919839). She represented districts before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and the Office for Civil Rights. She frequently conducted internal investigations, including allegations of employee misconduct, sexual harassment and discrimination.
As a frequent speaker for the National Business Institute, Rhonda has presented on a multitude of legal issues by examining their specific impact on schools, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Title IX compliance. Her presentations regularly include legal issues involved with teacher terminations, social media, applications and implications of the First Amendment on the free expression of student and employee speech, and examinations of the reasonableness of student and employee searches and student safety.
Rhonda graduated from the Cleveland State University College of Law where she was a member of the champion national moot court team and a recipient of the Order of Barristers Award. She received her Master of Education in Music degree from Duquesne University. Prior to law school, she resided and worked in Vienna, Austria as a professional orchestral trumpet player, while also studying at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik and teaching music part-time at the American International School.
Heather Drabek Prendergast is a member of Aljijakli, Kosseff & Prendergast, LLC, a boutique immigration law firm with offices in Cleveland, OH and New York, NY. Her practice focuses on: complex removal defense including trials, appeals, and federal court litigation; employment-based immigration for skilled professionals; family-based immigration; asylum; and naturalization. Ms. Prendergast is one of 21 Directors elected to serve on the Board of Governors for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), a national association of more than 15,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. From 2015 to 2018, Ms. Prendergast chaired AILA’s National Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Liaison Committee where she met with senior ICE leadership in Washington, D.C. to resolve issues faced by immigrants and their legal counsel when dealing with the agency. She regularly speaks about immigration issues at local, regional, and national conferences, and serves on several conference planning committees as well as AILA’s Department of State Liaison Committee. Ms. Prendergast is an Adjunct Professor at Cleveland State University’s Cleveland State University College of Law where she teaches Immigration & Nationality Law. She is a graduate of Cleveland State University College of Law in Cleveland, OH and Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, and is admitted to practice in Ohio, New York, the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is an avid equestrian, runner, and beginner sheepherder.
James K. Roosa teaches Corporations, and Agency and Partnership, and has been practicing business and corporate law since graduating from Case Western Reserve Law School in 1987 (where he served as a Law Review Editor). After practicing at Thompson, Hine & Flory and American Greetings Corporation, Mr. Roosa founded Roosa Co., LPA in 2000. This firm focuses on the legal needs of small and emerging businesses and their owners. Mr. Roosa earned a B.A. at Oberlin College, an M.M. at Yale University, and his J.D. at Case Western Reserve University. In addition to his practice and teaching at CSU College of Law, Mr. Roosa also serves on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Alternative Dispute Resolution Federal Court Panel and is a member of the Corporation Law committee of the Ohio Bar Association.
Alan L. Rosca teaches Securities Regulation. An attorney with Fishman Haygood Phelps Walmsley Willis & Swanson, LLP., he focuses his legal practice on complex commercial and financial matters, particularly in the areas of securities and investment fraud. He received his Juris Doctor degree summa cum laude from the Cleveland State University College of Law, in May 2008. He holds a Law Degree from the University of Bucharest School of Law, Romania, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Baldwin-Wallace College, Ohio.
Karen E. Rubin teaches the legal ethics course, Legal Profession, at CSU College of Law. She is Counsel at Thompson Hine LLP, where her practice is focused on business litigation, legal ethics and professional responsibility. She is a member and past Chair of the Certified Grievance Committee of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and a member and past Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Ohio State Bar Association. Karen co-edits her firm’s legal ethics blog, The Law for lawyers Today. A Cleveland State and CSU|LAW graduate, she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Cleveland State Law Review and was the founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Law and Health.
The Honorable John J. Russo is the Administrative and Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Ohio in Cuyahoga County, which serves the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area. It is home to 1.2 million people (2010 census). Judge Russo has been unanimously elected by his colleagues to lead the Court every year since November 2013. He is responsible for appointing committees, coordinating the development of Court policies, and overseeing the administration and dockets of the General Division, the highest-level trial court in the state. He has chaired or participated in numerous justice system boards and committees since beginning his judicial career on the Common Pleas Court. They include: Chair, Lawyers Fund for Client Protection (appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court); Co-Chairman, Ohio Judicial Conference Court Administration Committee; Trustee, CSU College of Law Alumni Association; Committee Person for the Trends in State Court Committee (appointed by the National Center for State Courts); Member of the Public Health Committee; Past Chairperson, Cuyahoga County Security Committee; Past Trustee, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association; Past Trustee, Westshore Bar Association; Past Committee Person for the Judicial Advisory Committee; Past Member of the Death Penalty Task Force; Past Member of the Board of Commissioners of the Clients Security Fund of Ohio; and Past President, Legal Eagles St. Edward High School Community. In 2016, Judge Russo served as president of the National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (NAPCO), a national organization of court chief judges and court executives. Judge Russo brought the inaugural annual meeting in Cleveland. In addition, Judge Russo has taught at numerous court conclaves, judges’ conferences, community programs and bar association meetings, including the National Center for State Courts; the Ohio Supreme Court Judicial College; the Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association; the Ohio Association for Justice; the National Business Institute; the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys; the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association; the CSU|LAW Alumni Association and St. Edward High School. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Bar Association, Westshore Bar Association and CSU College of Law Alumni Association. Prior to the bench, Judge Russo was a civil and criminal litigator for 12 years in his private practice. Judge Russo earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree at John Carroll University and his Juris Doctor degree at Cleveland State University College of Law.
David Schweighoefer is counsel at Ulmer & Berne LLP. He represents and counsels clients regarding transactional legal guidance and strategic advice. Typical matters include regulatory compliance, corporate compliance program development, provider insurance contracting, RAC and ZPIC audits and appeals, Federal reimbursement overpayments, employment contracts, vendor agreements, and practice acquisitions and mergers. He is knowledgeable in Stark Law compliance, durable medical equipment (DME) anti-kickback compliance, home health, long term care providers and medical device companies. David advises hospital providers on HCQIA Fair Hearing procedures, medical staff bylaws and assists these providers with HIPAA and security risk analyses, and breach notification protocols.
Prior to practicing law, Schweighoefer earned his MA in Clinical Psychology and served in behavioral health administration roles including, Regional Director at The Cleveland Clinic and Chief Operating Officer at Mount Sinai Health System.
Edmund W. Searby teaches Criminal Procedure I. He is founding partner of Searby LLP where he focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense and complex litigation. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the criminal division in Florida and a Senior Associate Deputy Independent Counsel with the Office of the Independent Counsel, Washington D.C. His service also includes the Presidential Transition Team, United States Department of Justice Landing Team. He has published a range of articles on criminal issues and a chapter in a book on fraud investigations and prosecutions. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Michigan Law School.
David C. Weiner teaches Trial Advocacy with Charles Fleming and Peggy Foley Jones. Currently of counsel in the Litigation Practice Group at Benesch, he is past chair of the ABA Litigation Section and past president of OLAP and the Cleveland Legal Aid Society. He has been recognized as an Ohio Super Lawyer in 2000-2012 and has served in numerous bar and community positions. He earned his B.A. at the University of Cincinnati and his J.D. at the Georgetown University Law Center.
E. Mark Young co-teaches the Mediation short course with Russell O’Rourke of of Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis. He s a shareholder in Roetzel & Andress, LPA where he focuses his practice on complex civil litigation matters in federal and state courts. Mr. Young also represented clients in bankruptcy cases and in administrative proceedings before a number of government agencies. He has experience representing parties in commercial real estate transactions and litigation and is seasoned in preparing and negotiating purchases/sales and/or leases of developed real property in conjunction with the purchase and sale of a business. Mr. Young served in an outside general counsel role to a number of companies in multiple industries, including mobile technology, construction supply manufacturing, residential developers of low and moderate-income housing, manufacturers and distributors of alcohol, medical billing and home health care companies, religious institutions, and a number of minority and female-owned businesses. He earned his M.A. at Cleveland State University Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs and J.D. at The University of Toledo College of Law.
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