COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — McDonald Hopkins LLC, a business advisory and advocacy law firm with a more than 80-year history, is expanding its Columbus presence by merging with Welin, O’Shaughnessy + Scheaf, a boutique law firm specializing in construction law, complex business litigation and oil and gas litigation. It was recently named a Tier 1 law firm in Construction Law Litigation by U.S. News-Best Lawyers.

The founding members of the firm, Peter D. Welin, Christopher T. O’Shaughnessy and O. Judson Scheaf, III, have more than 55 years of national law firm experience. Prior to starting their own firm, Welin and Scheaf held management positions at a Midwestern-based Am Law 200 firm, where they served as vice chairs of the construction and business litigation practice groups.

Welin now serves as the managing member of McDonald Hopkins’ Columbus office. O’Shaughnessy and Scheaf are joining the firm as members, Andrew R. Fredelake and Jason R. Harley join as associates, and Michael D. Tarullo joins as of counsel. The merger adds six attorneys to the 10 McDonald Hopkins’ attorneys and professionals who work in the Columbus market, including the firm’s State and Local Government Affairs Practice Group.

“This merger not only enhances our commitment to serving the Columbus business community, it strengthens our national litigation presence with a team of attorneys who are perfectly aligned with us,” said Carl J. Grassi, president of McDonald Hopkins. McDonald Hopkins has offices in Cleveland, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Miami, and West Palm Beach, as well as a subsidiary, McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies LLC, which is based in Washington, D.C. and led by former Congressman Steven LaTourette.

“We are delighted to merge with McDonald Hopkins. We can now leverage our success as a boutique law firm by merging with a large firm and use our experience to enhance that relationship. We look forward to supporting and expanding our national footprint with the deeper resources of McDonald Hopkins,” said Welin who has 25 years of construction law litigation and transactional experience, combined with a construction engineering degree and background as a field engineer, superintendent, and project engineer for Turner Construction Company. He represents contractors, design professionals, owners, sureties, and subcontractors in contract law, construction contracts and government procurement law. Welin also provides partnering facilitation, mediation and arbitration services to construction industry participants in a wide variety of settings.

“There are considerable synergies between the two firms that will allow us to serve our clients with exceptional resources, efficiency and responsiveness,” said O’Shaughnessy who for 15 years has tried numerous cases all over the Midwest and East Coast involving hundreds of millions of dollars. He focuses his practice and frequently lectures on construction law, business litigation, real estate, intellectual property, and oil and gas litigation throughout the United States. O’Shaughnessy also serves as Chairman of the Board of After-School All-Stars Ohio.

Scheaf has 25 years of extensive experience in civil litigation including trial and appellate work. He handles complex commercial litigation matters, including construction, antitrust, oil and gas, unfair competition, patent, copyright, trade secret, investment banker malpractice, and land use disputes. In addition to his Am Law 200 law firm experience, Scheaf was vice president and general counsel for CGAS Exploration, Inc.

Fredelake and Harley both gained considerable experience at one of the largest law firms in the country. Fredelake, who represents clients in all aspects of construction-related issues, has expertise in litigation, arbitration, mediation, and alternative dispute resolution. He has prosecuted and defended claims involving construction, contracts, leases, construction defects, design errors and omissions, professional negligence, mechanics’ liens, and project delays.

Harley focuses on complex litigation in the areas of construction, general business and oil and gas. He has experience in the construction industry as a project engineer for a mechanical contractor and as a project lead for an MED design engineering firm.

Tarullo is both a lawyer and engineer. Prior to practicing law, Tarullo gained 20 years of field experience in construction, construction-related businesses and construction claims evaluation and preparation. As an attorney, Tarullo has successfully represented clients in complex construction disputes ranging from the construction of high-rise office buildings, large sporting facilities and power plants to the construction of water and wastewater treatment facilities, golf courses and healthcare facilities. A trained arbitrator and mediator, Tarullo has served on the American Arbitration Association’s panel of construction arbitrators for complex disputes. He is also a Fellow and Board of Governors member in the American College of Construction Lawyers and is a past president of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Construction Industry.

For the short-term, the former Welin, O’Shaughnessy + Scheaf attorneys will continue to work out of their offices on North Fifth Street and can be reached at 614.484.0700. McDonald Hopkins is located in the Huntington Building on South High Street. All of the firm’s Columbus attorneys and staff will relocate to one location in the months ahead.

For more information about McDonald Hopkins, visit www.mcdonaldhopkins.com.

CONTACT:
Deborah W. Kelm
McDonald Hopkins LLC
600 Superior Avenue, East, Suite 2100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Phone: 216.348.5733
Email: dkelm@mcdonaldhopkins.com

SOURCE McDonald Hopkins LLC