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Two area attorneys receive community service awards

Kastner Westman & Wilkins Shareholder Jaime Kolligian received the Ohio State Bar Foundation's District 11 Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 & Under on  April 17 during the OSBA's District 11 meeting, which took place at the John S. Knight Center. Pictured here from the left Kolligian with OSBF Board Member Drew Odum. (Photo courtesy of the Ohio State Bar Foundation).   

SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter

Published: May 25, 2018

Since beginning her legal career at Kastner Westman & Wilkins Shareholder Jaime Kolligian has made a point to give back to the community, co-founding a successful charity corn hole event that benefits special needs children, chairing a committee to raise money for cancer, serving as an advocate for women’s issues and much more.

Her dedication to assisting those in need has not gone unnoticed. She’s received a number of awards and last year Kastner Westman & Wilkins Shareholder Tom Green nominated her for the Ohio State Bar Foundation’s District 11 Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 & Under.

“It has always been clear from Jaime’s actions and words that giving back was of the utmost importance to her,” said Green. “She immersed herself in quite a few community efforts that went above and beyond simply sitting on the boards of local nonprofits.

“She and her husband created a corn hole fundraiser that grew very quickly,” said Green. “What is even more impressive is that she did so at a very young age.”

“At the time same time, she’s been an outstanding colleague,” he said.

On April 17, Kolligian, 34, received the award during the Ohio State Bar Association’s District 11 meeting, which took place at the John S. Knight Center.

“It was a big honor,” said Kolligian. “I was very surprised to be chosen, given that so many other legal professionals in the community sit on the boards of nonprofits and serve on committees.

“I was also really impressed with our profession and proud that an award was created to honor something other than legal accomplishments, which I think is very important.”

Born in Venice, Florida and raised in Parma, Ohio, Kolligian graduated from the school now known as Otterbein University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

During college she worked part time for National City Bank, handling small business loans. Prior to beginning at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, she spent about a year at Wells Fargo Financial in the home mortgage department.

She started at the management-side labor and employment firm Kastner Westman & Wilkins in 2007, where she primarily focuses on employment litigation and daily workforce management issues.

An Ohio State Bar Association Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment Law, Kolligian became a shareholder in 2017.

In 2010 Kolligian and her husband Scott started a charity corn hole tournament in the backyard of their first home in Akron. They now reside in Copley, where they are raising their son Leo, 3 and daughter Tessa, 5.

“It raised a good bit of money the first year and it continued to gain momentum,” she said. “Last year it was held at InfoCision Stadium and was an unforgettable day.”

The event has generated nearly $10,000 a year, with the proceeds going to the Akron Rotary Camp for Children with Special Needs.

“I have a real soft spot in my heart for special needs organizations,” Kolligian said.

A past committee lead and member of Torchbearers, Kolligian now serves on the board of United Disability Services in Akron and on the Cleveland advisory board of the Ohio Diversity Council.

She remains actively involved with the Women’s Network of Northeast Ohio, currently serving on the planning committee for the 2018 Women’s Leadership Summit, which takes place on Nov. 9 at the John S. Knight Center in Akron.

Kolligian is a former chair of the Cattle Baron’s Ball Sponsorship Committee, which benefits the American Cancer Society (ACS) and a former member of the Summit County Volunteer Leadership Council for the ACS.

“I would not have been able to accomplish so much without the support of my firm, which has always encouraged my community involvement and service efforts, even when these initiatives pulled me away from the office,” said Kolligian. “I have encouraged other young lawyers to pursue their community interests as well.”

Kolligian isn’t the only attorney in northeast Ohio to get an award from the Ohio State Bar Foundation.

In Cleveland, Tucker Ellis Counsel Brandon Cox was honored with the bar foundation’s District 12 Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 & Under.

Cox, 33, who represents pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in mass tort and individual cases, received the award on April 18 at the OSBA’s District 12 annual meeting in Cleveland, Ohio.

“I think it’s great to be acknowledged for community service,” said Cox.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Cox holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Georgetown University.

He started law school in 2009 at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law after working as a corporate paralegal for two years in New York City at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

“I was interested in becoming a lawyer since I was ten,” said Cox. “I was even more sure of my career path after participating in speech and debate in high school.

“I thought the break between college and law school was important because it allowed me to gain more experience.”

Cox began his career at Tucker Ellis in 2012, balancing his workload with his many community activities, including coaching the mock trial and moot court teams at his former high school, Gilmour Academy.

“Both teams have done very well,” said Cox, adding that the school’s moot court team made it to the final round in May 2018 for the third time in the program’s five-year history.

He works closely with the pipeline partnership program at Tucker Ellis, which partners with Cleveland Early College High School at John Hay, a Cleveland Municipal School District high school composed almost entirely of minority and low-income students.

Cox serves as co-coordinator of the school’s mock trial teams, which compete in the Cleveland Mock Trial Championships.

“The teams have won five championships,” Cox said.

He also volunteers for the 3Rs initiative at Cleveland Early College High School.

A Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association program, 3Rs puts teams of local attorneys in Cleveland municipal school district high schools to teach law-based curriculum and provide career counseling to U.S. government classes.

In addition, Cox is the co-coordinator of a Tucker Ellis summer legal internship endeavor through the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Louis Stokes Scholars Program, serving as a mentor to those who are selected to participate.

Each year the firm closes on its anniversary, with attorneys and employees participating in a community service project. In 2017, Cox and others worked to improve Cleveland Early College High School by painting the hallways.

A member of the 2011 OSBF Fellows class, he currently serves as first vice president of the Norman Minor Bar Association, a northeast Ohio bar association for minority attorneys.

Cox is also a member of the Tucker Ellis Diversity Committee, a Cleveland-Marshall Alumni Association board member and serves as an adjunct professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Tucker Ellis partner Carter Strang nominated Cox for the award.

“Honestly I don’t know how Brandon finds the time to participate in so many different activities,” said Strang. “He’s been closely involved with the pipeline program at the firm, which I created 12 years ago as well as so many other volunteer efforts.

“His motivation as a young African American male to ‘pay it forward’ is amazing,” said Strang. “He is off the charts deserving of this award.”


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