CLEVELAND – McDonald Hopkins LLC has elected four attorneys to membership at its law firm.
The newly elected attorneys include Christal Contini, Christopher Dean, Don Orlandoni and Jayson Ruff. Contini was added to the firm’s business department in Cleveland while Dean and Orlandoni will serve in the firm’s litigation department. Dean is in the Cleveland and Chicago locations while Orlandoni is in Detroit. Ruff was elected to the business restructuring department in Detroit.
“All four of these attorneys are rising stars who demonstrate leadership qualities and significant knowledge in their areas of expertise,” Shawn Riley, president at McDonald Hopkins told the Southeast Texas Record. “In addition, they are both legal and business advisers for their clients. To become a member at McDonald Hopkins, our attorneys exhibit the entrepreneurial traits of many of our clients because much of our success is based on cultivating a culture of entrepreneurship.”
Adding the four attorneys to membership at McDonald Hopkins is important to the firm’s succession planning Riley said, noting “It is always important to elevate the next generation of potential leadership at the firm. Succession planning at any law firm like ours means that the best and the brightest get recognized and are ready to take the next step in their careers. Becoming a member at McDonald Hopkins is a recognition that these attorneys have been highly successful associates and they have met all criteria for becoming a member.”
Contini’s expertise is corporate governance, commercial contracts, compliance and operational issues. She also focuses on representing private equity funds, search funds and strategic buyers and sellers in a variety of transactions such as mergers, acquisitions and investments. She’s a magna cum laude graduate of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law as well as Ashland University, where she received her B.A. cum laude.
Dean is experienced in commercial litigation and all aspects of trial and appellate preparation. He was recognized as an Illinois Rising Star in 2014 and Ohio Rising Star in 2016 and 2017. He co-chairs the bankruptcy/environmental claims subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s Environmental and Energy Litigation Committee and also is a member of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee with the Cleveland Bar Association. Dean graduated with honors from the George Washington University School of Law and received his B.A. from Denison University.
Orlandoni has represented a variety of clients across several industries in business and commercial matters. He was recognized as a Michigan Rising Star from 2010 to 2015. He received a cum laude, Order of the Coif, from Wayne State University Law School and has his B.S. from the United States Naval Academy.
Ruff is a business restructuring attorney emphasizing the restructuring of private businesses, bankruptcy issues, credit rights matters, and a variety of business affairs. Ruff earned his J.D. from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and has a B.A. from William Tyndale College.
“We feel very strongly about our firm’s core values: integrity, client service, teamwork, entrepreneurship and quality of life,” Riley said. “We expect our member attorneys to be outstanding role models who enthusiastically embrace our core values. In addition, our new members—all members for that matter—are expected to help us innovate for the future.”
McDonald Hopkins was founded in 1930 and is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with six locations in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Florida.