CONTACT:  Kenneth A. Brown   800-282-6556 or 614-487-4426

Columbus (Sept. 9, 2009) - Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) President Barbara J. Howard has appointed five Dayton-area lawyers as chairpersons of OSBA committees and sections for 2009-2010. The OSBA maintains 41 standing committees and 11 sections, each of which monitors a particular area of law. Committees and sections work to improve the justice system by keeping Ohio lawyers informed about the latest court decisions and regulatory changes. In addition, they comment on bills before the Ohio General Assembly and draft their own legislative proposals to improve existing laws.

Chad E. Burton, now of Leppla Associates in Dayton, has been re-appointed to chair the Young Lawyers Section. Burton received his undergraduate degree from Miami University and earned his law degree cum laude from Case Western Reserve University. Recently an associate in the Business Litigation Group at Thompson Hine’s Dayton office, Burton has specialized in resolving complex business disputes, including breach of contract, business torts, products liability, manufacturer/distributor issues, appeals and general commercial litigation. An active OSBA member, Burton has recently been appointed to serve as a member of the OSBA Council of Delegates.  He is also a member of the Dayton Bar Association Board of Trustees, and past chair of its Young Lawyers Division. Burton is active in his community and currently serves on the Epiphany Lutheran Church Council and the Unified Health Solutions Board of Trustees. He and his wife, Brooke, have a daughter, Ainsley.

Charles Faruki, a trial lawyer and managing partner of the Dayton law firm of Faruki Ireland & Cox PLL, has been appointed to chair the Antitrust Section. Faruki concentrates his practice in business litigation and has spoken to various professional groups on topics including antitrust and competitive torts, intellectual property issues, ethics and professionalism, trial skills, class actions, evidence, insurance, and federal practice and procedure issues. Faruki received his B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Cincinnati and his J.D. degree, cum laude, from The Ohio State University College of Law.  He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Litigation Counsel of America, the American Bar Foundation, and the Ohio State Bar Foundation, and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.  He is a past president of both the Dayton Bar Association and the Dayton Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and chairs the Bar Examination Committee of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. An active OSBA member, Faruki is the immediate past chair of the OSBA Federal Courts and Practice Committee. He is also a member of the American, Federal and Federal Circuit bar associations, as well as the Defense Research Institute.

William McGraw, of the Troy law firm of Dungan & LeFevre Co., LPA, has been named chair of the Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Section.

Michael J. Millonig has been re-appointed to chair the Elder Law Committee.  Millonig, a Dayton lawyer, concentrates his practice in the areas of elder law, estate planning, trust and probate. Formerly a certified public accountant, he is an OSBA-board certified estate planning, trust and probate specialist, and has also been certified as an elder law attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation since 1998.

Richard E. West, of Richard E. West & Associates, has been re-appointed to chair the Lawyers Assistance Committee. After serving in the United States Navy, West received his undergrad from St. Joseph’s University and his law degree from Temple University. Admitted to the U. S. Supreme Court, U.S. Tax Court, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U. S. Court of Federal Claims, Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and the Supreme Court of Ohio, West is a board-certified consumer bankruptcy specialist with offices in Dayton, Springboro and Cincinnati. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Law Forum, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, and the Dayton Bar Association, and has delivered lectures on professionalism and other topics at seminars sponsored by the OSBA.

The Ohio State Bar Association, founded in 1880, is a voluntary association representing approximately 25,000 members of the bench and bar of Ohio as well as nearly 4,000 legal assistants and law students.  Through its activities and the activities of its related organizations, the OSBA serves both its members and the public by promoting the highest standards in the practice of law and the administration of justice.

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