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Brouse McDowell names heads of new practice group
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: June 23, 2023
Six attorneys at Brouse McDowell have taken on new roles as leaders of the firm’s practice groups.
In May, partners Nicholas P. Capotosto and Michael P. O’Donnell began serving as co-chairs of the litigation practice group; Patricia A. Gajda was named co-chair of the business transactions & corporate counseling practice group; Laura F. Fryan became co-chair of the health care practice group; Teresa G. Santin started as co-chair of the construction contracting & disputes practice group and Paul A. Rose resumed his previous role as chair of the Insurance Recovery Practice Group.
“I’m pleased to congratulate these partners on their chair and co-chair appointments and I want to thank them for their continued leadership at the firm,” said Brouse McDowell Managing Partner Dan Glessner.
“We appreciate Paul, Pat and Michael stepping up to the practice chair challenge again,” said Glessner. “All three have been leaders within the firm and the community.
“We’re very excited to welcome Laura, Nick and Teresa, who will bring new ideas and energy to their practice groups.”
For Rose, who started the insurance recovery practice in the mid-1980s, the chance to return to his longtime role as chair was an opportunity he said he could not pass up.
“I am pleased to resume my old role and look forward to helping the members of the group to succeed,” said Rose.
A native of Garfield Heights, Rose received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and his juris doctorate from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Rose began his career at Brouse as a summer associate in 1981.
“At the time I started practicing, insurance recovery had not yet emerged as a discrete practice area,” said Rose, who is in the Akron office. “It became a practice area because of the growing number of asbestos and environmental liability cases in the early- to mid-1980s.
“When I started the insurance recovery group, I was the only member,” said Rose. “It grew substantially to become the largest such group in Ohio, by a substantial margin, and has become nationally recognized for its excellence and results.”
An emeritus member and past president of the Charles F. Scanlon and Judge Samuel H. Bell American Inn of Court, Rose is currently on the board of Casita Linda, a nonprofit that builds homes for underprivileged families in central Mexico and is a former board chair at Tarry House.
He’s also served on the boards of the Akron Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra and continues to sit on the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Committee, which he previously chaired.
As co-chairs of the firm’s litigation practice group, Capotosto, who is located in the Akron office, and O’Donnell have similar goals.
“First and foremost my focus is on client service, which is the firm’s priority,” said O’Donnell, who works in the Cleveland office and served as co-chair of the practice group several years ago. “I will also focus on growth and continue to find new business opportunities. Finally, as a co-chair of the litigation group, I believe I have a responsibility to train new lawyers who join the group.”
“I echo what Michael said,” Capotosto said. “Post-Covid, many businesses are navigating a delicate balance between employees who work at home and in the office, and as we learn how to do this it’s important to take a team approach to client services, bouncing ideas off one another, mentoring younger attorneys and creating a collegial environment.”
While the two come from different backgrounds, both began their careers at Brouse McDowell.
O’Donnell grew up in Rocky River, Ohio and majored in finance at John Carroll University. He received his juris doctorate from the school then known as the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.
He initially joined Brouse as a summer associate, becoming an associate in 2004.
A member of the Cleveland Metropolitan and Ohio State bar associations, O’Donnell is a Judge John M. Manos American Inn of Court master bencher and serves as president of the Lawyers Guild of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
“My father Terrence O’Donnell is a retired Ohio Supreme Court justice and he is the main reason I decided to go to law school and become a lawyer,” said O’Donnell. “He is currently of counsel at Brouse McDowell.”
Capotosto was raised in Westfield Center, Ohio and majored in social sciences at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado.
After earning his bachelor’s degree he served in the U.S. Air Force for five years, attaining the rank of captain.
During his time in the Air Force he obtained an MBA with an emphasis in finance from Western New England University.
Capotosto, who graduated from The University of Akron School of Law, was also a summer associate at Brouse.
A member of the Akron and Ohio State bar associations, Capotosto was re-elected to the firm’s executive committee in June. He was previously on the committee from 2015-2017.
He currently chairs the operations committee at Tarry House and was a trustee on the Akron Area YMCA board for 12 years, where he also served as chair and as a member of the executive committee.
Gajda is also a former leader of her practice area, having previously been the chair and co-chair of the business transactions & corporate counseling group.
“It’s great to be back in a practice leadership role,” said Gajda. “I’m looking forward to working with my co-chair Dan Silfani to put together strategic, marketing and training plans for our group so we can continue to expand the number of attorneys and levels of experience.”
Raised in Garfield Heights, Ohio, Gajda majored in economics at John Carroll University and earned her juris doctorate from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Prior to starting as a partner in the Cleveland office of Brouse McDowell in 1998, she was an associate at BakerHostetler and Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, respectively.
A member of the Cleveland Metropolitan, Ohio State, American and Ohio Women’s bar associations, Gajda is a former president of the Ohio Women’s Bar Foundation and served on the boards of the Northeast Ohio chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Youth Challenge and the Art Therapy Studio.
She is currently a member of Brouse’s executive committee.
“I have been on the executive committee since 2013,” Gajda said. “I was the first woman to be elected to the executive committee and am happy to bring a different perspective to it.”
Located in Akron, Fryan has worked for Brouse McDowell for approximately nine years.
The Titusville, Pennsylvania native obtained her bachelor’s degree in political science from Grove City College, moving to northeast Ohio to attend The University of Akron, where she earned her JD/MBA degree.
After working at Brouse as a summer associate in 2013, she received an offer to join the firm.
“I started out in the litigation practice group, but I joined the health care group pretty shortly afterward,” said Fryan. “I was initially part of both groups, but I absolutely loved health care so I decided I wanted to be part of the group full time.”
A member of the Cleveland Metropolitan, Akron and Stark County bar associations, Fryan is the president of the board at Pegasus Farm, a therapeutic equestrian center in Stark County and serves on the board of The Village of St. Edward, a long-term care organization.
As a recently appointed co-chair of the health care group, Fryan said she’s looking forward to helping expand its reach both in terms of attorney numbers and clients.
“I personally have clients around the U.S. and the group does as well,” Fryan said. “But there are always other areas and markets for us to get into.
“I am looking forward to mentoring some of the younger attorneys.”
Santin was one of 12 lawyers who joined Brouse McDowell in 2018 when the firm combined with the certified majority women-owned northeast Ohio-based law firm Thacker Robinson Zinz.
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Santin grew up in Akron and majored in English and Italian at DePaul University in Chicago.
After earning her juris doctorate from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2012, she began her legal career at Weston Hurd.
“I initially focused on civil litigation, but developed a niche practice in construction law as time went on.”
In 2016, she joined Thacker Robinson Zinz.
“It was at Brouse that I started to focus on construction almost exclusively,” said Santin, who works in the Cleveland office.
Santin is a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Real Estate Law Section’s construction law subcommittee and the women in law section.
She’s also a member of the Women’s Leadership Network at the Northern Ohio chapter of NAIOP.
Santin recently completed a three-year term on the board of Joseph & Mary’s Home.
“I’m looking forward to co-chairing the construction contracting & disputes practice group,” said Santin. “Our periodic meetings will focus more on continuing education for our attorneys as well as business development and marketing.”