Cohen & Grigsby Expands Southwest Florida Presence; Opens Naples Office

July 9, 2003

PITTSBURGH, PA - Cohen & Grigsby, P.C., a Pittsburgh-based law firm which has served clients located in Southwest Florida for several years, has announced that it has opened a second office in the Naples area. The office will further establish the firm’s permanent presence in the Sunshine State.

Cohen & Grigsby opened its Bonita Springs office in January 2001, and the additional office will enable the firm to better serve the growing base of clientele in the Naples area. The Naples office will concentrate primarily on business litigation, business and tax, estates and trusts, immigration, international business and tax, real estate, and residency and tax issues for foreign nationals, but also will offer legal counsel in the areas of intellectual property, and labor and employment law.

The Florida offices’ practicing attorneys include: Henry C. Cohen, vice president of the firm’s Florida practice; Thad D. Kirkpatrick, a director in the Real Estate Group; Jason Hunter Korn, a director in the Litigation Group; Hugh W. Nevin, Jr., a founder and former president of Cohen & Grigsby; Kelley Geraghty Price, a director in the Litigation Group; and Norma Brenne Vincent, an associate in the Immigration, International Business and Real Estate Groups.

“The growth of our client base in Naples has necessitated this opening of a second office in the area,” said Henry Cohen. “We are pleased to be able to better serve our clients in both Bonita Springs and Naples. Our long term business plan continues to focus on planned growth and the ability to meet all of our clients’ needs, and with the addition of the Naples office, our firm is making significant strides in achieving our goals.”

Led primarily by Messrs. Cohen and Nevin, both members of the Pennsylvania and Florida bars, Cohen & Grigsby’s Florida practice has been expanding over the course of several years. Clients have included foreign individuals seeking counsel regarding U.S. estate, gift and income tax law. Cohen & Grigsby attorneys David I. Cohen and Richard D. Rosen of the Business and Tax Group, John E. Lyncheski of the Labor and Employment Group, and Meryl Macklin of the Litigation Group are also licensed to practice in Florida.

Founded in 1981, Cohen & Grigsby is one of the most respected general business law firms in Western Pennsylvania. The firm, currently with 103 attorneys, serves private and publicly held businesses, nonprofit organizations, multinational corporations, individuals, and emerging companies.

About the Attorneys
Henry Cohen is a business and tax attorney who concentrates his practice in the areas of individual and corporate income taxation (including extensive experience in compensation planning and business ownership transfer transactions), mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations and estate planning. He serves as the Firm’s Vice President, Florida Practice. Mr. Cohen is a Certified Public Accountant in Pennsylvania and Ohio (inactive). He earned a B.S. from Miami University in 1967 and J.D. from Cornell University in 1971. He is licensed to practice law in both Florida and Pennsylvania and, together with Mr. Hugh Nevin, opened the Firm’s offices in Southwest Florida, where he advises U.S. and foreign businesses and individuals as to business transactions and U.S. business and individual income, gift and estate tax matters. Mr. Cohen resides in Bonita Springs, Florida.

Thad Kirkpatrick practices in the areas of real estate development law, commercial real estate, and general real estate matters. He regularly assists real estate developers, builders, commercial real estate holders, individuals and businesses with contracts, financing, closings, title insurance, construction issues, leasing and a whole range of community development matters. Mr. Kirkpatrick earned his B.S. (Finance and Risk Management and Real Estate) from Florida State University in 1980 and his J.D. from Nova University Law School in 1983. He has served as Senior Counsel to WCI Communities and General Counsel to Coral Ridge Properties, Inc.(Coral Springs, Florida) and counsel for Lone Star Industries, Inc. Thad is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Real Estate Law and holds a Florida Real Estate Broker-Salesperson’s license. Mr. Kirkpatrick is a member of the Florida (Condominium and Planned Unit Development Committee) and Collier County Bar Associations, the Bonita Springs Board of Realtors, and the Naples and Bonita Springs Chambers of Commerce. He also serves as a Director of the Naples Gulfshore Rotary Club and is a past Board Member and officer of his community association and is Past Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Caring Place (located at the North Naples United Methodist Church). Prior to joining Cohen & Grigsby, Mr. Kirkpatrick was a partner at the law firm of Cummings & Lockwood LLC. Mr. Kirkpatrick resides in Naples, Florida.

Jason Korn focuses his practice in the areas of complex business litigation and dispute resolution, including business torts, real estate litigation and construction litigation. He has represented clients in a wide variety of transactional disputes, with an emphasis on representing closely-held businesses and high net worth individuals. Mr. Korn earned his B.A. (Economics and Management) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1988 and his J.D. from the Boston University School of Law in 1991. He is admitted to practice in Florida, New York and Massachusetts. He is currently president of the Trial Lawyers Section of the Collier County Bar Association and is also serving his fourth year on the Florida Bar's Professional Ethics Committee, having been recently reappointed by the president of the Florida Bar to continuing serving on the Committee. He is also the immediate past chair and a current member of the Peer Review Committee of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, having previously been appointed to the Committee by The Honorable William Blackwell, Chief Judge of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit. Mr. Korn is also a member of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit Committee on Professionalism, having been appointed to the Committee by The Honorable Hugh Starnes, then Chief Judge of the Circuit. He chaired the subcommittee that drafted the Standards of Professional Conduct for Lawyers Practicing in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit. He also serves as the official circuit reporter and liaison to the Florida Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism. Mr. Korn is also a past president of the Young Lawyers Section of the Collier County Bar Association. He is a member of the Committee on Business & Corporate Litigation and the Committee on Professional Conduct, Section of Business Law of the American Bar Association. He is a member of the Committee on Business Torts, and the Committee on Construction Litigation, Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association. Prior to joining Cohen & Grigsby, Mr. Korn was a partner at the law firm of Cummings & Lockwood LLC. He resides in Naples, Florida.

Hugh Nevin is a founder and former president of Cohen & Grigsby and concentrates his practice in international tax, mergers and acquisitions, and business law. Mr. Nevin, who is fluent in German, focuses a substantial part of his practice in advising foreign enterprises and individuals investing and conducting their businesses in the United States and U.S. companies doing business abroad. He has also handled securing temporary and permanent visas and labor certifications for foreign nationals. He earned a B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude) from Harvard College in 1968, a Rotary International Fellowship from Freie Universitat Berlin in 1971, and a J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School in 1974. Mr. Nevin is licensed to practice law in Florida and, together with Mr. Henry Cohen, opened the Firm’s office in Naples, Florida where he advises foreign individuals, primarily Germans and Canadians, as to U.S. estate, gift and income tax. Mr. Nevin resides in Bonita Springs, Florida and Sewickley, Pennsylvania.

Kelley Geraghty Price was recently elected as president-elect of the Collier County Bar Association, having previously served as treasurer and secretary, and as president of the Young Lawyers Section. Ms. Price concentrates her practice on general civil and commercial litigation and dispute resolution. She earned her B.A. in Education (with high honors) from the University of Florida in 1987 and her J.D. (Dean’s List, 1988 and 1989; Member, Justice Thornal Moot Court Team, Chester Bedell American Inns of Court; President, Florida Blue Key) from the University of Florida College of Law in 1990. She is admitted to practice in Florida and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. She is a member of the Trial Lawyers Section of the The Florida Bar, the American Bar Association, The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, and the Florida Bar Grievance Committee for Collier County. Ms. Price is a member of and past president of the Thomas S. Biggs American Inns of Court. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the The Naples Players and is a member of the Forum Club of Southwest Florida. Prior to joining Cohen & Grigsby, Ms. Price was a partner at the law firm of Cummings & Lockwood LLC. She resides in Naples, Florida.

Norma Brenne Vincent concentrates her practice on immigration, international business, and real estate matters. She is the Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany for the state of Florida. Norma earned her J.D. (with honors, Book Awards in Constitutional Law and Trial Advocacy) from the University of Florida College of Law in 1996 and her B.A. (summa cum laude, Distinguished Journalism Graduate) in Journalism and Public Relations from Troy State University in 1993. She is admitted to practice in Florida and serves as a Florida civil law notary. Ms. Vincent is a member of the Collier County Bar Association, the Collier County Women’s Bar Association, and International Section of the Florida Bar. She also chairs the Political Action and Public Relations Committees and serves as Vice President/Secretary for the German/American Business Chamber of Southwest Florida. She is a frequent contributing author to German language magazines. Prior to joining Cohen & Grigsby, Ms. Vincent was an associate at the law firm of Steel Hector & Davis LLP. She was born and raised in Germany and resides in Naples, Florida.