SHIRLEY CHRISTIAN ELECTED PRESIDENT

OF MAHONING COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

SHIRLEY J. CHRISTIAN was elected last month as president of the Mahoning County Bar Association, a 500-member organization of area lawyers. She is the second woman elected to the position. Christian has been a bar association trustee and member of its grievance committee. "Shirley's work on the local and state levels reflects a decades-long pattern of heavy community involvement by HHM lawyers," said ALAN D. WENGER, chair of HHM's management committee. "Her election to lead the county bar reflects the way she's recognized as a service-oriented leader." Read more here.

HHM OIL & GAS SEMINAR INFORMS
TRUMBULL COUNTY LANDOWNERS
 

CONTRACTS WITH OIL & GAS COMPANIES REQUIRE CLOSE SCRUTINY & CAUTION

By Martin J. Boetcher

The rise of oil & gas exploration activity in the northeastern Ohio has created business opportunities for many local companies. Making the most of those opportunities requires caution with respect to the contracts that govern business relationships with the large oil & gas companies and their primary suppliers. Before signing such a contract, be sure to understand its terms. Read more here.

NEW EEOC GUIDELINES MAY MEAN
NEW APPROACHES BY EMPLOYERS
 

New guidelines issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission affect how employers can use criminal background checks. The EEOC is not prohibiting such checks, but seeking to make sure information is not used in a discriminatory way. Employers may want to consider new approaches. Read more here.

ALAN D. WENGER recently published an article in Ohio Lawyer warning lawyers who represent landowners to avoid lease pitfalls that could bring "disastrous consequences." Ohio Lawyer is published by the Ohio State Bar Association for its 31,000 members. In his article, Wenger warns that Ohio's shale boom means new challenges to landowners' lawyers, including "confusing contracts" advanced by energy companies. "We should do better than this for our lessor clients," Wenger writes. More information, including a copy of the article, is available here.

PAUL M. DUTTON, who is chairman of the William Swanston Charitable Fund, recently led a news conference at which the fund announced a $600,000 grant for Campbell Works for Children, a multi-faceted program for at-risk children. The grant is the largest in the Swanston Fund's history. Dutton has been a trustee of the fund for 30 years. The grant announcement enjoyed high-profile news coverage, including this story on WKBN-TV Channel 27.

MICHAEL J. McGEE and other members of the Warren Trumbull County Public Library's board of trustees cut a ribbon in June to mark the opening of the new Cortland library, which more than doubled in size and added many new, modern features.
 

HHM is a co-sponsor of Beaver Township's Music in the Park, an 11-week summer concert series that brings performers to the Woodworth Park gazebo on Wednesday nights.
 

HHM was among the sponsors of the Suzi Solomon Golf Classic at Avalon at Squaw Creek in June to raise funds for the Jewish Community Center. The firm also co-sponsored the Children's Circle of Friends Sports Celebrity Golf Classic at the Lake Club in July, a fund-raiser for the D&E Counseling Center.