Mansour Gavin Named a 2022 Northeast Ohio Top Workplace

Mansour Gavin LPA has been awarded a 2022 Top Workplaces honor by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer Top Workplaces. The list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage, LLC. The anonymous survey uniquely measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization including alignment, execution, and connection, just to name a few.

“Companies need to authentically represent their brand to job-seekers,” said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. “The employee experience needs to be on the mission-critical list. Leaders who embrace a people-first culture will benefit greatly. By giving employees a voice and showcasing your authentic culture through employer branding, organizations can attract those job seekers who complement their culture. Culture drives performance.”

ABOUT

Mansour Gavin LPA provides superior legal services and client-focused solutions for a broad range of clients in the areas of civil litigation, real estate and land use, labor and employment, estate planning and probate, intellectual property, environmental, and corporate and business law.

Through a collaborative team approach, we seek practical, value-added solutions for complex and routine legal and business issues for our clients of all sizes, including many successful privately held and publicly traded corporations.

Tatyana Pishnyak is taking part in a free legal clinic and resource fair for Ukrainians affected by war on June 24^th from 9am-2pm at the Church of Evangelic Faith in Parma, OH. Consultations and legal advice will be provided for free for a range of legal issues such as immigration, real estate, employment, discrimination, etc.

*Complimentary childcare will be provided.

Tatyana and her husband are from Ukraine, where their family and friends still reside.

Mansour Gavin proudly welcomes our 2022 summer associates: Kelley Murray, Savannah Gordon, and Natalie Browning. Mansour Gavin invites talented second-year law students to participate in a Summer Associate Program. Candidates are selected based on their outstanding academic performance and character, proven leadership and interpersonal skills, dedicated development of advocacy and legal skills, passionate commitment to the legal profession and community.

Summer associates become “part of the team” at Mansour Gavin. A designated mentor attorney provides personal guidance for each of them, while they work on a variety of projects with attorneys across multiple practice areas. Summer associates receive daily opportunities to acquire hands-on litigation and transactional skills that may include conducting legal research, drafting motions, memoranda of law, legal opinions, correspondence, motions, jury instructions, reports, case evaluations and articles, attending state and federal court proceedings, assisting with and attending depositions, and preparing for, participating in and observing trials.

The program is designed to introduce law students to the challenges of working in a law firm and to identify the skills entry-level lawyers need to launch a successful legal career.

Mansour Gavin LPA is an established law firm founded in 1954 with offices in Cleveland and Independence, Ohio. Comprised of 45+ employees, including 22 lawyers, the firm provides a wide range of legal services to individuals and many successful privately held and publicly traded corporations.

Ernest P. Mansour: 1931-2022

We are deeply saddened by the loss of our co-founder, mentor, and dear friend, Ernest P. Mansour or “Ernie” as we all knew him.

Ernie was born and raised in Cleveland and was the younger of two children of Lebanese immigrants. He attended Saint Ignatius High School and then Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA, where he met his wife. Ernie earned his law degree from Western Reserve University and befriended his future partner, Michael Gavin. Ernie and Mike joined forces in 1971 and formed what is today the Mansour Gavin firm.

When asked why he decided to become a lawyer, Ernie said that growing up, it was engrained in him by his parents that he was either going to be a doctor or a lawyer. At the time, doctors still made house calls and going to someone’s bedside in the middle of the night didn’t appeal to him. Mansour stated, “my vision of a being lawyer was sitting behind a desk, putting my feet up, and answering the phone and so I decided to become a lawyer.” Ironically, for the next 60 plus years, Ernie never sat behind a desk with his feet up on it. In fact, only now has Ernie truly slowed down.

Ernie was married to his surviving wife Lois for 66 years. Ernie and Lois’ fondest memories were the times spent with their seven children and 14 grandchildren: Lorraine A. Houston (son-in-law Robert, grandchildren Ross, Reed, and Neal), Mark E. Mansour (daughter-in-law Susan, grandchildren Erin and Kyle), Carol E. Anton (son-in-law Arthur, grandchildren Brett, Brian, Paige, and Eric), Robert G. Mansour (grandchildren Jessica, John, and Evan), Laura T. Mansour, Thomas M. Mansour (daughter-in-law Caroline, grandchildren Emma and Burke), and Drew S. Mansour.

“Ernie was a pillar of the Cleveland community through his work and his philanthropy,” said Mansour Gavin President Tony Coyne. “On behalf of the Mansour Gavin family, we extend our deepest condolences to his family, his friends, and those he touched through contributions to the legal community throughout his lifetime. Ernie was a great friend of mine. His commitment to this firm and his guiding values will forever be remembered.”

Ernie built a longstanding law firm built on trust and friendship, where clients and employees feel like family. Ernie was known in the highest levels of Cleveland’s business community for his sound advice, fierce representation, and intense dedication to his clients. He traveled the globe representing clients’ interests and in complex litigation. But what set Ernie apart was his loyalty to his friends, many of whom were his clients, and his unwavering support for any matter, big or small. Ernie was always the first to reach out when help was needed or to simply give an ear when the need arose. He enjoyed the practice of law for more than 60 years and he truly loved helping people. Even years after he stopped practicing law, Ernie was still usually the first one to arrive at the office, turning the lights on each morning. There is no doubt that the legacy Ernie Mansour created is far reaching and endures in the conduct of past and present attorneys of Mansour Gavin. His story demonstrates a valuable principle—the success and reputation of one is dependent on the success and reputation of all. We will all miss Ernie’s presence at the office each morning.

Mansour’s legacy will live on through family, friends, and the law firm he built and loved.

You can read Mr. Mansour’s obituary here.

Malek Khawam will serve as a moderator for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s upcoming program titled “Whitewashing the Arab American Experience: No Need to Apply as a Minority!”

About the program:
This program will explore the history of the legal designation of Arab as “white” in the United States. Arab Americans are in a catch-22 – “white” enough not to be a minority and yet not “white” enough to be included in the mainstream. They will also discuss the legal and societal remedies to improve the Arab American experience in Ohio and the United States.

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, April 19th from 12-1pm and is eligible for 1 hour of CLE via Zoom only.

For additional information or to register, click here.

 

On March 3, President Biden signed H.R. 4445 “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021.” The bipartisan bill amends the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to permit an employee alleging sexual assault or harassment to invalidate a pre-dispute arbitration agreement or joint-action waiver. Such arbitration agreements are typically found in employment agreements.

§402 details that “at the election of the person alleging conduct constituting a sexual harassment dispute or sexual assault dispute, or the named representative of a class or in a collective action alleging such conduct, no predispute arbitration agreement or predispute join-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to a case which is filed under Federal, Tribal, or State law and relates to the sexual assault dispute or the sexual harassment dispute.”

Plainly, if an employee signs an agreement to arbitrate employment-related claims at the onset of or during employment and later experiences sexual harassment or assault, the employee can choose to pursue his or her claims in court rather than through arbitration. Additionally, if an employee signs an agreement to pursue his or her claims only individually, and not as a member of a class action lawsuit, the employee may elect to dispense with that agreement and pursue claims on a joint basis with other alleged victims. The discretion to waive the agreement rests solely on the employee. The legislation also requires that courts, rather than arbitrators, determine whether H.R. 4445 applies to a given claim, even if the agreement at issue delegates that authority to an arbitrator. This is a considerable departure from U.S. Supreme Court precedent holding that under the FAA, parties to arbitration agreements could delegate the decision of whether a claim is arbitrable to the arbitrator.

The FAA amendment applies “to any dispute or claim that arises or accrues on or after the date of enactment.” Thus, while the bill could invalidate pre-dispute agreements entered prior to its enactment, it would not affect disputes that began prior to the bill’s enactment.

The practical effect is that employers will no longer be able to keep sexual assault and sexual harassment claims out of court through mandatory arbitration and should take action to update any arbitration agreements to comply with the legislative exception relating to sexual assault or sexual harassment claims. Employers should further prepare for any existing sexual assault or sexual harassment claims currently in arbitration to be moved to the courts if the employee so chooses.

Our Labor or Employment attorneys are available to assist in addressing any questions you may have regarding these developments. To learn more about these issues, please contact the Mansour Gavin lawyer with whom you usually work or any member of the firm’s  Labor or Employment group.

In tragic times of Russian aggression against Ukraine, we are witness to the unthinkable. Two members of the Mansour Gavin family have close ties to Ukraine. Tatyana Pishnyak and her husband are from Ukraine, where their family and friends still reside. Tim Boyko is of Ukrainian descent, both of his grandparents were born there, and he is actively involved with the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese in Parma.

We stand with the people of Ukraine and hope for an immediate end to this war.

To support Ukrainian humanitarian efforts, please consider contributing to one of the following organizations.

Cleveland Maidan Association – a local organization sending humanitarian help to Ukraine – https://www.clevelandmaidan.info/

Razom Ukraine – a U.S. organization sending humanitarian help to Ukraine – https://razomforukraine.org/razom-emergency-response/

Saint Josephat Eparchy – Provides food, clothing, shelter, and medical assistance to Ukraine – https://stjosaphateparchy.com/

#WeStandWithUkraine

Diane A. Calta will participate in the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s upcoming REAL (Racial Equity and the Law) Talk webinar titled “Diversifying Outside Counsel Spend and Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Talent.” The webinar will feature multiple in-house and outside counsel panelists discussing practical, action-oriented best practices for in-house counsel to review, track, and engage with their outside counsel to increase the diversity of external legal spend and for all legal organizations to recruit, retain, and engage diverse talent.

The webinar will take place Fri, February 11, 2022 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET and offers 1 hour of CLE credit.

For additional information and to register, click here.

Mansour Gavin is proud to announce that the following attorneys have been named to the 2022 Ohio Super Lawyers^® and 2022 Ohio Rising Stars^® lists!

Anthony J. Coyne, 2022 Ohio Super Lawyers^®
John W. Monroe, 2022 Ohio Super Lawyers^®
William A. Peseski, 2022 Ohio Rising Stars^®

Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. The objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel.

Rising Stars are outstanding lawyers who are age 40 or younger or who have been in practice for 10 years or less. While up to 5 percent of the lawyers in a state are named to Super Lawyers each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in a state are named to Rising Stars.

Every year Super Lawyers selects attorneys from all firm sizes and over 70 practice areas throughout the State of Ohio using a patented multiphase selection process. Only up to five percent of the lawyers in the state are named to Super Lawyers, and no more than 2.5 percent are named to the Rising Stars list.

Mansour Gavin LPA is an established law firm founded in 1954 with offices in Cleveland and Independence, Ohio. Comprised of 45+ employees, including 22 lawyers, the firm provides a wide range of legal services to individuals and many successful privately held and publicly traded corporations.

Anthony J. Coyne
President, Mansour Gavin LPA