Beyond Legal

We’ve been thinking creatively about how to best serve our clients since our founding in 1909. As such, our lawyers and professional staff are consistently evaluating the services that we provide to our clients and developing innovative and creative ways to advance our clients' legal and business goals. We know that many times this means assisting our clients in ways that extend beyond the traditional practice of law.

We have numerous in-house professionals who work hand-in-hand with both our attorneys and our clients to identify and implement client-focused solutions that extend beyond legal services.  By going beyond legal, we provide our clients access to additional business consulting across a variety of disciplines, including government relations, strategic communications, data strategy and project management.  Learn more about our services below.

Vorys Advisors

Vorys Advisors LLC provides business and strategic counsel to Ohio businesses in manufacturing, health care, energy, real estate, venture capital, technology and other industries. Former Ohio Senate President Thomas Niehaus (R), former Ohio State Senator Lou Gentile (D), Karen Cincione and David Hoeffel serve as principals for Vorys Advisors. The bi-partisan team assists companies that are working with state, local and federal government; consults on economic development and infrastructure projects; helps to establish important relationships and networks for clients; and consults on public policy strategies.  

Learn more at vorysadvisors.com.

Vista Site Selection 

Vista Site Selection, an ancillary business of the firm, is dedicated to helping companies select the most advantageous and economically viable real estate sites on which to expand existing operations or develop future locations.  The multidisciplinary team works seamlessly as a one-stop shop to provide comprehensive and customized client service. 

When evaluating potential locations for development, the Vista team begins by listening to clients and approaching each engagement with an open mindset to obtain the best outcomes for their businesses.  The team understands the complexities and potential roadblocks clients often face in building new facilities, as well as the long-term challenges of managing ongoing operations.  The team's interdisciplinary experience positions them to ask the right questions to select the most optimal sites on which to build, expand or consolidate clients’ businesses.  The team's data analytics, real estate and finance professionals work together to identify locations with workforces equipped to manufacture products and consumer markets primed to purchase goods or services.   Their diverse experience enables us to understand key considerations that are unique to each industry and determine the demographics and infrastructure needed to achieve our clients’ business goals.

Learn more at vistasiteselection.com.

Precision eControl 

Precision eControl, an ancillary business of the firm, helps companies take control of their online and brick-and-mortar channels. It is a dedicated technology and software-as-a-service business that helps brands maintain channel control, protect brand value, and increase online sales. The unique platform provides precision insights to identify online activity disrupting business KPIs, analytics to focus enforcement actions where they will have the greatest financial impact, and proprietary measurement to demonstrate commercial results for brands. 

Learn more at precisionecontrol.com.

Pinpoint People

Keeping track of benefit plan participants and beneficiaries can be a challenging task.  Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), fiduciaries of qualified retirement plans have a duty to locate participants and beneficiaries who have gone missing.

Generally, missing participants are those individuals who leave the employment of a plan sponsor, who have a benefit under the retirement plan, but who cannot be located by the plan.  Often plans, by no fault of their own, have a significant number of missing participants. 

Fulfilling fiduciary obligations and locating missing participants and beneficiaries can be daunting, expensive and time-consuming.  Pinpoint People is a Vorys service designed to alleviate this burden helping businesses find these individuals and fulfill their fiduciary obligations under ERISA. 

Leveraging extensive databases and using a team of investigators, we can locate missing participants and beneficiaries.  Whether your company needs to fulfill fiduciary responsibilities, distribute unclaimed benefits or reconnect with former employees for compliance purposes, Pinpoint People provides a seamless and cost-effective solution.  With detailed reporting and ongoing support, we make the complex task of locating lost individuals straightforward and hassle-free.

Vorys Practice and Litigation Technology Professionals

The Vorys Practice Technology Department assists with a variety of business issues for all types of matters.  From data analytics and reporting, to eDiscovery services and practice-specific technologies, the certified experts leverage innovative technology to help our clients solve even the most complex business and legal problems.  Vorys practice technology professionals have more than 60 years of combined experience in the legal field.  The department is led by Julie Brown, a certified e-discovery specialist and nationally recognized expert on the mechanics of e-discovery.  Julie is certified in Lean Six Sigma and received the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA)’s 2011 Distinguished Peer Award for Litigation and Practice Support. The award recognized her work streamlining Vorys’ litigation technology processes, reducing client costs and ensuring that processes are consistent throughout the firm, particularly as it relates to e-discovery.

What we do:

eDiscovery Services

We have access to advanced technology to help our clients collect electronic data (chats, texts, social media, emails, etc.) and convert to a usable, reviewable format, as well as predictive coding technology which leverages artificial intelligence to help analyze and filter data and documents.  Vorys’ main processing and review platform for discovery is Conduent’s Viewpoint.  Viewpoint is an end-to-end solution from processing through production resulting in increased efficiency.  Viewpoint’s Continuous Active Learning, Technology Assisted Review and advanced analytics have saved Vorys clients millions of dollars in document review costs.

Vorys practice technology professionals are certified as Viewpoint Processing Administrators and Viewpoint Review & Analytics Administrators.  In addition to Viewpoint, the team has four certified e-discovery specialists.

In addition to Viewpoint our Practice Technology team leverages the power of OPUS2 for evidence management.  OPUS2 is a secure, cloud based solution Vorys attorneys use to collaborate and prepare for depositions and trials.

Data Analytics and Automation

From data that lives inside our brains and electronic records saved to our system, to hard copy data contained in legal pads, periodicals or paper files. Our attorneys and our clients, have a wealth of information that can be tapped into for any given matter.  The Practice Technology Department uses various analytics tools, automation and artificial intelligence to collect, analyze, optimize and transform data into user-friendly dashboards making esoteric data comprehensible and actionable.  

Vorys Strategic Communications Professionals

Vorys’ communications professionals assist firm clients with media relations issues, such as crisis communications, litigation, investigative reports and basic reporter inquiries.  The team is led by two former reporters with significant experience in public relations, crisis communications and media relations.

What We Do:

• Craft messages and talking points for communication to media, clients, vendors and customers
• Create crisis communication strategies that align with overall objectives
• Work as litigation communication consultants to advance in-court legal strategies
• Identify the best reporters for proactive story pitching or announcements
• Provide guidance on how to respond to incoming media requests including providing background on reporters
• Provide media training and education for company spokespeople
• Draft shareholder letters and communications

The Vorys strategic communications team has assisted firm clients from several industries including: energy, financial institutions, health care services, pharmaceutical and education. The team maintains the firm’s attorney-client privilege.  Our professionals are quickly brought up to speed by Vorys attorneys and can immediately begin working on a communications strategy for our clients.

Who We Are:  

Rob Phillips: As a former legal reporter for newspapers in Ohio and suburban Chicago, Rob covered hundreds of cases and trials in both civil and criminal court. While earning his MBA, he focused on marketing messaging and business communications and previously handled public relations for The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.  He understands what messages, timing and tactics best smooth over difficult situations being pursued by media. Read more.

Jen House: Jen is a former public radio reporter and has several years experience in public relations/strategic communications. While leading media relations efforts for the Ohio Department of Health, she responded to sensitive media issues and advised and educated leaders of 126 local departments. Jen is a proven, quick-thinking spokeswoman who has experience crafting messages on behalf of clients. She also has valuable relationships with countless reporters across Ohio. Read more.

Vorys Legal Project Management Professionals

To help our attorneys and clients manage their cases in a strategic and cost-efficient manner, Vorys employs legal project management through industry certified experts using a proven methodology and practice specific tools. The firm employs a sophisticated workflow and project management system to manage its cases and to monitor metrics.  This enables Vorys to implement complex, yet efficient, logistical planning.

At Vorys, we have a dedicated Project Management Office, with two Lean Six Sigma certified project managers on staff. The staff  also have Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

What We Do:

Our project management professionals work with our attorneys and clients to utilize practice-specific templates to help:

• Manage matters
• Define expectations
• Meet budgets
• Stay on schedule
• Improve communications
• Identify risks and potential responses
• Improve our service delivery through a lessons learned reflection at the conclusion.

In addition to the staff in the Project Management Office, all of the firm’s paralegals have completed legal project management training.  Training for Vorys attorneys – which is taught by a renowned expert in legal project management – is ongoing.

Who We Are:  

Scott David: Scott has spent more than 20 years working as a project manager in a variety of industries.  He is the head of Vorys Project Management Office.  At Vorys, Scott has managed a variety of legal project management and process improvement projects focused on creating efficiencies.  Read more.

Doreen Watt: Doreen is the firm's director of strategic project management.  She has managed projects for more than 25 years. Doreen provides legal and business project management expertise and spearheads process and practice improvement projects to redefine processes that improve productivity.  Read More.