Dinsmore & Shohl, Cincinnati's largest law firm, has added a pair of attorneys to its Cincinnati office who will form a new "venture capital power team." The firm said the additions come as the Midwest continues to attract entrepreneurs and startups at an explosive rate.
Brett Renzenbrink and Megan Hymore, formerly of Ulmer & Berne, have joined Dinsmore’s corporate practice group as partners, effective May 10 and May 11, respectively. The hires add to and complement Dinsmore’s roster of venture and corporate attorneys located across the country, the firm said.
Their departure from Ulmer & Berne comes shortly after eight partners, including the co-leaders of the firm's venture law group, left to join Frost Brown Todd.
Renzenbrink, a self-described twice-failed entrepreneur and Business Courier “Forty Under 40” honoree, adds experience in corporate venture law, while Hymore, a registered patent attorney, has expertise in intellectual property matters across a variety of technologies.
Dinsmore said the two will work as a team to “ensure that IP opportunities and risks are not an afterthought.” Venture capital transactions involve significant financial risks and legal complexities related to securities, fundraising, intellectual property, privacy, corporate governance and regulatory compliance.
“While we have a number of attorneys who practice in the venture capital space, we do not have anyone as immersed in the practice as these two,” Bobby Lucas, chair of the firm’s corporate practice group, said in a release. “We are excited to partner with Brett and Megan to take our venture practice to new heights.”
After earning his J.D. from Northern Kentucky University, Renzenbrink ran the Cincinnati office of Columbus-based law firm Luper Neidenthal & Logan. He has served as the outside chief legal officer for a variety of startups, in addition to developing and establishing Cincinnati-area organizations.
He serves on the board of trustees for Whiskey and Wishes, which fundraises for youth organizations throughout Greater Cincinnati, and is the former vice-chair of the Emory Federal Credit Union board.
Hymore, meanwhile, earned her J.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago-Kent College of Law. She spent a dozen years as in-house counsel for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), where she handled patent, trademark, advertising and commercial legal matters.
With a desire to use her in-house perspective to help startups, she jumped to law firm Keating Muething & Klekamp and became active in Cincinnati’s startup ecosystem. She currently mentors entrepreneurs weekly through Morning Mentoring, a program by Alloy Development and Queen City Angels.
Also joining Dinsmore from Ulmer are Jason Snyder and Fuxing “Amber” Sai.
Snyder, who earned his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, will work with the commercial litigation practice group as an associate of counsel.
Sai, who earned her J.D. from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, will work with the corporate practice group as an associate.
Dinsmore is Cincinnati's largest law firm with 206 local attorneys, according to Courier research. Nationally, the firm has a team of more than 750 attorneys.
