Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP officially welcomed three new associate attorneys to the Firm in its Cleveland office, following The Ohio Supreme Court’s swearing-in ceremony on November 14, admitting them to the Ohio Bar. All three served as summer associates at the Firm in 2021.
Ryan Geary and Makela Hayford joined the firm’s Litigation Practice Area, while Kelsey Holmberg joined its Business Law Practice.
“We are very excited to have three new associates, all graduates of our summer associate program, join our practice” remarked Cleveland Partner-in-Charge Craig Owen White. “Ryan, Makela, and Kelsey are great new assets for our Cleveland office as well as the Northeast Ohio community. We look forward to their contribution to the fabric of our office and community.”
Geary works on complex commercial litigation matters, including commercial contracts, labor and employment, construction, and business torts. He handles cases at all stages of litigation, including engaging and managing discovery, drafting pleadings, and researching and drafting dispositive motions and briefs. Geary advised city officials at the City of South Bend Department of Law as an extern. He also served as a judicial extern to the Honorable William Baughman Jr. in the Northern District of Ohio and to the Honorable Jason Cichowicz of the St. Joseph County Probate Court. Geary also gained experience as a governmental affairs intern with Summa Health Systems’ Office of the General Counsel.
Geary graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame Law School in May, where he was the Senior Articles Editor on the Notre Dame Journal of Legislation and an executive board member for the ACLU. He earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and political science from Miami University.
Hayford was a two-year summer associate with Hahn Loeser in 2020 and 2021. She now handles complex commercial litigation disputes at all stages, including engaging and managing discovery, drafting pleadings, and researching and drafting dispositive motions and briefs.
Earning her J.D. from Case Western Reserve University this past May, Hayford was president of the Student Bar Association, president of the Black Law Students Association, and a teaching assistant for Criminal Law, Evidence, and Legal Writing classes. She was also a First Amendment Fellow with Harvard Law School in 2021 and 2022. Hayford also earned her B.A. in sociology from Case Western Reserve, where received the President’s Award for Outstanding Student Leadership, was president of the African American Society, and a Louis Stokes Congressional Black Caucus Scholar.
Holmberg focuses on a wide variety of corporate transactional matters including corporate formation and governance, mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts and financings. She spent a year interning with a Midwest-based venture capital firm and worked as a Player Personnel intern with the Cleveland Browns for five seasons. During her final year of law school, Holmberg served as a legal extern for Haslam Sports Group, working under the General Counsel of the Cleveland Browns and Columbus Crew.
Holmberg graduated summa cum laude from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, while simultaneously receiving her M.B.A. degree from Cleveland State’s Monte Ahuja College of Business. While at Cleveland-Marshall, she served as the president of the Entertainment and Sports Law Association, president of the Dean’s Leadership Fellows Executive Board, and as a managing editor on the Global Business Law Review. Holmberg received her B.A. from Case Western Reserve University, graduating summa cum laude as a double major in Economics and Political Science. As an undergraduate, she was the recipient of numerous academic honors and prizes, a four-year member of the Varsity Women’s Swim team and a Resident Assistant.
