Fran is skilled in resolving complex business disputes for public and private companies, including matters involving securities, corporate governance, cybersecurity, consumer, and contract law. Her practice also includes counseling businesses on compliance and training for data privacy and cybersecurity, ethics, anti-bribery, and governance best practices. She regularly defends clients in SEC and other regulatory enforcement actions, and has conducted many internal corporate and special litigation investigations. Fran has litigated numerous takeover and proxy contests involving public companies. She is an accomplished appellate lawyer, having successfully argued several groundbreaking issues. She also serves as an arbitrator on the American Arbitration Association Commercial and Consumer Panels, and has represented numerous clients in arbitration proceedings.

Fran was tapped by the Department of Homeland Security to speak on “Cybersecurity in the C-Suite and Boardroom” in its C-Cubed webinar series. In independent surveys of in-house counsel and peer attorneys, Fran is ranked as one of Chambers USA’s “Leaders in Their Field” in Ohio for General Commercial Litigation, and a “State Litigation Star” in Ohio by Benchmark Litigation. She has appeared in Benchmark’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation” in the U.S. since 2014. Fran is nationally recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Securities Litigation, and Banking & Finance Litigation, and was named Best Lawyers’ 2017 “Lawyer of the Year” for Securities Litigation and 2018 “Lawyer of the Year” for Banking and Finance Litigation (Cleveland).