Legal Work Highlights

Successfully defended clients in multiple loan and multiple party mortgage fraud cases.

Successfully obtained summary judgment declaring that the client’s recorded mortgage securing a $225,000 loan had first priority despite the existence of a prior unrecorded mortgage.

Successfully obtained the dismissal of a fraudulent conveyance and preference transfer action against several directors and shareholders of a magazine and periodical wholesaler.

Assisted in successfully pursuing and obtaining a judgment for a corporate and individual client totaling approximately $180,000 for claims arising out of the opposing parties’ breach of an asset purchase agreement and non-compete agreement.

Assisted in the successful defense and in obtaining a judgment in favor of a hospital dismissing a doctor’s claims that the hospital had allegedly breached its obligation to bill for the doctor’s services.

Law School

Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1992, cum laude
The Tax Lawyer, Member, Editorial Board

Undergraduate School

University of Pennsylvania, College of Arts and Sciences, B.A., 1989, cum laude

University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, B.S., 1989, cum laude

Russ is licensed to practice in the following state(s):

New Jersey, 1992

New York, 1993

Ohio, 1997

Russ is admitted to practice before the following court(s):

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio

Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

Local & National Recognition

The Best Lawyers in America©, Litigation-Real Estate, 2013-2021; Columbus Real Estate Litigation “Lawyer of the Year,” 2018

Martindale-Hubbell® AV Rated

Selected for inclusion as a 2013 Top Rated Lawyer in “Banking and Finance Law” in The American Lawyer Corporate Counsel 

Selected for inclusion in “Who’s Who in Energy” in Columbus Business First, 2013-2014, 2014-2015

Selected for inclusion in Central Ohio’s Top Lawyers by Columbus CEOMagazine, 2009-2020

Ohio Super Lawyers® Rising Star, 2005-2007

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

Ohio State Bar Association

Columbus Bar Association, Professional Ethics Committee; Common Pleas Court Committee; Real Property Committee; Federal Courts Committee

Ohio Land Title Association, Past President (2017-2018) and Past Trustee (2013-2019)

American Land Title Association, Title Counsel Committee

American Bar Association

Ohio Bankers League

Ohio Oil and Gas Association

Russ was invited to speak at the following events:

“Pandemic Fatigue . . . Maybe . . . Cyber Fraud and Elder Abuse Fatigue . . . Never!” Kentucky Land Title Association, Columbus, Ohio, June 9, 2021.

“Let’s Be Careful Out There: Identification for Cyber Fraud and Elder Abuse in the Title Industry,” Ohio Land Title Association, Columbus, Ohio, September 22, 2020.

“Title Agency Ethics: Operating Ethically in an Unethical World,” Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Columbus, Ohio, July 23, 2020.

“Title Agency Ethics: Operating Ethically in an Unethical World,” Kentucky Land Title Association, Louisville, Kentucky, November 13, 2019.

“Title Agency Ethics: Operating Ethically in an Unethical World,” Stewart Title Guaranty Company, Westerville, Ohio, November 11, 2019.

“Real Estate Closing Ethics: Operating Ethically in an Unethical World,” Ohio State Bar Association, Columbus, Ohio, October 16, 2019.

“Title Agency Ethics: Operating Ethically in an Unethical World,” Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Louisville, Kentucky, June 4, 2019.

“Mineral Rights: Ownership and Potential Title Claims,” Ohio Land Title Association, Worthington, Ohio, April 18, 2017.

“Mortgage Fraud: The Evolving Problem….How to Detect and Avoid It,” Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Dublin, Ohio, March 25, 2015 and Louisville, Kentucky, June 2, 2015.

“The Coming Wave of Director and Officer Lawsuits: Navigating the Deluge of FOIC Enforcement, Dodd Frank and Borrower Lawsuits”; Ohio Bankers League/West Virginia Bankers Association/Illinois League of Financial Institutions Annual Convention, Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, July 30, 2013.

“Oil and Gas Litigation: The New Rage”, Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Dublin, Ohio, November 13, 2012.

“2012 Ohio Oil and Gas Law Update: The Beginning of the Avalanche???”, Ohio Land Title Association, Columbus, Ohio, September 11, 2012.

“2012 Case Law Update and Legislative Update”, Ohio Land Title Association, Dublin, Ohio, May 4, 2012.

“Ethics in Title Agency Operations: Knowing Right from Wrong”, Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Dublin, Ohio, November 15, 2011.

“Best Practices in Developing Controls for Agency Operations”, Stewart Title Guaranty Company, Columbus, Ohio, November 11, 2011.

“Mortgage Fraud: Identification of Red Flags,” Ohio Land Title Association, Columbus, Ohio, June 14, 2011.

“Best Practices in Developing Controls for Agency Operations,” Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Columbus, Ohio, November 16, 2010.

“Title Court,” Ohio Land Title Association, Columbus, Ohio, May 8, 2010.

“Claims Chronicles”, Stewart Title Guaranty Company, Columbus, Ohio November 11, 2009.

“Mortgage Fraud: An Ounce of Prevention is a Worth a Pound of Cure,” Ohio Land Title Association, Dublin, Ohio, May 1, 2009.

“What’s Hot in the Title Insurance Industry?”, Frost Brown Todd LLC Title Insurance Industry/Seminar Series, Columbus, Ohio, October 10, 2008.

“Mortgage Fraud — Red Flags at the Table,” Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Independence, Ohio, November 14, 2007.

“Affiliated Business Arrangements — Now and in the Future,” The Schottenstein, Zox & Dunn Title Insurance Industry Breakfast Exchange, Columbus, Ohio, August 22, 2007.

“Proposed Regulations for Amended Senate Bill 185 — Impact to the Title Insurance Industry,” The Schottenstein, Zox & Dunn Title Insurance Industry Breakfast Exchange, Columbus, Ohio, January 18, 2007.

“Consumers Strike Back…What Amended Senate Bill 185 Means to You and Your Title Insurance Business,” Co-presenter, The Schottenstein, Zox & Dunn Title Insurance Industry Breakfast Exchange, Columbus, Ohio, July 18, 2006.

“Mortgage Fraud: Federal, State and Local Criminal Enforcement and Civil Perspectives,” Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Dublin, Ohio, March 16, 2006.

“The Hot Issues: Ensuring Compliance in the Residential Mortgage Lending and Title Insurance Industry,” The Schottenstein, Zox & Dunn Title Insurance Industry Breakfast Exchange, Columbus, Ohio, December 14, 2005.

Russ is an author or contributor to the following publications:

“Hot Topics in Title Insurance Litigation: What is Old is New Again.” Ohio State Bar Association, Columbus, Ohio, June 29, 2021.

“A Mortgage by Any Other Name is Still a Mortgage: Griffin v. First Nat’l Accept. Co., 2013-OHIO-4302 (11th Dist. Sept. 30, 2013),” Title Topics, Ohio Land Title Association, October 2013.

“Another Ohio Appeals Court Finds Negligence is not a Bar to the Application of the Doctrine of Equitable Subrogation,” Frost Brown Todd Banking Law Blog, April 3, 2008.

“Inadequately Informed Notaries: Nightmares to the Lending and Title Insurance Industries, Title Topics, Ohio Land Title Association, November, 2002.

“Junk Faxes: Do Recent Federal Regulations Assist in Navigating the Murky Waters of Advertising by Fax?” Broker Magazine, Broker Magazine and Source Media, Inc., March, 2007.

“Junk Faxes: Are You In Compliance?” Title News, American Land Title Association, Nov./Dec., 2006.

“Junk Faxes: More Than A Small Claims Matter,”  Broker Magazine, Broker Magazine and Source Media, Inc., March, 2006 and Title News, American Land Title Association, Nov./Dec., 2005.

“Safeguards to Ensure Proper Mortgage Recordings,”  Title Topics, Ohio Land Title Association, August, 2003.

“The Importance of Proper Notarizations: A Lesson Never to Be Forgotten,” Title Topics, Ohio Land Title Association, December, 2004.

“Will the Real Owner of This Mortgage Please ‘Stand”: The Necessary Standing for Ohio Foreclosure Actions After Schwartzwald,” Frost Brown Todd Financial Services Blog, December 28, 2012.