Cincinnati, OH – Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP announces the election of four new partners: Sara Simrall Rorer, Mary L. Rust, Theresa H. Vella and James M. Zimmerman.

Sara Simrall Rorer, a health care attorney in the Business and Finance Department, received her B.A. from Miami University and her Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Tennessee. She later attended the University of Cincinnati College of Law where she received her J.D., was the Research Editor for the Law Review, and a member of the Order of the Coif. Upon graduation, Rorer was a law clerk for The Honorable S. Arthur Spiegel, Judge of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio. She then joined another local law firm as an associate. At the firm, her health care law practice includes advising physician and institutional clients on a wide range of regulatory and transactional matters. Rorer has served as chair of the Cincinnati Bar Association Health Care Law Committee, is a member of the American Health Lawyers’ Association and the Health Law Section of the American Bar Association. Rorer serves on the Board of Trustees, as Vice President and as a member of the Executive Committee of GLAD House, Inc. She is a member of the firm’s Health Care Practice Group and the Professional Women’s Resource Group (PWRG) and co-chair of the Breakfast Forum Series.

Mary L. Rust, formerly an associate in the Tax, Probate and Estate Planning Department, graduated from Miami University and the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where she was a member of the tax team of the Moot Court Board. Prior to joining the firm, Rust was Assistant Trust Counsel at Fifth Third Bank. Her principal practice areas at the firm include estate planning, charitable giving and trust and estate administration. Rust is licensed to practice law in Ohio and Kentucky. She is a member of the Trusts, Wills and Estates Section of the Cincinnati Bar Association, as well as a member of the Kentucky Bar Association, the Cincinnati Estate Planning Council, the Northern Kentucky Estate Planning Council, the Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council and the Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, where she chairs the Development Committee. Rust also is a member of the firm’s PWRG and co-chair of the Breakfast Forum Series.

Theresa H. Vella is a former associate in the Litigation Department. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Boston College, graduating cum laude, and her law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law, graduating magna cum laude and Order of the Woolsak. While in law school, she served on the Saint Louis University Law Journal and Journal of Health and Hospital Law. After graduation from law school, Vella worked as an associate in the litigation department of a law firm in Saint Louis, Missouri. She concentrates on commercial litigation and other general litigation in state and federal courts with particular emphasis on securities litigation, international dispute resolution, and corporate governance issues. Vella is admitted to practice law in the States of Ohio, Missouri and Illinois, and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Ohio, the Southern District of Indiana, and Eastern District of Missouri. Vella is also a member of the firm’s PWRG.

James M. Zimmerman is a former associate in the Business and Finance Department where he focuses his practice on corporate and transactional matters. He received his undergraduate degree, with honors, from Vanderbilt University and law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he served as Senior Notes Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and received Order of the Coif honors. Zimmerman focuses his practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and other corporate finance, corporate governance, and securities markets regulation. He also represents start-up and emerging companies on a broad range of matters. Zimmerman is a member of the Advisory Board of Give Back Cincinnati. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Ohio. Zimmerman was selected by Cincinnati Magazine as a 2005 and 2006 Super Lawyers Rising Star.

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP has offices in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton and Northern Kentucky. The firm provides a broad range of legal services to businesses and individuals, including litigation, corporate and business law, securities and municipal financing, tax and estate planning, labor and employment law, real estate and environmental, health care, intellectual property and unfair competition and antitrust law.