lyoung@walterhav.com
Phone: 216-619-7835
Fax: 216-916-2375
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Leonard D. Young
Partner
Chair, General Counsel Services Group

Areas of Practice
General Counsel Services
Business Services
Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures
International Transactions
Corporate Governance

Education
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, J.D., 1974
Miami University, B.S., 1967

Licensed to Practice
Ohio

Leonard has practiced corporate and international business law in Northeast Ohio for more than 30 years.  After serving as Senior Corporate Counsel for Reliance Electric Company, a diversified manufacturer of industrial motors, controls, and inter-telecommunications equipment, Mr. Young served for eleven years as General Counsel and Assistant Secretary for the Ferro Corporation, a $2 billion publicly-traded international specialty chemicals company with operations in twenty-six countries.  As general counsel, he served as a key member of the Senior Management Team and provided legal advice on a wide range of strategic policy and technical decisions throughout the organization.  He currently is specializing in providing publicly-traded and privately-held companies services ranging from advising Senior Management on day-to-day legal issues to participating in a variety of complex business transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, international transactions, environmental and corporate governance.  He also leads the firm’s General Counsel Services practice which specializes in providing legal advice to publicly-traded and privately-held companies that have small legal staffs or no in-house lawyers.

Areas of Emphasis

• Leonard has substantial experience in drafting, reviewing and negotiating complex commercial and joint venture agreements.

• He has used his expertise, both at home and abroad, in the establishment of joint venture companies and in negotiating more than forty acquisitions and divestitures.

• Examples of Leonard’s varied international experience include the establishment of joint venture companies in the Asian nations of Thailand, Indonesia and the People’s Republic of China, as well as the negotiation of acquisitions and divestitures in countries as diverse as Mexico, Brazil, France, Spain and the Netherlands.

• He is adept in drafting corporate compliance procedures which comply with U.S. sentencing guidelines and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

• Leonard has counseled clients in the drafting and negotiation of technology license agreements.

Professional & Community Associations

• Ohio Bar Association – Business Law Section

• Cleveland Bar Association – Business Law Section

• American Bar Association, Member of Subcommittee on International Corporate Governance

• Conference Board, Council of Chief Legal Officers
  
  
• Board of Directors: Cleveland Cuyahoga County Port Authority
                                     Chair – Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio
  
  
• Board of Advisors: Cleveland Institute of Art – Former member
                                    Pre-Law Advisory Board – Miami University – Oxford, Ohio
                                    Former Chair – Visiting Committee, Cleveland-Marshall  
                                    College of Law
  
  
• Cleveland Cuyahoga County Port Authority - Chair of the Strategic Development & Administration Committee
  
  
• Cleveland Bar Foundation - Member of the Board of Trustees

Awards & Recognition 

• Captain, U.S. Air Force, 1967 -- 1972

Recent Presentations

• “Lighting the Path to a Diverse Future – Will the Cleveland Clinic Carry the Torch?,” Cleveland Clinic Foundation, January 26, 2006
  
  
• “New Challenges to General Counsel,” Moderator, Cleveland Bar Association 2005 Securities Law Institute, March 4, 2005

Publications

• Fall 2007 - Legal Insights for Busy Executives from the General Counsel Services Group on Corporate Compliance.
  
  
• Summer 2007 - Legal Insights for Busy Executives:  A Brief Guide to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
  
  
• “Outsourcing – A Tool for Standard Growth,” Smart Business Cleveland, July, 2005
  
  
• “New Guidelines Up Corporate Compliance Standards,” Crain’s Cleveland Business, February 7-13, 2005
  
  
• “Tyco Files Complaint Against Former General Counsel – Corporate Attorneys Should Take Notice,” Cleveland Bar Association Journal, January, 2005
  
  
• “Strong Corporate Governance Critical to Companies’ Success,” Crain’s Cleveland Business, April 22-28, 2002
  
  
• “Savvy Presentation Can Help Get Foot in Door,” Crain’s Cleveland Business, April 9-15, 2001