Firm News

Kegler Brown is pleased to announce that firm director Maria Mariano Guthrie has been selected to serve as chair of its Creditors’ Rights + Bankruptcy practice.

Maria is an experienced litigator with a profound background in matters concerning creditors’ rights, corporate bankruptcies, and commercial foreclosures and receiverships. She is known for representing large retail clients, financial institutions, and a variety of businesses and individuals in commercial litigation, real estate litigation, probate litigation, premises liability defense, products liability defense, shareholder litigation and general business litigation.

"Maria is extremely bright with a good business sense, and is solutions-oriented,” said former Creditors’ Rights + Bankruptcy practice chair, Larry McClatchey. “She is both strategic and practical, has a great wealth of experience, and does a fantastic job representing clients.”

The firm’s Creditors’ Rights + Bankruptcy practice, known for its focused approach to bottom-line success working with creditor issues and bankruptcy matters, has also received industry praise. From Chambers USA, an annual publication ranking lawyers and law firms across the country, the practice area was described as having earned “significant acclaim for its in-depth knowledge of the Ohio marketplace and its deep-rooted client relationships."

Maria’s legal work has been honored with a BV-Distinguished rating from Martindale-Hubbell, by which she was described as “a self-starter with a keen legal mind and business savvy. She is diligent, attentive to client needs, ethical, and forward thinking. Her energy is contagious. She is a fierce advocate, but always professional. She represents the best of the bar and legal community.”

She is also very active in the business community and serves on a non-profit board as well as serves on the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Council of the State Capital Group, of which Kegler Brown is a founding member. She is also a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel.

Maria joined Kegler Brown in 2020, bringing with her more than 20 years of experience in private practice. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Capital University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts in English from Kent State University.