Kirk’s practice focuses on traditional labor law. He has extensive employment, and general and commercial litigation experience. Kirk has appeared in federal and state courts throughout Ohio and in federal courts in Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Louisiana. He also represents clients before the National Labor Relations Board, EEOC, Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and State Employment Relations Board for Ohio.
He is a member of the firm’s Recruiting and Professional Development committees.
Credentials
Education
Capital University School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 1993)
Capital University Law Review, publishing editor
The Ohio State University (B.A., 1989)
Bar admissions
Colorado
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Court admissions
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
Affiliations and memberships
Project EAR, board member
American Bar Association
Ohio State Bar Association
Columbus Bar Association
Distinctions
Ohio Rising Star®
Career Highlights
Counseled Leading ULT Freezer Company through Merger
We counseled our client, Stirling Ultracold, an innovative developer and manufacturer of ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers for life science and biopharma research, through its merger with BioLife Solutions, Inc., a developer focused on bioproduction devices used in cell and gene therapies. The all-stock mergers was in excess of $230 million.
Stirling’s CEO saw the potential for increased demand for the company’s freezers during the COVID-19 pandemic as the freezers were a direct competitor to dry ice used in storing the COVID-19 vaccine. Merging with BioLife enabled Stirling to execute an aggressive strategic plan marketing and selling its freezers. Dinsmore served as the company’s general counsel since 2019, and our team of attorneys brought experience in mergers and acquisitions, labor, insurance, and life sciences, all of which was necessary to fully understand and address the company’s specialized needs. We counseled our client through the merger while simultaneously defusing challenges. Our team’s collective experience enabled Stirling’s executives to address the company’s short-term needs while also achieving its long-term goal.
“The entire team at Dinsmore was, by far, the best engagement I have had in the 15-plus strategic transactions I have done throughout my career,” said previous Stirling Ultracold CEO Dusty Tenney, now COO and president at BioLife. “Their responsiveness, engagement, availability and deal leadership were extraordinary from LOI to closing.”
