Eric W. Papes

Overview Eric is a partner in the Vorys Cincinnati office and a member of the litigation practice group. His practice is focused on civil litigation and white collar criminal defense work and encompasses complex commercial, banking, insurance, data breach, construction and intellectual property litigation. Career highlights include: Appointed on four occasions by the Kentucky Governor as a Special Justice to the Kentucky Supreme Court Represented multiple defendants in one of the largest patent infringement multidistrict litigation cases in history, which involved approximately 200 defendants and a portfolio of more than fifty patents in the field of automated call center technology relating to automated attendant, automated call distribution, voice response unit, computer telephone integration and speech recognition Defeated class certification, prevailed on summary judgment and defended judgment through the United States Supreme Court on behalf of a large financial institution in a case asserting breach of contract and statutory claims related to the imposition of checking account fees Successfully defended large life insurers in various putative class actions in state and federal courts asserting claims for bad faith and unjust enrichment Successfully represented several large investors in actions alleging securities law violations and misrepresentations in connection with the sale of residential mortgage backed securities Obtained dismissal on behalf of a large financial institution in an action alleging losses of more than $100 million as a result of alleged breach of contract Prevailed in a leading case in the Sixth Circuit that defined a banks obligations to its customers under Ohios adoption of Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code Representing banking clients in a variety of significant data breach cases involving national merchants, including a breach that was described at the time as potentially the largest retail security breach ever to have occurred in the United States Eric has presented on the issues of data security, privacy and breach, and on payment card penalties and class action litigation arising out of data breaches to various organizations, including the American Bar Association, the Kentucky Bar Association, the Kentucky appellate judiciary, the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the Chief Information Security Officer Executive Summit. Eric has also presented seminars regarding recent developments in the law of intellectual property, management of litigation in the workplace, the duties of design professionals in construction cases, and the damages available to plaintiffs against architects and engineers in construction cases. Eric teaches information privacy and data protection law, and intellectual property law -- including patent, copyright and trademark law -- as an adjunct professor at the Northern Kentucky University - Salmon P. Chase College of Law. Eric is AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Eric received his J. D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law where he was a member of the Order of the Coif. He was also an associate member of the University of Cincinnati Law Review as well as a member of the editorial board. Eric received his B. A. summa cum laude from Thomas More College. Eric clerked for the Honorable R. Guy Cole, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Honors & Recognitions Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer Review Rated The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, 2013-2025; Litigation - Intellectual Property, 2023-2025 Ohio Super Lawyers, General Litigation, 2014-2019, 2022 Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Stars, General Litigation, 2005-2007, 2009, 2011-2013 Leading Lawyer in Civil Litigation, Cincy Magazine, 2008 Leading Lawyer in Business Litigation, Cincy Magazine, 2010-2014, 2017-2024 Professional & Community Activities Boone County Planning and Zoning Commission, Board Member, 2023 to present Northern Kentucky University-Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Adjunct Faculty, Information Privacy, 2016 to present; Adjunct Faculty, Intellectual Property Survey, 2014 to present Cincinnati Bar Association, Character and Fitness Committee, Member, Chair, 2013-2014; Chair-Elect, 2012-2013; Vice-Chair, 2011-2012; Secretary, 2010-2011 Salmon P. Chase Inn of Court, Barrister and Program Committee Member, 2010 to present Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers Fellows Committee, Board Member, 2005 to present Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky, Former Board Member, 2008-2011 Boone County Public Library, Board Member, 2013-2021; President, 2016-2019; Secretary, 2013-2015 Boone County Public Library Foundation, Founding Board Member, 2022-Present; Treasurer, 2022-2023 International Association of Privacy Professionals, Member Kentucky Bar Association, Member Tennessee Bar Association, Member American Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law and Litigation Sections, Member