About Jane Haskins

I spent the first 13 years of my legal career in the sun-soaked city of Los Angeles, representing businesses who did something they shouldn’t have, or got roped into bad deals, or who just happened to be unlucky enough to get sued.  No, it wasn’t like “LA Law,” but I did see Pamela Anderson in the courthouse once, I had an oceanfront office, and for a couple of years I was on Michael Jackson’s legal team.

Still, amid all that glamour and sunshine, I wasn’t completely satisfied.  Litigating business disputes was interesting, but I always wished I could have talked to the client before they did the thing that got them into court.  Before they signed the contract that didn’t make sense; before they breached that contract; before they infringed someone else’s copyright.

So a couple of years ago I moved to Columbus, Ohio and began to reevaluate things.  I helped my husband set up and run his animation company and developed a business owner’s perspective.  I joined Simply Living and became a founding member of Sustainable Worthington.  I started learning about local food and local economies and helped to start a winter farmers market in Worthington.    Through these experiences I realized that a strong local economy and vibrant local businesses are crucial to a sustainable future.

I formed Haskins Law LLC to advise small business owners on setting up their businesses, structuring transactions, navigating employee issues and planning for the future.  I’m particularly passionate about creative businesses and businesses that strive in some way to make their communities a better place.

I live in Worthington with my husband, Jim Kammerud, and four children, aged 11 through 17.  In my spare time (I know, who has spare time with four kids?) I enjoy riding bikes, drawing, sewing and other creative pursuits.  Someday I’m going to learn to play the guitar.

Community Involvement:

Olde Worthington Farmers Market Friends: chair for 2009-10
Sustainable Worthington: planning committee
Simply Living & its community radio station, WCRS
Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce
Volunteer attorney for Save The Dream Foreclosure Prevention Program

Education:

Undergraduate: University of Virginia.
Law School: University of Southern California; executive editor,  Southern California Law Review.

My Experience Includes:

Associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles.  I worked on real estate, probate and general litigation and got my first trial experience.

Litigation associate in the Los Angeles office of Katten Muchin Rosenman, a large Chicago-based law firm, handling a variety of client matters, including several in the entertainment industry.

Litigation associate at Hennelly & Grossfeld LLP, where I focused on products liability cases and helped litigate a fraud and breach of contract claim arising from a business purchase, leading to an $8.4 million jury verdict in our client’s favor.

Before law school, I was a newspaper reporter in Orange County and Riverside, California; Newport News, Virginia; and Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Professional Memberships:

Admitted to practice in Ohio and California
Ohio State Bar Association
Columbus Bar Association
Women Lawyers of Franklin County