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Mia L. Garcia

Associate

Overview

Mia is driven by assisting clients in understanding business risks today and helping clients achieve peace of mind by planning for the future. She guides clients through challenging issues to facilitate successful solutions for their personal and business goals. 
 
Mia helps individuals and businesses navigate a variety of complex issues including trust and estate planning, nonprofit formation, corporate governance, and credit management matters.  She counsels individuals in planning for the transfer of personal and business assets and structures plans to achieve tax-efficient results, assists in the formation and governance of a variety of tax-exempt and corporate entities, and develops compliance strategies on complex regulatory systems in the cannabis and data privacy and cybersecurity industries.  Mia is also experienced in the area of creditors’ rights and bankruptcy, helping clients avoid and mitigate loss from their customers filing for bankruptcy by developing and renegotiating contracts, obtaining relief from the automatic stay when necessary, filing claims, and developing robust defense strategies in avoidance actions to recover alleged preferential and fraudulent transfers.  
 
Mia enjoys giving back to the community serving several community organizations, including her role on the Planned Giving Advisory Council of the Hospice of the Western Reserve.


                                                     

Practices

    • Handles the design and structuring of fundamental estate plan instruments such as wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, and incapacity planning documents tailored to the specific needs of clients.
    • Develops and revises privacy notices and other public disclosures to comply with data privacy and cybersecurity obligations and counsels clients on their responsibilities regarding their internal data handling practices under a variety of state, federal, and international laws and regulations. Advises on data privacy and cybersecurity liability, including allocation of liability with third parties through vendor agreements and insurance coverage.
    • Consults with individuals and organizations regarding formation of non-profit entities and obtaining tax-exempt status for both public charities and private foundations. Advises on the compliance and governance aspects of operating tax-exempt entities.
    • Represents creditors in obtaining relief from stay in bankruptcy proceedings across the nation to continue litigation or collection activities.
    • Analyzes administrative and statutory cannabis issues pertaining to adult-use, medical marijuana, hemp, and hemp-derived products and advises operators on licensing and M&A opportunities.
    • Regularly develops litigation strategies for administrative hearings in relation to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program.

  • Education

    • Case Western Reserve University School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2017
    • University of California, Davis, B.A., 2012

    Admissions

    • State of Ohio
    • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
    • U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio 

  • Professional Affiliations

    • International Association of Privacy Professionals—Member (2019-Present)
    • Ohio State Bar Assocation—Member
    • American Bar Association—Member
    • Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association—Member
    • Federal Bar Association—Member

    Community Involvement

    • Hospice of the Western Reserve—Direct Patient Care Volunteer (2017-Present); Walk to Remember Committee (2019-Present); Planned Giving Advisory Council (2019-Present)
    • West Side Catholic Center - Volunteer (2016-Present)
    • Cleveland Leadership Center, On-Board Cleveland (Class of 2019)
    • Case Western Reserve University School of Law—Mentoring Alumni Program (2018-2019)
    • Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association—3R’s Volunteer (2014-2018) 
    • Named to the Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Stars list (2020)
    • National member of the Order of the Barristers for excellence in courtroom advocacy and contribution to her law school's moot court programs (2017)
    • CALI Excellence for the Future Award for the highest scoring student—Community Development Seminar (2017)
    • Dean Dunmore Moot Court Competition Tournament Award for highest combined brief and oral scores (2016)
    • Hugo Grotius International Law Scholarship Fellow (2014-2017)
    • Cox Center Research Fellowship (2014)
    • “Drinking from the Data Firehose: Regulatory Enforcement," ACC NEO, Epiq and Frantz Ward Seminar, Cleveland, OH (March 2020) 
    • "GDRP, CCPA, and the Ohio Data Protection Act: A Look at Where We Are Today," ACC NEO, Epiq and Frantz Ward Seminar, Cleveland, OH (March 2020)
    • "Ace the Interview Panel," Case Western Reserve School of Law, Cleveland, OH (January 2020) 
    • "Avoiding Data Privacy Liability," Frantz Ward Litigation Seminar, Cleveland, OH (September 2019) 
    • "Five Things Every Company Should Do Today for Cybersecurity/Data Privacy," Association of Corporate Counsel, Cleveland, OH (August 2019) 
    • "The Ohio Data Protection Act: Cybersecurity from the Employer Perspective," Ohio Chamber of Commerce HR Academy, Webinar (August 2019)

    • "Rock the Interview Panel," Case Western Reserve University School of Law's Professional Development Day (February 2019) 

    • "Practical Guidance on Data Breach Prevention and Response," Frantz Ward Litigation Panel Series, Cleveland, OH (September 2018)
    • Case Western Reserve University's Law Alumni Entering Students Day, Panelist (May 2018)
    • “Corporate Career Panel with Notable Young Alums,” Case Western Reserve University Corporate Finance & Law Alliance’s Corporate Law Week (November 2017)