Scott J. Stitt is a nationally recognized speaker and well-known up-and-coming authority on two specific areas within Employment Law: Employee benefits/ERISA law, and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs).

Scott represents corporations, fiduciaries, physicians and medical practice groups and individuals in a variety of business litigation matters.

His focus is on claims arising from ERISA and ESOP. He is a member of the following:

• The ESOP Association
• National Center for Employee Ownership
• Ohio Employee Ownership Center

ERISA is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, which establishes minimum standards for pension and health plans in private industry and provides for extensive rules on the federal income tax effects of transactions associated with employee benefit plans. ESOPs are regulated by ERISA, and are created to allow employees to own the corporation at which they work, in whole or in part.

Stitt is a frequent speaker, and has spoken recently at The ESOP Association Ohio/Kentucky Chapter's annual spring conference at Bridgewater Conference Center in Powell, Ohio. Last year, Stitt was the keynote speaker at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Central Ohio Chapter of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS) at the Worthington Inn, and he has also spoken at the Ohio State Bar Association, the Columbus Bar Association, and before other organizations as well.

Scott's general business litigation practice includes representing plaintiffs and defendants in both state and federal court, including:

• Claims for breach of contract
• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Wrongful discharge
• The misappropriation of trade secrets

Last year, Columbus Business First named Stitt to its prestigious "Forty Under 40" list, "recognizing players in the business community under the age of 40, who show professional drive and community involvement."