Brian leverages his extensive litigation experience to offer strategic counsel to private closely-held businesses, local governments, and universities at Fox & Ziepfel, LLC. His comfort in the courtroom enables him to structure transactions that anticipate risks, as well as address thorny disputes once there’s no option but to litigate.For business and corporate clients, Brian is a go-to advisor for navigating complex transactions, from mergers and acquisitions to the delicate intricacies of nonprofit and religious institution law. His counsel extends to resolving contractual disputes, managing shareholder derivative actions, and negotiating commercial lease agreements, ensuring his clients are always a step ahead in the competitive business landscape.In the public sector, Brian’s influence is equally profound. He advises a wide array of governmental clients, from the State of Ohio to local municipalities, townships, counties, school districts and universities, on critical issues like economic development, eminent domain, and the nuances of Ohio’s Sunshine Laws. His proficiency in zoning and land use and constitutional issues positions him to help clients shape policy and compliance frameworks.Brian’s deep connection with the collegiate athletic community, combined with his nuanced understanding of NCAA’s Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) regulations, makes him an invaluable resource for educational institutions and third-party collectives. He spearheaded the inaugural NIL collective at the University of Cincinnati, Cincy Reigns, which not only supports student-athletes but also significantly benefits local charities, showcasing his commitment to community impact.To maximize resources directly impacting student-athletes, he structured Cincy Reigns to be an all-volunteer collective with no paid staff or board members. Since launching with no payroll or employees, Cincy Reigns has:
- Become the official (and only) NIL collective serving University of Cincinnati’s athletic department and student-athletes
- Substantially increased from university stakeholders the amount of NIL revenue contributed to student athletes/nonprofits
- Sourced numerous creative partnerships with local and national businesses to increase the amount of recurring revenue sustaining the university’s NIL ecosystem
- Forged one of the first groundbreaking brewery partnerships with Rhinegeist Brewery (23rd largest craft brewery in the nation) to create an entirely new product offering — Cincy Light — which has grown at a breakneck speed across the region
- In Q1 and Q2 of ’24, measurably impacted Greater Cincinnati’s charitable community, recording over 500 volunteer hours from Cincy Reigns’ student-athletes in just the first two quarters
- Collaborated with university stakeholders to create innovative strategies and workflows for attracting, recruiting, signing and retaining elite student-athletes for the university
A former adjunct professor of Business Law and Corporate Ethics at UC’s Carl H. Lindner College of Business, he also enjoys strategizing, teaching and training stakeholders about compliance protocols, NIL infrastructure development, and how to leverage new NIL opportunities for maximum impact.
Brian has served as the Law Director/City Solicitor for the City of Madeira since 2015 and was unanimously reappointed by the County Commissioners of Butler County to serve a third four-year term on the Butler County Finance Authority (formerly known as the Butler County Port Authority). He received his law degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, and served as judicial clerk for the 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown, Ohio.
