Linda L. Bluso
Partner-in-Charge of Brouse McDowell's Cleveland office and one of the few female managing partners of large Cleveland firms, Ms. Bluso represents organizations and entrepreneurs in corporate, business and real estate matters. She provides general counsel and has represented buyers and sellers in the business sector, as well as developers, landlords, tenants and buyers and sellers of real estate. A certified mediator, Linda also assists businesses in conflict and dispute resolution.

Professional/Civic Activities
Linda chaired the steering committee for COSE’s scenario-planning project concerning the future landscape of health care in the United States in 2015. She was named COSE’s 2007 Volunteer of the Year in appreciation for her leadership with this program.

She served on City of Cleveland's Mayor Frank Jackson’s Finance-Assessments and Licenses Action Team in Phase II of the Operations Efficiency Task Force. The mission of OETF Phase II was to create a model of good government designed to achieve and maintain financial stability, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of City Services and create a work environment focused on providing excellent customer service.

In addition to serving as a board director for the American Red Cross Cleveland Chapter, Linda is Co-Chair of its Strategic Planning Committee and a member of its Executive Committee. Linda is also a member of the American Heart Association’s (Cleveland Chapter) Sponsorship Committee for the Go-Red Campaign.

She is currently Chair of In Counsel With Women, an organization comprised of women who have achieved the highest level of accomplishment within their professional and community lives. Membership is by invitation only and represents the top 100+ women in the Northeast Ohio region.

Linda has served in various board leadership and volunteer roles with the Greater Cleveland Partnership (formerly the Greater Cleveland Growth Association); the Council of Smaller Enterprises; and Group Services, Inc., as well as other non-profit boards. Linda is the former co-chair of the fundraising committee of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission’s Local Organizing Committee for the NCAA 2007 Women's Final Four Basketball Tournament in Cleveland. She is an alumna of the 2003 Class of Leadership Cleveland.

Linda is a member of the American, Ohio State and the Cleveland Bar Associations - where she also led the publications committee in an award-winning redesign of its Bar Journal.

Linda will be featured in the Corporate Law section of Best Lawyers 2011.  She was named a 2008 Leading Lawyer by Inside Business magazine, a special honor for the top 1% of Northeast Ohio's best attorneys. In 2006, Linda was noted as one of the Top-Five Women Executives by Smart Business Cleveland and also served as a panelist for the Women Perspectives in Business Conference hosted by Smart Business. She was a Northern Ohio Live Rainmaker in the year 2000, was listed as a Woman of Influence in Crain’s Cleveland Business in 1997 and was awarded one of the top ten women in business awards by the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) in 1998. Linda is AV-rated in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.

Representative Engagements

• Performing role of outside general counsel and assisting on various supply and vendor agreements to manufacturing companies.
• Lead counsel to real estate developer in land assembly for hotel and restaurant development including divestiture of out parcels for retail restaurant development.
• Represented management shareholder group in equity roll-over in transaction in excess of $100 million.
• Represented professional service corporation against officer and shareholder in multi-million dollar defalcation.
• Represented land-owner in sale of large land tracts to real estate developer which involved complicated use, financing and zoning issues.
• Represented distribution company in acquisition of two divisions of a competitor’s business.
• Advised distribution company in its corporate relocation, land assembly, and construction of new distribution warehouse and offices.
• Lead counsel to real estate developer in negotiating development agreement with city and all phases of real estate development.
• Trusted adviser to executives regarding executive employment, compensation and equity issues in connection with equity rollovers, management-lead buy-outs, employment and incentive agreements and severance packages.

Mediation Matters

• Successfully mediated resolution to sexual harassment litigation; Facilitate positive resolutions of breach of contract business disputes.
• Coordinator and promoter of a “team approach” with outside professionals (legal, accounting, finance and insurance) to assist the client in implementing its business strategies.