Conflict Resolution Diversity Initiative (CRDI)
Conflict Resolution Diversity Initiative (CRDI) is pleased to announce the addition of Dennis W. Archer to its panel of neutrals. CRDI, the first of its kind in the country, seeks to address the under-representation of minority neutrals in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) matters, by intentionally creating panels of qualified neutrals comprised primarily by people of color. CRDI concentrates on corporations with ADR programs who are committed to increasing diversity.
“I am pleased and excited to join the CRDI panel of neutrals,” Archer said. “In addition to serving as a CRDI Panelist, I hope to help CRDI expand its national presence as it continues its vital mission of increasing diversity in the ADR process.”
In addition to joining the CRDI roster of mediators, Judge Archer will be a member of Resolute Systems, LLC’s national Commercial and Employment Panels. Resolute serves as the administrator of the CRDI program.
Archer is chairman and CEO of Dennis W. Archer PLLC and chairman emeritus of Dickinson Wright PLLC.
Archer served two four-year terms as mayor of the city of Detroit (1994-2001).
In 2000, as mayor, Archer was named Public Official of the Year by Governing magazine. Archer served on the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and was president of the National League of Cities from 2000-2001. He received an Award of Excellence and was named 1998 Newsmaker of the Year by Engineering News-Record magazine, a sister publication of Business Week. He has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans by Ebony magazine; and one of the 100 Most Powerful Attorneys in the United States by the National Law Journal. Archer was named one of the 25 Most Dynamic Mayors in America by Newsweek magazine.
Archer earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Western Michigan University and taught learning disabled students in the Detroit Public Schools. Archer earned his law degree from Detroit College of Law in 1970. He began practicing law thereafter, working as a trial lawyer and a partner in several Detroit firms, serving as associate professor of the Detroit College of Law and adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School.
In 1985, Governor James Blanchard appointed Archer an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. He was elected to an eight-year term the following year. In his final year on the bench in 1990, Archer was named the most respected judge in Michigan by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
Archer has long been active in the organized bar. He was the first person of color elected president of the American Bar Association (2003-2004) as well as the State Bar of Michigan. He has also served as president of the Wolverine Bar Association and the National Bar Association.
Archer is a life member of the Fellows of The American Bar Foundation and the National Bar Association, a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, a Fellow of the College of Law Office Management and Life Member of the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference.
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Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, P.C.
Mark L. Kowalsky, a partner in the Southfield office of Michigan-based Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss, P.C., was honored at the Greater West Bloomfield Community Award Breakfast as a member of the Hidden Treasures Honor Roll. Jaffe CEO Richard Zussman made the announcement.
The communities of Keego Harbor, Orchard Lake, Sylvan Lake and West Bloomfield have celebrated Michigan Week for nearly four decades. For 2011, the Greater West Bloomfield Michigan Week celebrated the “Hidden Treasures” of the community, recognizing volunteers “…whose accomplishments contributed to the success of our community and/or strengthened a non-political initiative.” Kowalsky was selected for his long time service on the Greater West Bloomfield Cable Communications Commission.
Kowalsky is a partner in the Southfield office of Jaffe Raitt. He is a member of the firm’s litigation and securities practice groups, specializing in civil litigation with concentrations in securities law and commercial disputes. He is involved in handling disputes that relate to securities investments, brokerage industry employment, contracts, non-competition agreements, trade secrets, employment, shareholders, partnerships and dissolutions. He also represents clients in securities enforcement and regulatory matters.
Kowalsky is a member and former chair for the Greater West Bloomfield Cable Communications Commission and a board member and past president of The Jewish Home and Aging Services. He has been named “Corporate Counsel Super Lawyer” each year since 2008 as well as a “Super Lawyer” by “Michigan Super Lawyers” magazine each year since 2006. Kowalsky earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.
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Bodman PLC
Bodman PLC has been named to the State Bar of Michigan’s “Pro Bono Circle of Excellence” for exceeding the State Bar’s voluntary standards for pro bono activities. The “Circle” represents firms that address the often unmet legal needs of the poor, while also inspiring other attorneys to be of service.
“Pro bono representation of worthy organizations and individuals in need is an important part of our commitment to the community,” said Bodman Chairman Ralph E. McDowell. “The success of our pro bono program is the result of an incredible level of support these efforts have received from our attorneys and staff.”
In 2010, Bodman attorneys devoted 3,078 hours to pro bono projects, and the firm and its attorneys contributed more than $100,000 to the State Bar’s Access to Justice Fund and other eligible charities. Bodman paralegals and summer associates devoted an additional 268 pro bono hours.
In addition to pro bono hours, Bodman attorneys devoted more than 2,000 hours to community service projects as directors or volunteers with numerous nonprofit organizations.
Bodman has partnered with several referral sources to help assure that its pro bono efforts make the maximum impact. Significant referral sources have included Legal Aid and Defender Association, Community Legal Resources, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, among others.
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Engle & Associates, P.C.
Ralph M. Engle of Engle & Associates P.C., is pleased to announce the opening of Engle & Associates PC new Pontiac office at 30 North Saginaw, Suite 713. This office is located just one block west of Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital, in the heart of downtown Pontiac and is now open to assist individuals and businesses that are facing family, probate, criminal, commercial, contract and real estate disagreements.
Engle & Associates PC also offers mediation, intervention and ADR services; offering clients strategic support through team and family based gang intervention, community gang-problem analysis, prisoner re-entry and also assists communities and community agencies in reducing youth based crime and gang activities with mediator Danae V. Hanes.
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Butzel Long
Butzel Long received the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association (DMBA) Pro Bono Service Award on June 7, during the Association’s 175th Annual Meeting. The award was presented to Butzel Long’s Pro Bono Committee including: James F. Gehrke and Jennifer E. Powell, as Co-Chairs; James E. Wynne, Robin Luce Herrmann, Paul M. Mersino, Daniel R.W. Rustmann, and Bethany Steffke Sweeny.
The award recognized the Committee’s overall efforts in the community, but also emphasized the firm’s leadership with the DMBA Access to Justice Program legal clinic. Butzel Long attorneys Paul M. Mersino and Ziyad I. Hermiz have handled cases and served as coordinators for the clinic.
Moreover, Butzel Long attorneys Bernard J. Fuhs, Jonathan F. Jorissen, Joseph E. Richotte, James A. Sheridan and Laura E. Tedesco have been actively involved with the DMBA’s Access to Justice Program legal clinic as well. Butzel Long attorney Katherine Donohue Goudie, co-chair of the Barristers of the DMBA School Partnership Program, also presented an essay contest award to a high school student. Butzel Long was thanked for its participation in the DMBA Honors Circle as well.
“We are proud of Butzel Long’s dedication to pro bono work,” said James E. Wynne, a member of Butzel Long’s Board of Directors and the Board’s liaison to the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. “We will continue to provide the resources and support necessary to encourage everyone associated with Butzel Long to participate in our Pro Bono and public service efforts.”
Additionally, Butzel Long attorneys W. Patrick Dreisig and David W. Sommerfeld were recognized as Detroit 2011 Five Star Wealth Managers as a result of a survey completed by Hour Detroit magazine, DBusiness magazine and Five Star Professional. This is the second year that Dreisig and Sommerfeld have been named to the list of Five Star Wealth Managers.
Dreisig is a vice president of Butzel Long and serves on the firm’s Board of Directors. He is co-chair of the firm’s Global Automotive Industry Group and a member of the firm’s Business Law Practice.
He focuses his practice in general business law and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, recapitalizations, debt and equity finance transactions, venture capital transactions, supply agreements, intellectual property development and licensing transactions, customer and supplier workouts, entity selection and formation, corporate governance and business succession.
Dreisig practices within the automotive supplier industry. He is highly experienced in representing automotive suppliers in structuring and negotiating long term supply and other commercial arrangements with automotive manufacturers and other suppliers.
Dreisig earned his B.A. degree, from the University of Michigan in 1974 and his law degree from Wayne State University in 1977.
Dreisig is a member of the Business Law and Taxation Sections of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan. He has also served as a member of the Legal Issues Council, and has served as past counsel to the Chief Purchasing Officers Council, of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association.
Based in Butzel Long’s Bloomfield Hills office, Sommerfeld serves as manager of the firm’s Probate, Trust and Estate Planning Practice.
Sommerfeld practices in the areas of estate planning, probate, and trust administration. He also has experience in the areas of income tax, estate and gift tax, and related tax and financial matters.
Sommerfeld is a 1963 graduate of the University of Detroit and a 1967 graduate of the Detroit College of Law. He is a Certified Public Accountant as well as an attorney.
He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is listed in “The Best Lawyers in America,” “Who’s Who in American Law,” “Michigan Super Lawyers,” and DBusiness as a 2011 Top Lawyer in Metro Detroit for Trusts and Estates. He is a member of the Financial and Estate Planning Council of Metropolitan Detroit.
Sommerfeld lectures on the subject of estate planning on behalf of the Institute for Continuing Legal Education of the State Bar of Michigan, the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants and Professional Education Systems, Inc.
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Fink + Associates Law
David H. Fink, managing partner of Bloomfield Hills-based Fink & Associates Law, recently spoke at the Michigan Association for Justice’s (MAJ) Annual Rapid Fire Seminar on May 13 at the Henry in Dearborn.
The Rapid Fire Seminar is an annual event hosted by the MAJ to discuss a variety of legal topics in a short period of time. Fink spoke about recent legal developments in class action litigation.
Fink is the founder of Fink & Associates Law, where he focuses his practice on complex commercial and class action litigation in the areas of business disputes, antitrust, consumer fraud, environmental law, intergovernmental disputes, securities fraud, shareholder derivative litigation and construction contract matters.
Fink was named a 2011 “Leader in the Law” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly and has been listed as a Super Lawyer in “Michigan Super Lawyers” magazine every year since 2007. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and serves on the State Officers Compensation Commission and the Bloomfield Hills Schools Foundation Board of Directors.
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Oakland County Women’s Bar Association (WBA)
The Oakland County Women’s Bar Association (WBA) presented its first Distinguished Jurist Awards to three judges at its annual dinner May 18 at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham.
The WBA also presented its second annual WBA Award and installed its 2011-2012 officers.
Recipients of the jurist awards were: U.S. District Court Judge Nancy G. Edmunds, Eastern District of Michigan, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Michael Warren Jr. and Oakland County 46th District CourtJudge William J. Richards.
Edmunds was cited for her professionalism inside the courtroom; pleasant and cordial demeanor outside the courtroom; and careful, intelligent and reasoned decisions of law.
Warren was cited for his professionalism in the courtroom; dedication to the expediency of the legal process; and his tireless contributions to the dignity of the American judicial system.”
Richards was cited for his professionalism and empathy for the litigants and attorneys in his courtroom; spirit of volunteerism with young people in his community; and his respect and dedication to the office he holds.
The WBA plans to present the jurist awards annually.
Attorney Patricia A. Stamler of Hertz Schram PC received the second annual WBA Award. She was cited for her advocacy of her clients and their causes; professionalism and positive attitude with colleagues; and willingness and openness to help women succeed in the profession of law.
New officers of the WBA are:
• Stacey King of Garan, Lucow, Miller, PC – president.
• Elizabeth Smith of Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. – immediate past president.
• Kristin Murphy of Rader, Fishman, & Grauer PLLC, – president-elect.
• Ryan Mae Steele of Kelly & Kelly PC – vice president
• Melissa Graves of Collins, Einhorn, Farrell, & Ulanoff, PC – treasurer.
• Erin Klug of Gifford, Krass, Sprinkle, Anderson, & Citkowski PC – communications secretary.
• Kristen Pursley of Dobrusin Thennisch PC – recording secretary.
• Channelle Kizy-White of Channelle Kizy PLLC – Women Lawyers Association of Michigan (WLAM) representative.
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Miller Canfield
The law firm of Miller Canfield announces that Kelly M. Martorano, an associate in the Troy office, has been elected to the board of directors of the East Michigan Chapter of Air and Waste Management Association (A&WMA).
At Miller Canfield, Martorano specializes in identifying, managing, and negotiating environmental issues and risks associated with domestic and international mergers and acquisitions and real property transactions.
She earned her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law and her B.S. from Michigan State University.
The East Michigan Chapter of A&WMA’s mission is to promote a better understanding of the problems of air pollution control, waste management and related environmental concerns among governmental regulatory personnel, researchers, educators, representatives, of industry and the general public and to work toward resolution of these problems.
In addition, Miller Canfield announces the launch of its Sustainable Government Initiative, which will focus on helping municipalities and school districts address fiscal challenges and fundamental change while capitalizing on opportunities for increased efficiencies and innovation. The initiative features a cross-disciplinary team comprised of lawyers from the firm’s Public Law, Employment and Labor, Litigation, Employee Benefits and Pensions, Bankruptcy and Real Estate groups.
“In Michigan, we’re seeing a lot of change—a new Emergency Manager statute, incentives for revenue sharing and school aid, a rush of amendments to other statutes affecting local government operations, and a clear directive from Lansing that municipalities and school districts must adopt the State’s ‘best practices’ to maximize the level of state support they receive,” said Amanda Van Dusen, member of Miller Canfield’s Sustainable Government Initiative and leader of the Public Law Group.
“We have been assisting local governments adapt to the times for over a century. This spring we pulled together the best resources within our firm to deploy our experience once again to help the public sector navigate uncharted territory and put political and economic pressures to good use,” she said. “With the state moving quickly to impose new requirements, we can help clients develop strategic direction and find opportunities that may not be obvious.”
The Miller Canfield Sustainable Government Initiative is offering the following services to help municipalities and school districts:
• Consent Agreements.
• “Best Practices” Counsel.
• Intergovernmental Agreements.
• Shared Services Agreements.
• Outsourcing Agreements and RFPs.
• Pension + Benefit Reviews + Restructuring.
• Labor Reviews.
• Litigation Audits.
• Property Transfers + Alternative Uses.
• Private Use Evaluation + Analysis.
The firm is hosting client workshops in June. Customized training and strategic assistance are also available. Visit millercanfield.com/SGI to learn more.
Futhermore, Chambers USA 2011 has selected Miller Canfield as a top law firm in all six practice areas ranked in Michigan and has ranked the firm nationally. In addition, 22 of the firm’s lawyers are recognized as leading business lawyers.
Miller Canfield is recognized nationally as a leader in Sports Law. In Michigan, the firm received the highest possible ranking in Commercial Litigation; Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation; and Labor & Employment Law; and was also recognized for Banking & Finance Law; Real Estate; and its Corporate/M&A work.
Locally, those named leading lawyers in their specialty area in Chambers USA 2011 are:
Detroit office:
• Orin D. Brustad, Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation.
• Donna J. Donati, Labor & Employment.
• Adam S. Forman, Labor & Employment.
• Leonard D. Givens, Labor & Employment.
• Jonathan S. Green, Banking & Finance: Bankruptcy.
• Kristin A. Hermann, Banking & Finance.
• Christopher A. McMican, Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation.
• Megan P. Norris, Labor & Employment.
• Clarence L. Pozza Jr., Commercial Litigation.
• Steven A. Roach, Banking & Finance: Bankruptcy.
• Richard J. Seryak, Labor & Employment.
• Carl H. von Ende, Commercial Litigation.
• Jerome R. Watson, Labor & Employment.
Troy office:
• Thomas W. Cranmer, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations.
• Ronald E. Hodess, Real Estate.
• Brian H. Holt, Real Estate.
• Ronald H. Riback, Banking & Finance.
• James A. Simpson, Real Estate.
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Weltman, Weinberg, & Reis Co., L.P.A.
Weltman, Weinberg, & Reis Co., L.P.A. welcomes new associate Michael P. Herzoff to the Michigan office. Herzoff is joining the Litigation & Defense Group focusing on state and federal court litigation and defense matters, bringing more than 23 years of experience in commercial and civil litigation.
Herzoff earned his law degree from DePaul University College of Law in 1988 and his B.A. in Business Administration/Pre-Law from Michigan State University, Broad College of Business in 1984.
A member of the State Bar of Michigan, Oakland County Bar Association and Federal Bar Association (Eastern District of Michigan), Herzoff is licensed in the state courts of Michigan. He is appointed as a member of the Case Evaluation Panels for the Oakland County Circuit Court and the 48th District Court. Herzoff is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court (Eastern District of Michigan), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (Eastern District of Michigan); and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.
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