Sommers Schwartz PC
Matthew L. Turner has joined the Southfield-based law firm of Sommers Schwartz PC as a shareholder in the firm’s Personal Injury Department. Turner will focus his practice on medical malpractice, legal malpractice, ERISA and class action.
Turner attended Ohio State University and Detroit College of Law. After graduation, Turner joined the family law firm of Turner and Turner PC. He handled cases in a broad range of practice areas such as business litigation, employment discrimination, dental malpractice, auto accident, slip and fall and other cases of death and catastrophic loss.
In addition to his legal career, Turner has been a varsity high school football coach for more than 20 years. In 2002 the Michigan High School football Coaches Association named him one of the Assistant Coaches of the Year. He currently serves as the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at Birmingham Groves High School.
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Pointe Legal PLLC
Pointe Legal PLLC announces the opening of a new Grosse Pointe office at 702 Notre Dame, Suite 103, in Grosse Pointe.
Attorneys Anthony Urbani II, a “Michigan Super Lawyer,” and Craig Feringa will provide legal services concerning all family legal issues and related matters.
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Butzel Long
Frank J. Alex has joined Butzel Long as chief financial officer. Alex is responsible for oversight of the firm’s accounting and finance functions.
He has more than 20 years of experience working in the finance and operations divisions within both service-based and manufacturing companies.
Alex has served as chief financial officer and has held Board of Director positions for multi-million dollar companies, such as Danotek Motion Technologies, Norgren Automation Solutions (a subsidiary of IMI, plc), and Ricardo Inc.
Alex is a graduate of Wayne State University (B.B.A., 1985). He is a member of Vistage International; the Finance Executives Institute; the Finance Executive Networking Group; Execunet Senior Roundtable; and the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA). Alex is a licensed certified public accountant.
Additionally, Butzel Long attorneys Robin Luce Herrmann and Jennifer A. Dukarski will be featured speakers during news and advertising law seminars presented by the Michigan Press Association (MPA) on Aug. 2 in Battle Creek and on Aug. 16 in the Flint/ Bay City/ Saginaw area.
Representing a broad array of clients, Herrmann concentrates her practice in the areas of media law, particularly defamation and access issues; commercial litigation, including RICO; non-competes and trade secrets; and civil rights.
Herrmann serves as General Counsel to the Michigan Press Association, the official trade association for the newspapers of Michigan.
Herrmann has trial and appellate experience in both state and federal courts in a variety of areas. She is a past professor teaching “Law of the Press” in the Journalism Department at Oakland University and a speaker and author on media law.
Dukarski, based in Butzel Long’s Ann Arbor office, practices in the areas of intellectual property law, concentrating in the automotive manufacturing industry, and media law, concentrating on copyright, terms of use, and the Communications Decency Act.
Additionally, Butzel Long attorney Ziyad I. Hermiz was recently elected vice president of the Chaldean American Bar Association (CABA) during the organization’s Annual Meeting. Hermiz previously served on the Board of Directors of CABA.
Based in Butzel Long’s Detroit office, Hermiz concentrates his practice in the area of business litigation.
Prior to joining Butzel Long, Hermiz interned for U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn, Eastern District of Michigan (2007-2008).
Hermiz is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the American Bar Association. He is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Hermiz is a graduate of The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (2008) and he completed his undergraduate business studies at Michigan State University (2004).
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Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth, & Heller P.C.
Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth, & Heller PC is pleased to introduce a new member to its franchise team, Gary M. Remer.
Remer is a shareholder at the firm. He earned his law degree from the Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University May 1997 and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Michigan State University in 1990.
Remer was a revenue agent with the Internal Revenue Service, Employee Plans Division, from 1992 through 1996.
He concentrates his practice in the areas of employee benefits, corporate law, taxation and estate planning. Remer has lectured extensively on qualified retirement plans and other tax topics. He is the co-author of “The Insider’s Guide to IRS Plan Audits.” He is a certified public accountant and a past chair of the MACPA Employee Benefits Committee.
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Howard & Howard
Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC has been selected as a Litigation “Go-To Law Firm” in the “In-House Law Departments at the Top 500 Companies” 8th Annual Edition (from the publishers of Corporate Counsel magazine).
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Bodman PLC
Michelle Thurber Czapski, a seasoned business litigation specialist, has joined Bodman PLC as a member practicing in the firm’s Detroit office.
Czapski has nearly 20 years of experience representing corporate clients in litigation and ADR proceedings, including class actions. She has represented insurance and financial service companies, Tier 1 automotive suppliers, telecommunication companies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers in matters involving product liability claims, Consumer Protection Act claims, insurance and ERISA disputes, contract matters, and a broad range of commercial and business disputes. She serves as lead trial counsel and regional counsel for AIG/American General and its family of financial services companies with responsibility for insurance and related litigation throughout the Midwest.
Czapski is listed in “Michigan Super Lawyers” 2010 under Business Litigation, Class Actions/Mass Torts, and Insurance Coverage.
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Dykema Gossett PLLC
Dykema Gossett PLLC is pleased to announce that it has been named the number one real estate law firm by Midwest Real Estate News. This year’s award marks the second time since 2009 that Dykema has earned the top spot; and the third time in as many years that the firm has been named one of the region’s top three.
“Having again earned the top ranking reaffirms Dykema’s position as one of strength and stability in today’s real estate market,” said Cameron H. Piggott, director of the firm’s Real Estate and Environmental Services department. “The exceptional performance of our lawyers, paired with the principles that underscore the firm’s delivery model-service, results and value-will continue to contribute to the success of both our real estate practice and the firm.”
Dykema also recently announced the appointment of Mark K. Sales and Eric T. Carver as co-chairs of its Probate, Trust, and Fiduciary Litigation Practice Area.
Carver focuses his practice on business entity planning; taxation; estate planning; family wealth transfers; business entity formations; corporate planning and taxation; limited liability company planning and taxation; tax controversies; mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; real estate acquisitions, charitable giving and charitable trusts; contested estate, trust and probate matters; probate litigation; and decedent estates and probate administration.
Prior to joining Dykema, Carver was a tax consultant for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Group, and served in multiple administrative and legislative capacities for U.S. Senator Carl Levin.
Sales, who joined Dykema in October, focuses his practice on probate litigation with an emphasis on tax and fiduciary disputes in trust and estates matters. Sales served as chair of K&L Gates’ Probate, Trust and Related Fiduciary Duty litigation practice group and repeatedly has been recognized by Texas Monthly as a “Super Lawyer” in this practice area.
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Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP
Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is pleased to announce that Joshua F. Opperer in the firm’s Detroit office has been elected to serve on Honigman’s Board of Directors. The firm also named Anessa Owen Kramer, in the firm’s Oakland County office, as its office co-managing partner.
Opperer, a partner in Honigman’s Corporate and Securities Department, also serves as the firm’s Business Development Partner and chairs the firm’s Political Action Committee. He previously served as the co-chair of the firm’s Lateral Partner Hiring Committee. In his law practice, Opperer acts as lead merger and acquisition counsel for several national private equity firms, as outside general counsel to national and multinational operating companies, and as advisor to high net worth individuals and their business enterprises.
Kramer is a partner in Honigman’s Intellectual Property and Technology Practice Group. With office co-managing Partner Joseph Aviv, Kramer will plan, budget and manage the office resources. Kramer’s law practice includes counseling numerous owners of famous and well-known brands on a wide range of trademark issues. She manages a number of large international trademark portfolios and handles trademark enforcement and litigation issues on behalf of trademark owners. She is also experienced in anti-counterfeiting, trademark clearance, trade dress protection, and combating cybersquatting.
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Miller Canfield
Jeffrey S. Aronoff, a principal in the Detroit office of the law firm of Miller Canfield, has been selected for the Marshall Memorial Fellowship. The fellowship sends emerging professional and community leaders on a 24-day tour of several European cities to meet with various political, business, cultural and community leaders to exchange best practices.
At Miller Canfield, Aronoff specializes in all types of public finance, including municipal infrastructure finance, economic development finance and school finance. He also regularly advises governmental clients on general matters including economic development initiatives, public-private collaboration, legislative drafting, and the establishment and ongoing operation of intergovernmental and regional authorities.
He earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School, his M.P.P. from the University of Michigan, Ford School of Public Policy, and his B.A. from Michigan State University.
Additionally, Matthew P. Allen, a principal in the Troy office of the law firm of Miller Canfield, has been appointed by the judges of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to the court’s Local Rules Advisory Committee for a three-year term effective July 1.
Allen is a business, securities, and intellectual property litigator and trial lawyer with Miller Canfield.
He earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School and his B.A. from the State University of New York College at Fredonia. He also served as a judicial law clerk in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Also, Miller Canfield principal David M. Thoms has been re-elected to a one-year term as president of the board of directors of Alliance Françaises de Grosse Pointe.
At Miller Canfield, Thoms is a member of the Personal Services Group and co-leader of the Nonprofit and Charitable Organizations Group. He concentrates his practice in estate planning and tax, non-profit organizations, business entity planning and tax, succession planning, and real estate.
He earned his law degrees from Wayne State University School of Law and the University of Detroit-Mercy, a M.U.P. (Masters of Urban Planning) from Wayne State University, and a B.A. in History from Kalamazoo College. He also attended l’Université de Caen, France.
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Cooley Law School
Recent Cooley Law School graduate Alana Glass has been elected to the State Bar of Michigan (SBM) Representative Assembly. Glass will represent Oakland County Circuit Court.
Glass is currently coordinator of career and professional development at Cooley’s Auburn Hills Campus. She has served as the chair of the Oakland County Bar Association Diversity Committee.
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Engle & Associates, P.C.
Engle & Associates, P.C., one of Oakland Counties newest law firms, is pleased to welcome its newest associate, Charles C. Kowalski, to the to the firm’s Pontiac office.
Kowalski’s practice will primarily focus on representing individuals and families with probate issues, amongst many other areas of law.
Kowalski earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from University of Michigan Dearborn and attended law school at the University of Toledo.
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Clark Hill PLC
Terese Farhat has joined Clark Hill PLC Birmingham as Senior Counsel in the firm’s Health Care Practice Group. Farhat’s expertise involves numerous aspects of health care law including litigation, transactional matters, regulatory compliance, labor & employment, risk management & patient safety, and medical investigational research involving human participants. In addition to providing health care legal services to various health care clients, she is the Director of the firm’s Health Care Compliance Program.
Farhat has significant experience representing health care providers in medical malpractice defense litigation. Her corporate health care law background is based on her previous 10 years of experience as in-house counsel for William Beaumont Hospital, which generally consists of three acute care hospitals, physician practices and ambulatory services. Most recently, she was the director of Legal Affairs for Beaumont Hospital – Grosse Pointe where an important aspect of her role was to advise senior level hospital and medical leaders on legal matters impacting the hospital’s operations and risk exposure.
She is a presenter on a variety of health care related legal topics with an emphasis on risk management and has been invited to participate in many educational programs sponsored by physicians, nursing, and other health professionals.
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Garan Lucow Miller P.C.
Garan Lucow Miller P.C. is pleased to announce that Roger A. Smith has resumed his position as chairman of Garan Lucow Miller PC’s Executive Committee.
Smith is managing shareholder of the firm’s Troy office. Smith’s practice area covers a broad spectrum of law, including, Municipal Liability, Insurance Coverage Disputes, Construction and Insurance Defense, Property Claims, Commercial Claims and Catastrophic Claims.
Smith is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Oakland County Bar Association, Michigan Defense Trial Counsel, Defense Research institute and the Association of Defense Trial Counsel, and was bestowed by the Michigan Trial Lawyer Association with its Respected Advocate Award in 2003.
Smith has been named as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” from 2008 through the present as well as “Super Lawyer” since 2006. Smith is also listed as a preeminent attorney in Martindale-Hubbell with an AV rating.
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Nemeth Burwell P.C.
Patricia Nemeth, founding partner of Detroit-based employment law firm Nemeth Burwell P.C. is included in a recently published book by the American Bar Association (ABA) titled, “The Road to Independence: 101 Women’s Journeys to Starting their Own Law Firms. “
“The Road to Independence” was written as part of the ABA’s Commission on Women in the Profession and contains 101 letters recounting the experiences and insights of women lawyers and the various issues and obstacles they faced in forming a law firm of their own, either as a solo practitioner or with others. Ms. Nemeth is featured in chapter three, which looks at women who began their firms between 1990 and 1994, and she writes about the business aspects of opening her law firm.
Nemeth is a member of the Michigan Bar Association – Labor and Employment Section and International Section, and the American Bar Association – Labor Section and Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. In addition to being a litigator, Nemeth is certified as a mediator. She is included in the 2011 edition of the “Best Lawyers in America®” and has been named a “Michigan Super Lawyer” since the honor began in the state in 2006. Nemeth is included in DBusiness magazine’s exclusive 2011 list of metro Detroit’s finest barristers and was named one of “25 Leaders in the Law” in 2009 by “Michigan Lawyers Weekly” magazine.
Nemeth earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and her law degrees from Wayne State University School of Law. In 2009, she received the Distinguished Alumni award from Wayne State. Nemeth is a member of the Michigan Bar and the Illinois Bar.
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Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, P.C.
Susan M. Sutton, a partner with Southfield-based Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss, has been appointed to the firm’s board of directors. Jaffe CEO Richard Zussman made the announcement.
Jaffe board members serve two-year terms and are responsible for the development of the firm’s policies and its strategic planning.
Sutton is a partner in the Southfield office of Jaffe Raitt. She is a member of the firm’s estate planning and probate practice groups, concentrating her practice in the areas of estate planning, wealth preservation and transfer, and succession planning. She advises clients with respect to basic estate planning, requiring wills, revocable trusts and powers of attorney, as well as more complicated wealth preservation and wealth transfer planning involving family limited liability companies or partnerships, irrevocable trusts and other wealth transfer vehicles.
Sutton earned her Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School.
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