Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Beth S. Gotthelf co-chaired Jewish Vocational Services' (JVS) Trade Secrets fundraising event on March 7 in Birmingham. The event raised more than $120,000, which will help operate the program for about half a year. The Trade Secrets event is designed to support, empower and encourage women. The proceeds from the event support women job seekers in the JVS Women to Work Program who must find employment after drastic life changes such as divorce or the death or disability or unemployment of their spouses.
Based in Butzel Long's Bloomfield Hills office, Gotthelf is co-chair of the firm's Energy and Sustainability Practice Group. She also is chair of the firm's growing Aerospace and Defense Industry Group. Gotthelf represents and counsels a diverse mix of clients such as manufacturers, landfills and developers in numerous matters including compliance, permitting; alternative energy; civil and criminal enforcement; tax incentives; remediation; occupational safety and health; transportation; and land use. In the defense arena, she has represented clients on matters involving bidding, bid protest and contracting.
Gotthelf was named to DBusiness magazine's Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit 2012. In addition, Gotthelf was selected as one of 20 influential leaders by Michigan Lawyers Weekly - Women in Law (2010) and received the Oakland University Distinguished Alumni Award (2009). She is listed as one of the "Top 100 Michigan Super Lawyers" by Michigan Super Lawyers (2006 -2011) and as one of the "Top 50 Female Michigan Super Lawyers" (2006 and 2008).
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Judson Center a nonprofit family services agency is pleased to announce the appointment of a new member to the Board of Trustees. Beginning in February, George V. Cassar Jr. began serving a three year term.
Cassar is a shareholder at Southfield-based Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth, & Heller PC. He is looking forward to assisting in the organization's planned giving and fundraising efforts.
Cassar also serves as secretary on the board of directors for Don Bosco Hall, on the board for Miracle League of Plymouth, is a tax council member for the tax section of the State Bar of Michigan, and is an executive member and finance committee member of Inforum.
Cassar earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and his master's in tax law from Wayne State University Law School. He focuses his practice in the areas of estate and business succession planning, taxation and probate.
Additionally, for the second consecutive year, five attorneys from Maddin Hauser have been selected for recognition in respectedlegal research publication Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2012.
The attorneys come from Maddin Hauser's real estate and employee benefits practice groups. Those recognized from Maddin Hauser's Real Estate practice group include: Michael W. Maddin, president emeritus and founder; Mark R. Hauser, managing director and founder; and Lowell D. Salesin, a shareholder and member of the Executive Management Committee.
Charles M. Lax and Gary M. Remer, firm shareholders, were both honored in the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation category.
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Partners Michael S. Bogren and Michael P. Ashcraft Jr. were recently elected chairman and secretary/treasurer, respectively, of the Board of Directors of Plunkett Cooney.
At the firm's recent annual meeting, Ashcraft was elected to serve as a member of the board of directors for the first time. In addition, Bogren and partners Kenneth C. Newa and Michael K. Sheehy each won re-election. All will serve three-year terms.
Following the annual meeting, the firm's board of directors met and elected Bogren and Ashcraft to the officer positions for one-year terms.
Bogren, formerly the board's secretary/treasurer for nine consecutive years, was named a partner in 1989 and has been a board member since 2003. In addition to his board duties, Bogren manages Plunkett Cooney's Kalamazoo office and serves as the firm's Governmental Law Practice Group Leader.
New board secretary/treasurer Ashcraftis a partner in the firm's Bloomfield Hills office who currently serves as the firm's Professional Liability Practice Group Leader. He concentrates his practice in the defense of attorneys and accountants in malpractice claims, and he represents insurance brokers and agents, securities brokers, real estate brokers and agents, investment advisors, officers and directors and notaries public in professional liability cases in state and federal courts.
Admitted to state and federal courts in Michigan and Nebraska, Ashcraft graduated from Detroit College of Law in 1992. He received his undergraduate degree from University of Michigan in 1987. Ashcraft is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association's Negligence Section, the State Bar of Michigan's Professional Ethics Committee and the American Bar Association's Committee on Professional Responsibility and Liability.
Newa is a partner in Plunkett Cooney's Bloomfield Hills office and co-chair of the firm's Insurance Coverage Practice Group. He focuses his practice principally upon the representation of insurance companies in a variety of insurance coverage disputes, including complex, high-exposure coverage litigation relating to environmental, asbestos, toxic tort and defective construction claims. He is admitted to practice in Michigan and Ohio, and in federal courts in Indiana.
A graduate of University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Newa is a member of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, the Environmental Law and Negligence sections of the State Bar of Michigan, and the Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association. He is also a member of the DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar. He received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in 1986.
Sheehy, a partner in Plunkett Cooney's Detroit office, currently serves as the firm's Trucking & Transportation Practice Group Leader. He focuses his practice in the areas of trucking and transportation litigation, product liability, mold/toxin liability, construction law, premises liability and motor vehicle claims.
Sheehy is active in a number of trucking and transportation industry organizations, including the Trucking Industry Defense Association, ALFA International's Transportation Practice Group and the DRI's Trucking Law Committee.
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The law firm of Resnick & Moss P.C. would like to congratulate attorney Brian A. Rookard on his recent publications. His article titled "Vehicle Planning Decision Challenges after Ransom and Lanning" was selected for inclusion in the American Bankruptcy Institute's (ABI) newest book, "Best of ABI 2011: The Year in Consumer Bankruptcy." In addition, Rockard's article, "401(k) Funds Not 'Income' until Disbursement," will be printed in the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) March 2012 publication.
Rookard will speak at an Institute of Continuing Legal Education's seminar on May 11. He will participate in the panel for the 3rd Annual Consumer Bankruptcy Institute seminar located at the Inn at St. John's in Plymouth.
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Miller Canfield principals B. Jay Yelton (Kalamazoo office) and Thomas W. Cranmer (Troy office) recently served as speakers for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) webcast, "E-Discovery Update 2012-ESI & the Government." Their discussion included how to work with the government as a frequent player in the e-discovery field as prosecutor, civil plaintiff, defendant, investigator and FOIA respondent.
Yelton and Cranmer are members of Miller Canfield's Litigation and Trial Group. They presented with Louis P. Gabel of the United States Attorney's Office.
Cranmer concentrates his practice in both civil and criminal litigation. With more than 35 years of courtroom experience, his practice focuses largely on white-collar criminal defense, complex commercial litigation, and "bet-the-company" litigation.
Over the years, he has repeatedly been recognized as one of Michigan's leading trial lawyers. He has been listed in the Top 10 Attorneys in every edition of Michigan Super Lawyers and he has been the leading vote getter out of more than 40,000 Michigan attorneys for the past three years in a row.
He received his law degree from Ohio Northern University and his B.A. from the University of Michigan.
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On Thursday, Jan. 26, the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association (DMBA) Foundation recognized its 2011 Class of Foundation Fellows during ceremonies for the 8th Annual Dennis W. Archer Public Service Award. Former U.S. Attorney and Detroit Deputy Mayor Saul A. Green of Miller Canfield was named a Supporting Fellow while 11 other DMBA leaders were welcomed as Fellows as part of the event, during which Michigan Department of Human Services Director Maura D. Corrigan was presented with the 8th Annual Archer Award.
The Fellows program recognizes members who have made exceptional contributions to the practice of law and who are exemplary lawyers in the community. Fellows make a significant, ten-year commitment to the Foundation and are named either Patron Fellows, Supporting Fellows, or Fellows. The program was inaugurated in 2006.
Green himself chose to focus on Corrigan's record and the importance of getting the legal community involved in public service. "This year's Dennis W. Archer Public Service Award presentation was a truly outstanding event," he said. "Justice Corrigan's selection as this year's recipient is a deserving commemoration of a career dedicated to work on behalf of children and families. It is also important to commend the DMBA Foundation for annually convening the Detroit Metropolitan legal community in a celebration of commitment to community service."
Eugene H. Boyle Jr. and Harold Gurewitz are two of Detroit's other notable attorneys who were also welcomed into the 2011 Class of Fellows. Boyle, a Patron Fellow, is president of Boyle Burdett, a firm he founded in 2007. He formerly served as the youngest president of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, has been an adjunct professor of Law at his alma mater, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and he is an active member of its law Alumni Association. Boyle has experience in commercial business, probate, and First Amendment litigation. He has tried cases throughout Michigan as well as in New York, Chicago, and Florida.
Gurewitz has more than 40 years of experience working on both sides of the criminal system - as a defense attorney and as an assistant U.S. attorney and chief of the Economic Crime Unit. He has argued cases in venues up to and including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He is the recipient of the 1998 Gilman Award from the Detroit Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, the 2010 Kaplan Social Justice Award from Congregation T'chiyah (along with his wife, attorney Mary Ellen Gurewitz), and the 2012 "Warrior of Justice" Award from the Legal Aid and Defender Association of Detroit.
The following attorneys were also welcomed as Fellows during the Foundation's annual event.
* Richard L. Cunningham, Michigan Department of Attorney General.
* Gene J. Esshaki, Abbott Nicholson PC.
* Christopher R. Gura, Abbot Nicholson PC.
* Wayne County 36th District Court Judge Katherine L. Hansen.
* Robert S. Krause, Dickinson Wright..
* Stephen D. McGraw, Kerr, Russel and Weber PLC.
* Paul J. Millenbach, V.P. Foster Swift.
* Leo A. Nouhan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
* James S. Rosenfeld, Butzel Long.
* Steven D. Sallen, Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth, & Heller PC.
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Joseph A. Golden, a partner at Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, Rivers, and Golden PC in Royal Oak, has been elected as the first chairperson of the newly created Masters Section of the Macomb County Bar Association.
Golden, a nationally recognized employment discrimination litigator, serves as an executive board member and legislative director of the Michigan Employment Lawyers Association, an organization he founded 20 years ago. With more than 40 years experience, he has been a partner of Pitt McGehee Palmer Rivers and Golden since 2007 and devotes his practice to the representation of individual employees in wrongful termination and discrimination cases.
Since 1980 he has lectured nationally on the litigation and resolution of employee rights issues. Golden has been recognized by the National Law Journal, Who's Who in American Law, Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers.
Golden earned his B.S. degree from Wayne State University and his law degree from the University of Detroit.
Published: Mon, Mar 19, 2012
