Governor Rick Snyder has reappointed attorney Gary August of Zausmer, Kaufman, August, Caldwell, & Tayler PC as chairperson of the Residential Builders' and Maintenance and Alteration Contractors' Board. August will serve a four-year term that expires on March 31, 2016.
As a shareholder of Zausmer, Kaufman, August, Caldwell, & Tayler PC, August specializes in complex litigation in the areas of commercial law, construction law, consumer finance, and insurance coverage.
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Erman, Teicher, Miller, Zucker, & Freedman PC announced that five of its eight attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 18th edition of The Best Lawyers in America® 2012.
Earle I. Erman, Julie Beth Teicher, David M. Miller, Craig E. Zucker and David H. Freedman were recognized as being among the best attorneys in their respective practice areas. This is the 16th consecutive year Best Lawyers has honored Erman. Teicher, Miller and Zucker have been named to this list in each of the past three years. Freedman is a first-time honoree.
Erman, who founded the firm in 1976, focuses his practice on insolvency-related matters, representation of debtors, creditors' committees, secured and unsecured creditors, and other parties in bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy matters. The Wayne State University Law School alumnus also has experience in receivership and trustee matters. He acts as a certified mediator for the Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Michigan and is board certified in business bankruptcy. He also has served on the Merit Selection Panel for Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Teicher, a shareholder at the firm since 1991, concentrates her practice in the area of debtors' and creditors' rights, principally in business bankruptcy, and general insolvency and commercial litigation matters. The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law alumna also has significant experience representing receivers in both Federal and state courts, debtors, creditors and creditors' committees in business reorganization cases. A certified Bankruptcy Court mediator, she is an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
Miller focuses his practice on bankruptcy, insolvency, out-of-court workouts, and debtor and creditor rights. The Boston College Law School alumnus, a shareholder since 1991, has experience representing debtors, creditors (both secured and unsecured), and creditors committees in bankruptcy proceedings and non-bankruptcy proceedings, as well as state court receivers.
Zucker has been a shareholder at the firm since 1996. His practice area concentrates on insolvency-related matters, representation of debtors and secured and unsecured creditors, as well as non-bankruptcy matters involving commercial litigation in both state and federal courts. The Thomas M. Cooley Law School alumnus also has significant experience representing multi-employer fringe benefit funds in insolvency-related matters, principally in the construction industry.
Freedman's practice focuses in the areas of corporate and business law, real estate law, debtor and creditor rights, out-of-court workouts and state and federal court receiverships. He also counsels clients on a wide variety of corporate, business, real estate and receivership matters, with an emphasis on transactional and contract work. A shareholder at the firm since 1996, the Wayne State University Law School alumnus provides consulting and drafting services for all types of business and related transactions, including choosing and creating the right business entity, buying or selling assets, real estate or business interests, shareholder agreements, operating agreements, buy-sell agreements, employment agreements and general business planning.
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David H. Fink, managing partner of Bloomfield Hills-based Fink & Associates Law, has been named president of the Bloomfield Hills Schools Foundation.
"The approval of the $58.7 million bond marks the apparent end to years of controversy regarding the district's future," said Fink. "I am excited by the broad community support reflected in the bond vote. With this issue resolved, it's the perfect time for the community to build a strong Foundation which can guarantee superior schools for the children of this district for many years to come."
Fink has been an active supporter of Bloomfield Hills' schools, and his children have all attended the District. Outside of this volunteer role, Fink is managing partner of Fink & Associates Law. He 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 of Harvard Law School and serves on the Michigan State Officers Compensation Commission (SOCC), the Board of Directors of Jewish Family Services of Metropolitan Detroit and the Michigan State Bar Committee on Judicial Qualifications.
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Attorney Jenice C. Mitchell Ford has joined Clark Hill PLC Detroit as senior counsel and a member of the Education Municipal Practice and Litigation Practice Groups.
She recently served as chair of the elected 2009-2012 City of Detroit Charter Revision Commission where she was tasked with re-writing the city's constitution. In this role, she successfully led a public campaign resulting in 58% voter approval of the new city charter.
At Clark Hill, Mitchell Ford combines her unique municipal and considerable litigation experiences to provide clients with counseling, drafting and litigation services.
Mitchell Ford focuses her litigation practice in the areas of municipal, commercial and business, real estate and insurance law at both the trial and appellate levels of federal and state courts. She was named to Crain's Detroit Business 40 Under 40 Class of 2010. Also, she was recognized as Michigan Lawyers Weekly's Up & Coming Lawyer (2009) for her work in the law.
She has represented clients in diverse industries (from automotive to health care) in cases involving inter alia, breach of contract, zoning disputes, product liability, supplier disputes, breach of warranty and consumer class actions. In addition, she has litigated intellectual property cases involving trade dress matters and trade secret and misappropriation claims.
Mitchell Ford is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law. She is also a graduate of Georgetown University.
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Southfield-based Collins, Einhorn, Farrell, & Ulanoff PC announced that attorney Stephen D. Jacobites has joined the firm as an associate.
Jacobites focuses his practice on asbestos/toxic tort and general liability defense litigation. The Birmingham resident graduated in May 2011 from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
Jacobites earned a B.A. in Political Science from The Ohio State University in 2007.
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Samantha Heraud and Patricia Schabath have been hired as attorneys with the Detroit and Las Vegas offices of Lipson, Neilson, Cole, Seltzer, & Garin PC.
Heraud earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan with a major in psychology and a minor in political science. She earned her law degree from Boston University School of Law.
Heraud is admitted to practice law in all state and federal courts in the State of Michigan and commonwealth of Massachusetts. She is working out of Lipson Neilson's Detroit area office in Bloomfield Hills.
Schabath is a firm associate in the firm's Bloomfield Hills office that handles general civil litigation, with a concentration in defending medical malpractice and legal malpractice claims. Her practice also includes personal injury defense, and employment and health law litigation. Her prior experience includes pro hac vice admissions to Minnesota and Wisconsin to represent the interests of physicians involved in complex litigation matters in those states. She is currently is appointed to a three-year term on the Health Care Law Section's governing council. She is also a member of the Litigation Section.
Schabath earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University.
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O'Reilly Rancilio PC is pleased to announce the addition of the following attorneys who have joined the firm in April of 2012:
Albert C. Addis has joined the firm as Of Counsel. Addis has more than 30 years of experience as a trial attorney in various areas of the law including trucking defense and other personal injury litigation, municipal law and criminal law, including Medicare/Medicaid fraud and criminal negligence cases. Addis has tried more than 100 cases to verdict. He is also experienced with arbitration as both an attorney for the parties and as an arbitrator.
Addis continues to serve as general counsel for one of Michigan's major third-party administrators, as counsel to government agencies and as a member of the major insurer's national panel for guidance and representation in the defense of long term care liability cases. He is licensed to practice law in Michigan, and admitted in the U.S. District Courts of Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Addis was named a Michigan Super Lawyer in 2010 and 2011. He earned his law degree from the Detroit College of Law and B.A. from Oakland University.
Addis is currently labor counsel for Macomb Township and other municipal bodies.
James C. Thomas has joined the firm as Of Counsel. Thomas has more than 30 years of experience practicing criminal defense in complex federal and state court matters. Thomas has successfully defended clients in some of Michigan's highest profile white collar criminal matters including healthcare professionals, corporate executives, politicians and professional athletes. He has tried a range of significant criminal cases in both federal and state courts, focused on white-collar criminal complex criminal defense. He is well versed in all aspects of health care law and defense of computer crimes and all crimes involving electronic communications.
Thomas is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2008 American-Arab Chamber of Commerce "Professional of the Year" Award and the 2007 Gilman Award presented by the Federal Bar Association.
For his work in the Detroit Terrorism Trial in 2004, he received the "Defender of Justice Award" from the National Trial Lawyers Guild. He also received the "Justice for All Award" from the Criminal Defense Attorneys in Michigan in 2003.
He earned his law degree from Detroit College of Law and B.S. from Wayne State University.
Thomas D. Esordi has joined the firm as a shareholder. Esordi has more than 20 years experience in commercial litigation and also has an active municipal and labor law practice. Esordi is also chairman of the Grosse Ile Township Zoning Board of Appeals.
Esordi earned his law degree from the University of Detroit College of Law and a B.A. from Kenyon College.
Paul B. Addis has joined the firm as a shareholder. Addis focuses his practice on insurance defense, plaintiff personal injury and criminal law and family law.
Addis earned his law degree from the Michigan State University College of Law and B.S. from Michigan State University.
Michael C. Naughtonhas joined the firm as Of Counsel. Naughton specializes in complex technological issues in civil and criminal defense litigation. He has worked on many high profile cases involving politicians, defendants and white collar crimes and other criminal defense matters. He was appointed by the Federal Eastern District Court of Michigan to handle technological issues in connection with such matters.
Naughton was a speaker at the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan Annual Conference on technology and the law and was a speaker in Yoshkar Ola, Russia on the topic of human rights views between Russia and American law students.
Naughton earned his law degree from the University of Detroit-Mercy and his B.A. from Wayne State University.
David K. Pontes has joined the firm as an associate. Pontes focuses his practice on insurance defense, criminal defense and family law. He was named a Rising Star in 2011 by Super Lawyers.
Pontes earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School and his B.A. from the University of Vermont.
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In the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 25, Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer administered the Oath of Office to Harriet B. Rotter and the members of the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad. The commission encourages the preservation and protection of the cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings associated with the foreign heritage of United States citizens. Members visit sites in central and Eastern Europe to ascertain their condition.
The commission was established in 1985 and since then has negotiated over a dozen bilateral agreements with European governments to protect and restore cemeteries, synagogues and other critical sites.
Rotter, of Bingham Farms, was first appointed to the commission by President George Bush in 2003. Her travels abroad on behalf of the commission have led her to visit cemeteries and memorials in Lithuania, Hungary and Germany.
"The agreements include language to protect heritage sites threatened by criminal activity, desecration and commercial development, all of which has occurred. The commission researches and verifies the historical validity in site markers and memorials so that painful but historical truths are not compromised. It is vital that we do this and insist that individual countries acknowledge their complicity. As the numbers of Holocaust survivors dwindles, we must bear witness ourselves by honoring the gravesites where our forbears are buried and make public with historical accuracy the horrific events that occurred," said Rotter.
The commission meets two or three times a year in Washington, D.C. to discuss projects and recommend new ones for restoration. Rotter has served on various board and commissions, including Central Michigan University and the President's Advisory Committee of the John F. Kennedy Center. She is a member of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
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Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Robert H. Schwartz contributed a section on the "Quality and Health Care Reporting" for inclusion in the 117-page American Health Lawyers Association's (AHLA) Accountable Care Organization Member Briefing.
"AHLA formed the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Task Force to summarize developments related to the ACO provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)," said Schwartz. "The AHLA ACO Task Force and its subcommittees developed this comprehensive ACO resource for its members. The Member Briefing examines the provisions of the Final Rule."
Based in Butzel Long's Bloomfield Hills office, Schwartz's practice includes corporate and health care activities. He has experience in business planning, mergers and acquisitions and in assisting health care and hospital clients in the health care regulatory areas including reimbursement, fraud and abuse, and hospital physician relations, among others. He also works on various international matters with a particular emphasis on Mexico, Latin America and Canada.
Schwartz is a member of the Health Law Sections of the American Bar Association and State Bar of Michigan, the American Health Lawyers Association, the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, as well as the State Bar of Michigan. He is an Ambassador to Oakland County Michigan's Medical Main Street.
The Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) appointed Schwartz to the Committee on Hospital-Physician Alignment and the Health Information Strategy Committee.
Schwartz also has authored several articles for various publications and is a frequent lecturer on key topics relating to health care.
Schwartz graduated from Wayne State University Law School (1972) and Wayne State University (B.A., 1969). He is admitted to practice in Michigan and New York.
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Daniel Soleimani has joined Southfield-based Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC as an associate in the firm's tax and estate planning group. Jaffe CEO William Sider made the announcement.
Prior to joining Jaffe, Soleimani was a summer associate at Vorys, Sater, Seymour, & Pease where he focused on complex commercial litigation matters.
Soleimani is a graduate of Emory University School of Law in Atlant. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University at Buffalo.
Additionally, Jaffe Raitt recently announced that Richard Zussman and Brian Raznick have been elected to the firm's Board of Directors. Jaffe CEO Bill Sider made the announcement.
As members of Jaffe's Board of Directors, Zussman and Raznick will be responsible for the growth, strategic development, and day-to-day operations of the 200-person firm.
Zussman, who preceded Sider as CEO of the firm, is a member of Jaffe's Real Estate Practice Group where he specializes in commercial real estate and business planning. He graduated from the University of Iowa and graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.
Raznick has been with the firm for more than 15 years and is a member of its Business Transaction Practice Group, specializing in real estate and business law. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and is a graduate of Boston University Law School.
Zussman and Raznick join Thomas Coughlin, Eric Linden, Bill Sider, Susan Sutton and Arthur Weiss who all currently serve on the seven-member Board of Directors.
Published: Mon, May 21, 2012
