Mitra Jafary-Hariri has joined Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP as an attorney in the firm's Litigation Department. She will be located in Honigman's Detroit office.
Jafary-Hariri will focus her practice on litigation matters. She earned her law degree from Howard University School of Law. She also earned an M.S. in education from Pace University and a B.A. in education from Wayne State University. Jafary-Hariri is admitted to practice in Michigan and is an active member of the Wolverine Bar Association.
She most recently served as a senior law clerk for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Damon J. Keith , Sixth Circuit, and previously served as a judicial clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Arthur J. Tarnow, Eastern District of Michigan
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Plunkett Cooney attorney Randal M. Brown was recently named to the inaugural Lawyers of Color (LOC) Hot List of 100 early- to mid-career minority attorneys under 40 from the Midwest region.
Lawyers of Color, which was originally founded as On Being A Black Lawyer, has been recognized by the American Bar Association, National Black Law Students Association, and National Association of Black Journalists. Honorees were recognized at a July 25 reception in Chicago and were profiled in LOC's inaugural Hot List Special Issue in July 2013.
Brown is a member of Plunkett Cooney's Litigation Department and concentrates his practice in the areas of general litigation, municipal law, and trucking and transportation liability. He also has experience handling employment and general tort liability claims on behalf of municipal clients. Brown is the former chairperson of the firm's Associate Development Committee and a current member of the firm's Hiring Committee.
Brown is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and is a board member of the Wolverine Bar Association.
A graduate from Howard University School of Law in 2006, Brown earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware in 2003.
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William P. Scarbrough has joined Detroit-based law firm Bodman PLC as chief operating officer.
In his new role, Scarbrough will head Bodman's administrative staff and lead various strategic projects for the 158-lawyer firm.
Scarbrough has 25 years of experience in law firm administration. He has served in senior management roles in the United States and Europe with several large national and international law firms.
Immediately before joining Bodman, Scarbrough served as chief human resources officer with Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Grand Rapids. His previous positions include chief operating officer with Baker & McKenzie LLP in Washington and New York, chief information officer with Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago, and chief administrator of Kirkland & Ellis's London office, among others.
Scarbrough graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in German and master's degrees in Political Science and Information and Library Studies.
A native of the Grand Rapids area, Scarbrough serves as president of the board of directors of the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre and as a member of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce CEO Roundtable. He co-edits Practice Innovations, a newsletter on law firm management topics published by Thomson Reuters.
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Nemeth Burwell PC announces it has been named one of Metropolitan Detroit's 101 Best & Brightest Companies to Work For by the Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA). This is the twelfth time Nemeth Burwell has received the award. All award winners will be honored at an event to be held on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at the Henry Hotel in Dearborn.
Patricia Nemeth, the firm's founding partner, says the 101 Best & Brightest Companies to Work for award reinforces the firm's long-standing commitment to its staff.
"We value and support our staff and continue to seek out opportunities that allow them to grow their careers and knowledge base," said Nemeth. "Because we serve employers on human resource issues, it is especially gratifying to be recognized for our own human resource practices and programs."
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Secrest Wardle is pleased to announce that Executive Partner Derk W. Beckerleg was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2014 in the fields of Litigation-Municipal and Municipal Law.
Beckerleg is the managing partner of Secrest Wardle's Municipal Law Department and is the assistant city attorney for the City of Auburn Hills, the assistant city attorney for the City of Bloomfield Hills, the assistant township attorney for the Charter Township of Bloomfield, the assistant township attorney for the Charter Township of West Bloomfield, the assistant township attorney for Southfield Township, and the assistant village attorney for the Village of Bingham Farms.
Beckerleg also represents the following municipalities with respect to their Michigan Tax Tribunal matters: City of Auburn Hills, Charter Township of Bloomfield, City of Bloomfield Hills, Charter Township of Independence, Charter Township of West Bloomfield, Southfield Township, City of Dearborn Heights, Village of Bingham Farms, and the City of Walled Lake.
In addition to his listings in The Best Lawyers in America, Beckerleg has consistently been voted for inclusion on the list of Michigan Super Lawyers by his peers, from 2007 through 2013. He was also recognized on the list of 2012 and 2013 Top Lawyers by Metro Detroit's DBusiness magazine.
Beckerleg is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University in 1978, and his law degree from University of Detroit Law School in 1981. He was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 1982.
The firm also announces that Senior Partner William P. Hampton was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2014 in the fields of Commercial Litigation, Family Law, Litigation--Land Use & Zoning, Litigation--Municipal, Litigation--Real Estate, Municipal Law, and Real Estate Law.
Hampton has been recognized by his peers in multiple practice areas and is a former Oakland County Circuit Court judge and former state legislator. Hampton's expertise in these areas provides his clients the best representation available by providing proven defense strategies for municipalities, counties, school districts, universities, and state agencies across Michigan.
Hampton serves as attorney for the Cities of Bloomfield Hills and Auburn Hills, as well as for the Townships of Bloomfield, and West Bloomfield.
Hampton is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. In addition to being recognized in multiple practice areas by The Best Lawyers in America, he is listed in Who's Who in American Law and Metro Detroit's DBusiness magazine with Top Lawyer designation. In 2012 he was named the Detroit Area "Municipal Lawyer of the Year." Hampton has been consecutively voted for inclusion on the list of Michigan Super Lawyers by his peers from 2006 to 2013. Also in 2013, he was chosen as of one of thirty lawyers in Michigan to be honored as a "Leader in the Law."
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The law firm of Miller Canfield announces that the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association Foundation has appointed lawyer Steven A. Roach as a trustee.
The Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association Foundation (DMBAF) supports a mix of programming and advocacy including the Detroit Legal Services Clinic, which provides free legal assistance to people in need, among others.
Roach is a principal at Miller Canfield with more than 20 years of commercial transaction and litigation experience in restructuring lending relationships and enforcing loan transactions. He has been an active participant in the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, the Commercial Advisory Council for the American Arbitration and has been recognized by the legal community in leading referral guides, Best Lawyers, Chambers USA and Super Lawyers Michigan, for his work.
Roach received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
In addition, Miller Canfield has been honored in a leading corporate counsel survey as one of the top 18 law firms in the United States for complex employment and labor litigation.
BTI Consulting Group named Miller Canfield as a "standout in complex labor" in its survey, BTI Litigation Outlook 2014.
Along with ranking Miller Canfield among the top employment firms nationwide, BTI also named the firm to its new "Fearsome Foursome Honor Roll," recognizing the law firms opponents fear most in employment litigation.
This recognition builds upon similar recognition in 2012, when the firm was recognized in the same survey as an "Awesome Opponent" among an elite group of U.S. law firms known for their overall commercial litigation prowess.
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For the third year, Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Rebecca S. Davies will moderate a panel presentation at the North American Transportation Employee Relations Association's (NATERA) 27th Annual Conference on November 10-12 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Davies is a NATERA Board member.
The title for the panel presentation is: "Lean In: Special Tribute to Women in Trucking." The panel will share experiences from their own careers and the opportunities for women to take on leadership roles within the industry.
Davies concentrates her practice primarily in the areas of employment law and commercial litigation. She represents employers in federal and state court litigation and before state and federal administrative agencies. She regularly counsels employers regarding compliance under federal and state employment laws (including FLSA, FMLA, ADA and Title VII), drafts policies and procedures, and advises on preventative strategies.
She is a frequent author and lecturer, not only for client in-house trainings and publications, but also outside organizations, such as Walsh College, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Automation Alley and American Society of Employers. She is an adjunct faculty member at Walsh College.
Davies earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan at Dearborn and law degrees from the Detroit College of Law and Wayne State University Law School.
Butzel Long also announces its continuing growth with the addition of two attorneys who complement key practice areas within the firm.
Andreas Seidel, an international attorney affiliated with Butzel Long for the past four years, is now an associate. Ivonne Soler, an attorney specializing in business and commercial litigation, has joined Butzel Long as an associate. Both attorneys are based in the firm's Detroit office.
Seidel is responsible for consulting with U.S. companies entering the German/European market and German/European companies entering the North American market. He also assists clients in the retention of German citizenship.
He earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School. During his law studies at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen, Nürnberg, Seidel worked as a trainee lawyer/intern for Siemens AG in Erlangen, Germany and Continental Automotive, Inc. in Auburn Hills. Seidel worked for the Nürnberg District Court and two regional law firms.
Seidel is a licensed attorney in Germany, which allows him to represent clients within the European Union. He is a native of Germany and fluent in English.
Soler earned her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and B.A. from Wayne State University.
A native of Puerto Rico and fluent in Spanish, Soler is actively involved with the Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan (HBAM) and the Women's Lawyer's Association of Michigan (WLAM).
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Wayne State University Law School Associate Professor Noah D. Hall is co-author of a chapter in a new book, "Water Without Borders? Canada, the United States, and Shared Waters," published by University of Toronto Press.
Hall's chapter, written with Professor Jamie Linton of Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, is "The Great Lakes: A Model of Transboundary Cooperation."
The book offers readers an overview of water issues along the 49th parallel, as well as commentaries by a variety of experts, including Hall, on sources of conflict between Canada and the United States over water issues.
"Particularly noteworthy is the fact that most chapters emphasize that solutions to transboundary water conflicts have taken the form of working around--rather than through--conventional institutions for transboundary water governance," Hall said in a Sept. 26 entry to his blog, www.greatlakeslaw.org. "The transboundary cooperation and collaboration that characterizes these chapters epitomizes, we feel, how shared governance can function effectively: through hard work, clear lines of communication, sustained contact and mutual trust."
Hall is widely published and consulted on environmental and water law issues. His research focuses on issues of environmental governance, federalism, and transboundary pollution and resource management.
Hall graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, concentrating on environmental policy.
Before he joined Wayne Law's faculty, he taught at the University of Michigan Law School and was an attorney with the National Wildlife Federation, where he managed the Great Lakes Water Resources Program for the nation's largest conservation organization. He also worked in private practice for several years and has extensive litigation experience and many published decisions in state and federal courts. Hall continues to represent a variety of clients in significant environmental policy disputes.
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Brinks, Gilson, & Lione is the new name of the intellectual property law firm formerly known as Brinks, Hofer, Gilson, & Lione. The change is effective immediately.
Brinks, Gilson, & Lione, the largest IP law firm in Chicago and the sixth-largest nationally, has more than 160 attorneys, scientific advisors, and patent agents who specialize in intellectual property. The firm's lawyers provide expertise in all aspects of patent, trademark, unfair competition, trade secret and copyright law. The Brinks team includes lawyers with advanced degrees in all fields of technology and science.
Founded in Chicago in 1917, Brinks also has offices in Washington, D.C., where the firm has a thriving practice before the International Trade Commission, and in Research Triangle Park, N.C., Ann Arbor, Detroit, Salt Lake City, and Indianapolis.
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Martin C. Weisman of Weisman, Young, & Ruemenapp PC was elected as the chair elect of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Michigan at the ADR Section's Annual Meeting on September 28.
Weisman specializes in mediation, arbitration and various hybrid forms of ADR and has served as a trainer of other ADR providers.
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Sommers Schwartz PC is pleased to announce that attorney Ramona C. Howard has joined as a shareholder.
Howard brings more than 20 years of experience representing clients with medical malpractice and personal injury claims at trial and on appeal. She focuses her practice on medical malpractice, personal injury, and appellate matters.
After receiving her law degree from Wayne State University Law School, Howard served as a research attorney in the Pre-Hearing Division of the Michigan Court of Appeals before embarking on a two-decade career representing individuals injured and harmed by the acts of others.
In addition, Sommers Schwartz is proud to announce that 13 of the firm's attorneys have been selected to the 2013 Michigan Super Lawyers list.
The 13 Sommers Schwartz attorneys listed among the 2013 Michigan Super Lawyers are:
Charles R. Ash, III
William M. Brukoff
Michael J. Cunningham
Matthew G. Curtis
Richard D. Fox
Richard L. Groffsky
Samuel A. Meklir
Jeffrey N. Shillman
Robert B. Sickels
Daniel D. Swanson
Norman D. Tucker
Matthew L. Turner
Kenneth T. Watkins
Published: Mon, Oct 14, 2013
