Elizabeth (“Liza”) A. Favaro, a member of the Business Litigation Group of Giarmarco, Mullins, & Horton PC (www.gmhlaw.com), was a guest speaker at the Troy Kiwanis Club on Tuesday, May 13.
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Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Arthur Dudley II is among 50 honorees named to the 2014 Michigan Chronicle’s Men of Excellence. He will be recognized during a program at the MGM Grand on June 13.
The 50 honorees were nominated by Michigan Chronicle readers on the basis of being an African-American male and community leader, executive or business owner. Honorees must have proven success within his profession/industry, serve as a positive role model whose contributions encourage others and are active in the community.
Dudley, who practices in Butzel Long’s Detroit and New York offices, has experience in nearly all aspects of corporate law. He has practiced law for more than 35 years. He specializes in mergers and acquisitions, securities law, representation of emerging growth companies and general corporate representation. In the course of his practice, Dudley has advised the boards of directors of numerous private and public companies and currently serves as a director of Altimetrik Corp.
He has participated actively in a number of civic and charitable organizations in the Detroit area. He currently serves as director, secretary and general counsel of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council, a director and former chairperson of the Legal Aid and Defender Association, and a director of Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation.
Dudley participated in the Leadership Detroit Program sponsored by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce; the Black United Fund of Michigan, where he served as a director and chair of the board; New Detroit, Inc., where he served as a member of the Minority Economic Development Committee; the Detroit Urban League, where he served as a director and vice chair of the board; and, the One Stop Capital Shop, where he served as a director and chair of the Board.
Dudley has been listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Corporate/M&A), The Best Lawyers in America (Corporate), Michigan Super Lawyers (Mergers and Acquisitions) and DBusiness Top Lawyers in Metro-Detroit 2011-2012 (Appellate Law; Mergers & Acquisitions; Corporate Law; Corporate Governance and Compliance Law; Securities Law).
Dudley is a graduate of Yale Law School (law degree, 1977) and Yale University (M.A., Economics, 1977). Prior to law school, Dudley attended Harvard College as a National Merit Scholar (B.A. Economics, 1973).
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Valerie Newman, a 1992 alumna of Wayne State University Law School, was honored Wednesday, May 7, by The Wayne Law Review with the Richard J. Barber Alumni Achievement Award.
Newman is an assistant defender in the State Appellate Defender Office in Detroit. Her work has made her a frequent recipient of awards, including the first Thomas Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy from the defender office in 2012, Headliner Award from the Women of Wayne Alumni Association in 2013 and State Bar of Michigan’s Champion of Justice Award in 2013.
Among Newman’s outstanding cases is the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court case Lafler v. Cooper, during which she argued successfully for her client. The court’s decision in that case has been recognized as a watershed opinion clarifying that the constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel includes guilty plea negotiations.
Newman also litigated the 2013 case People v. Thomas (and Raymond) Highers, which resulted in the release of two men who each had served 25 years of incarceration for crimes they didn’t commit. Newman has represented hundreds of clients on appeal since she started working for the defender office in 1995. She also has been an adjunct clinical professor at Wayne Law and the University of Michigan Law School.
The Richard J. Barber Alumni Achievement Award, named in honor of The Wayne Law Review’s first editor-in-chief, is given annually to a Wayne Law graduate who has advanced the reputations of The Wayne Law Review and the law school through his or her service to the legal community.
This year’s alumni achievement award and other honors were presented during The Wayne Law Review’s annual Alumni Dinner and Awards Banquet at Union Street restaurant in Detroit.
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Secrest Wardle has been named a Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 Metropolitan “Best Law Firm” in the following seven practice areas by U. S. News – Best Lawyers® in 2014: Tier 1 for Litigation – Land Use & Zoning, Litigation – Municipal and Municipal Law; Tier 2 for Commercial Litigation, Family Law and Litigation – Real Estate; and Tier 3 for Real Estate Law.
The 2014 rankings are based upon the highest number of participating firms and highest number of client ballots on record, according to U. S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms.” More than 12,000 attorneys provided over 330,000 law firm assessments, and almost 7,000 clients provided close to 20,000 evaluations.
Ranked firms, presented in tiers, are listed on a national and/or metropolitan scale. For 2014, awards were given in 74 national practice areas and 120 metropolitan practice areas.
The 2014 “Best Law Firm” rankings can be seen in their entirety by visiting http://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/.
Secrest Wardle has also been named to Fortune magazine’s list of “Top Ranked Law Firms for 2014”. The list of recognized law firms also appears on CNNMoney.com.
To learn more about Secrest Wardle, visit www.secrestwardle.com.
