LEGAL PEOPLE

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder recently announced the appointment of Adel Harb to the 3rd Circuit Court, Wayne County, and Lawrence Paolucci to the Wayne County Probate Court. Harb currently serves as the magistrate for the Wayne County 19th District Court in Dearborn and has a general practice law firm with a practice in civil, criminal and family law. He has served as a board member of the Great Lakes Council of the Boy Scouts and Wounded Warriors of Michigan. Harb earned his bachelor's degree in political science and economics from Western Michigan University and a law degree from Thomas Cooley Law School. Paolucci has worked as the court attorney for the Wayne County Probate Court for the past 11 years, assisting the probate judges with legal research and writing. He acts as the court alternate dispute resolution clerk, assisting with mediation, along with various other responsibilities with the court. Paolucci earned his bachelor's degree from Kenyon College in Ohio and his law degree from Detroit College of Law. Harb fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Daniel Ryan. He must seek election in November 2016 for the remainder of the term and again in 2018 for a full term. Paolucci fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Milton Mack. He must seek election in November 2016 for a full term. - - - Miller Canfield announces that Julian Davis Mortenson has joined the firm as Of Counsel to its International Disputes Group. He will continue as a full-time professor at the University of Michigan Law School. Mortenson brings to the firm extensive experience in both academia and private practice. Named by the law school as the 2015 recipient of the L. Hart Wright Award for Teaching Excellence, Mortenson is active in both international arbitration and domestic constitutional litigation. He has served as arbitrator, counsel, and expert witness in commercial and investor-state disputes under the ICC, ICSID, UNCITRAL, and VIAC rules, and has litigated complex transnational matters in the U.S. courts, including actions involving the enforcement of foreign law and foreign judgments. Other representative matters include his work as one of the principal drafters of the merits briefs in the landmark case Boumediene v. Bush, which secured the right of Guantanamo detainees to challenge their incarceration, and his role as lead counsel in Caspar v. Snyder, which required Michigan to recognize the marriages of more than 300 same-sex couples. â?? Prior to joining the Michigan Law School faculty, Mortenson was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale, and Dorr LLP in Washington, D.C. and New York, NY. He also served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Mortenson received his law degree from Stanford Law School after earning a Bachelor of Arts at Harvard College. - - - Bea Swedlow has been invited by Bryn Mawr President Kimberly W. Cassidy to join her President's Advisory Council. The Council, a small group of alumnae, assists the president by providing strategic thinking regarding issues of importance to the college. Swedlow is a partner and intellectual property litigator at Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP. Swedlow represents clients in patent, copyright and trademark matters. She also advises clients on social media issues and other emerging forms of digital communication. Swedlow has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America since 2012 and Michigan Super Lawyers since 2013. She serves the American Intellectual Property Law Association as co-vice chair of its Women in IP Committee and is a member of its Professionals Programs, Copyright and Patent Litigation committees. She also is a member of the Internet Committee for the Media Law Resource Center. Swedlow earned a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law, an M.L.S.P./M.S.S. from Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, and an A.B. from Bryn Mawr College. In addition, Kimberly A. Yourchock has joined Honigman as a partner in its Labor and Employment Department's Wage and Hour Practice Group. She will be located in the firm's Detroit office. Yourchock focuses her practice on representing employers in state and federal courts and before various administrative agencies in labor and employment matters, including retaliation, harassment, discrimination, breach of contract, and wage and hour matters. She also advises employers regarding employment policies and procedures; best practices for internal investigations; human resources compliance; and employment contracts, including restrictive covenants. Yourchock comes to Honigman from the Detroit office of Jackson Lewis PC. She is admitted to practice in all Michigan courts and before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Yourchock earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School. She received a B.A. in political science from Kalamazoo College. - - - One of the country's oldest minority-based firms, Lewis & Munday PC, has named Reginald G. Dozier its new president & CEO. The firm also named two new partners: Ronda Tate Truvillion and Ngozi E. Nwaesei. Truvillion and Nwaesei are members of the firm's Litigation Practice Group and Real Estate Practice group, respectively. Dozier, formerly the chair of the firm's Litigation Practice Group, was elected by a unanimous vote of its shareholders. Dozier has been with Lewis & Munday for 15 years and has more than 25 years of courtroom experience. He succeeds Blair A. Person. Dozier has devoted his 30 years in law to complex commercial disputes, corporate, labor and employment, and municipal litigation. He also has experience in school law and has advised several public school district clients. Dozier started his career in law enforcement at the Detroit Police Department in 1978, where he rose to become a sergeant, and the commanding officer of the Legal Advisor Unit. Before joining Lewis & Munday in 2000, Dozier was an associate at Reynolds, Beeby, and Magnuson PC, founder and president of Dozier, Turner, and Braceful PC from 1992-97, and worked as a partner at Clark Hill,PLC from 1998-2000. "I am humbled by this vote of confidence by my colleagues and shareholders, as I have always viewed Lewis & Munday as a model firm of very talented law professionals," Dozier said. "It is my intent to continue the fine legacy established at this firm by aggressively recruiting young talent and providing stellar services to our clients in Michigan and beyond." Dozier said the firm now has a mixture of experience and historical knowledge of Detroit and the surrounding areas, along with new and vibrant emerging talent. As president, Dozier is tasked with taking the firm further into the Southeast Michigan region and beyond. "We've done a lot with the city of Detroit," he said, "We want to expand around the state and do more work nationwide and with Fortune 500 companies." The firm also has offices in Washington, D.C. and New York, NY. Dozier completed his undergraduate at the Howard University and the University of Michigan. He received his law degree from Detroit College of Law. - - - Bloomfield Hills based Lipson, Neilson, Cole, Seltzer, Garin PC, a national law firm with offices also in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Grand Rapids, is proud to announce that five attorneys from the firm's Bloomfield Hills office have been selected to the 2015 Michigan Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists. Jeffrey Neilson, Steven Cole, Phillip Seltzer, and Mary T. Schmitt Smith are "Michigan Super Lawyers," and Starr Kincaid is a "Michigan Rising Star." Neilson has been selected as a Michigan Super Lawyer for the ninth consecutive year. One of the firm's founders and a shareholder, Neilson is known nationally for his expertise in probate litigation, business counseling, estate planning and domestic and family law liability. In 2014, Neilson was reappointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to serve on Michigan's Attorney Grievance Committee (AGC); this appointment is through October 1, 2017. Cole has been selected as a Michigan Super Lawyer for the ninth consecutive year. A founding shareholder, Cole has a practice focusing on real estate, business and corporate matters, and estate planning. Cole has previously served as an adjunct instructor of taxation at area business colleges and has taught continuing education courses approved by the Michigan Insurance Bureau for licensed insurance professionals. He has conducted numerous seminars for the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants, and has served on the boards of directors of public charities. Seltzer has been selected as a Michigan Super Lawyer for the fifth consecutive year. A shareholder of the firm, Seltzer is a specialist in the areas of legal malpractice, architect and design professional malpractice, accounting malpractice, real estate broker errors and omissions, directors' and officers' liability claims and insurance coverage disputes. Schmitt Smith has been selected as a Michigan Super Lawyer for the ninth consecutive year. She advises clients about estate planning, tax and probate options, with a distinct focus on drafting and administration of Special Needs Trusts. Schmitt Smith is Michigan's first Certified Elder Law Attorney and is AV-Rated by Martindale Hubbell for the past 16 years. She has served on the Board of Directors of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and is a charter member of the Special Needs Alliance, a national network of lawyers dedicated to Disability and Public Benefits Law. Kincaid has been selected as a Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Star for the third consecutive year. Kincaid devotes a majority of her practice to the defense of professional liability and employment practices claims. Kincaid is a recognized for her work in the areas of professional liability law and employment litigation and is often invited to speak at national conferences conducted by leading industry associations. - - - Wayne State University Law School Assistant Professor Blanche Cook spoke at the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section's Fall Institute on Thursday, Oct. 22, in Washington, D.C. The theme of the event was "Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Calibrating the Scales of Justice." Cook took part in a panel discussion, "The Media's Role in Fostering Racial Perceptions and What It Means for Criminal Justice Policy." The institute brought together judges, private criminal defense attorneys, prosecutors, public defenders and academics from across the nation to address today's most pressing criminal justice issues. Cook joined Wayne Law in 2014. Her areas of expertise include criminal law and procedure, critical race theory, employment discrimination, sex trafficking and trial advocacy. She previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney with the Department of Justice, where she specialized in large-scale drug and sex-trafficking prosecutions. She clerked for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Damon J. Keith, Sixth Circuit, and was an associate at Miller, Canfield, Paddock, and Stone in Detroit and Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago. Cook earned her bachelor of arts degree at Vassar College and her law degree at the University of Michigan Law School. - - - In its annual review of the state's top young attorneys, Michigan Super Lawyers magazine has awarded several attorneys from Plunkett Cooney its "Rising Star" honor. Following are the local Plunkett Cooney attorneys who have received the 2015 Michigan Super Lawyer Rising Star designation: Bloomfield Hills office Hilary A. Ballentine Appellate. Abe Barlaskar Personal Injury General: Defense. Jeffrey S. Hengeveld Professional Liability: Defense. Marc P. Jerabek Bankruptcy: Business. Patrick C. Lannen Banking. Evan H. Kaploe Civil Litigation: Defense. Megan P. McKnight Business Litigation. Lauren B. McMillen Insurance Coverage. Mark A. Nasr Construction Litigation. Frank Paolini Banking. Patrick E. Winters Insurance Coverage. Detroit office Paul J. Dwaihy Personal Injury General: Defense. - - - Collins, Einhorn, Farrell PC is pleased to announce that attorney Yosef C. Klein has joined the firm's Insurance Coverage Practice Group. Klein will focus his practice primarily on analyzing and litigating insurance coverage disputes. Klein grew up in Metro-Detroit and received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in 2007. After a time working in the financial sector in Boston, Klein went on to obtain his law degree from Chicago Kent College of Law in 2011. Klein focused his law school studies on litigation, served as a teaching assistant, and interned for a year with Kent's Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, providing critical legal aid to those who otherwise could not afford it. He then worked with Cook County Circuit Court Judge Brigid McGrath where he researched and advised the court on numerous issues of commercial law. Since then, Klein's professional career has focused on application, interpretation, and litigation of various types of insurance policies. Klein is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Oakland County Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in all state courts of Michigan and Illinois, and each of the U.S. District Courts of Illinois and Michigan. Klein speaks Hebrew and is active within his synagogue and the greater Metro-Detroit Jewish community. - - - Ari Kresch, CEO of 1-800-LAW-FIRM, is proud to announce his newest partnership as Chad Silver of Silver Tax Group comes on board. Silver specializes in tax defense work doing battle with the IRS. Together with 1-800-LAW-FIRM, Silver and Kresch boast four decades of federal tax defense expertise and successes. "I will continue to focus on Federal Tax Negation, wage garnishment, bank levies, IRS Audits and installment agreements as these are just some of my areas of expertise. If a business or consumer needs assistance with the IRS I am the go to guy," said Silver. - - - Four attorneys from Williams, Williams, Rattner, & Plunkett PC in Birmingham have been selected for inclusion in DBusiness Magazine's list of "Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit-2016." - Robert S. Bick is a partner whose law practice focuses on corporate law, mergers & acquisitions law, private equity law, corporate governance and business planning. - William T. Myers is an Of Counsel attorney whose law practice focuses on real estate law with an emphasis on residential and commercial development. - Richard D. Rattner is partner whose law practice focuses on real estate, land use, zoning and corporate law. - C. Kim Shierk is a partner whose law practice focuses on residential and commercial real estate development with an emphasis on condominium law as well as other forms of community property development and on telecommunications law. Published: Mon, Nov 02, 2015