Quinn Law Group PLLC, an intellectual property law firm located in Novi, announced that Mark J. Levine has rejoined the firm as principal. Levine, who worked for Quinn Law earlier in his career, brings more than 10 years of intellectual property litigation, transactions and patents experience to the firm, all of which will help as the firm expands its practice service offerings.
Levine focuses on intellectual property matters, primarily on the preparation and prosecuting of domestic, foreign and international patent applications in the mechanical, electro-mechanical, electrical and software arts. His experience spans a variety of industries and technologies, including automotive, medical, telecommunication, manufacturing, power infrastructure, advanced materials, construction, hydrocarbon exploration and excavation, as well as integrated circuit and electronic design automation, national defense, gaming, applied mathematics, farming, toy, and computer industries.
At Quinn Law Group, Levine will offer specialized legal and business support and due diligence to firm clients, including client counseling, invalidity and non-infringement opinions, and litigation support as well as patent reissue and post-grant review proceedings. In addition, he will prepare and prosecute applications for federal registration of trademarks and copyright.
Prior to joining the Quinn Law Group, Levine worked with the IP Litigation, Transactions and Patents Practice Groups in the Chicago office of Nixon Peabody LLP.
Levine earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and his law degree from Michigan State University College of Law. He is admitted to practice law in both Illinois and Michigan and is licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that the firm has been named to the 2016 State Bar of Michigan Circle of Excellence "Leadership Level" for its commitment to pro bono legal services. The "Leadership Level" is a designation given to firms that contributed at least thirty (30) hours of pro bono work per attorney or gave at least $500 per attorney in financial donations to organizations that serve low income individuals within the past year.
In 2015, more than 70% of Bodman attorneys devoted greater than 5,900 pro bono hours to dozens of organizations and individuals. Bodman founded the Capuchin Legal Clinic and Crossroads of Michigan Ask a Lawyer clinic, both of which serve homeless and low-income Detroiters. "We are very pleased to once again receive this recognition by the State Bar for our pro bono efforts," said Ralph E. McDowell, the firm's chairman, "what pleases us more are the results we see in the community, in our clients, and in our own attorneys when they complete a pro bono project."
Notable accomplishments over the past year include Bodman attorney Maya K. Watson receiving recognition from Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based non-profit, independent, non-governmental organization that presses for changes in policy and practice that promote human rights and justice around the world. Watson supported HRW's investigation into U.S. military rape victims who, after reporting the assault, receive stigmatizing discharge papers that prevent them from receiving benefits or obtaining jobs after losing their military careers. Other Bodman attorneys worked numerous hours representing federal inmates as part of President Obama's Clemency Project initiative, and representing individuals who received life sentences for a crime committed while a child.
Bodman is one of two major law firms in Michigan to have a dedicated pro bono counsel, Kimberly A. Paulson. Paulson joined the firm in 2012 to coordinate the firm's pro bono efforts and to provide legal services directly to individuals and qualifying organizations.
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Secrest Wardle is pleased to announce that Zachary Wells Hartkop has joined the firm as an associate in its Troy office. Hartkop is a member of the firm's Motor Vehicle Litigation Practice Group. Prior to joining Secrest Wardle, Hartkop practiced in Metro Detroit representing defense clients in no-fault automobile litigation (3rd party, PIP, and provider suits.)
Hartkop received his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2013. He received his Bachelor of Arts in history from Michigan State University. He was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 2014, and is a member of the State Bar's Young Lawyers Section. Hartkop is also a member of the American Bar Association.
In addition, Secrest Wardle has been selected to appear on the list published in Michigan Lawyers Weekly's annual supplemental magazine, Michigan's Largest Law Firms for 2016. Secrest Wardle is ranked as the 19th largest firm in Michigan as identified in the publication's annual survey, moving up from the 21st position in the publication's 2015 survey. To be eligible, firms must have at least 15 lawyers. The ranking criteria took into account the number of Michigan-licensed lawyers working within the state.
Secrest Wardle is a law firm specializing in defense litigation and counsel for insurance, municipal, and commercial clients headquartered in Troy with additional offices in Grand Rapids and Lansing.
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Brooks Kushman attorneys David C. Berry and Hope Shovein have been elected to serve one-year terms as chair and chair-elect, respectively, of the State Bar of Michigan Intellectual Property Law Section. The election took place on Saturday, July 23, at the section's annual meeting at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
As chair, Berry will be responsible for oversight of the group of more than 1,200 members, report on the section's efforts and contributions at each annual State Bar of Michigan meeting and oversee the section's various events throughout the year. He also chairs the steering committee of the Michigan Patent Pro Bono Project, which is a service project of the section. Berry is a registered patent attorney and has more than 15 years of law practice experience focusing on patent litigation and IP licensing. He has represented clients in all phases of litigation, including pre-trial proceedings, bench and jury trials and appeals, including arguing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
As chair-elect, Shovein will succeed Berry as chair in July 2017. She will also preside over the section's meetings and oversee the Intellectual Property committees as needed. Shovein previously served as the section's Secretary-Treasurer. Shovein focuses her practice on the procurement and enforcement of trademark rights, including proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Shovein specializes in helping clients enforce their rights in any medium, such as the unauthorized use of trademarks in website content, and representing clients in domain name disputes.
The Intellectual Property Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan provides education, information and analysis about laws and procedures pertaining to federal and state patent, trademark and copyright laws through a variety of activities including meetings, seminars and publication of a newsletter. The section reports proposed legislation, supports the legal education of members and the general public and promotes the fair and just administration of such laws.
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Reising Ethington PC announced that Intellectual Property attorney Melinda Zatkoff has joined the firm as an associate. Zatkoff's practice primarily focuses on drafting and prosecuting patents worldwide in various arts including medical, chemical, automotive, materials, and fabrics. She comes to Reising Ethington from Brinks, Gilson, & Lione. Zatkoff's experience includes foreign and domestic patent and trademark prosecution, infringement and clearance analysis, and agreement work.
Zatkoff has had numerous articles published in well-known legal industry publications. Her portfolio of published work includes:
- "Impact of Updated Rules of Automotive Patent Litigation," Global Business Professor, April 6, 2016.
- "Effect of Updated Joinder Rules on Automotive Patent Litigation," Law360, March 3, 2016.
- "Patent litigation with Non-practicing Entities," Michigan Lawyers Weekly, June 29, 2015.
- "Patent Related Trends in the Automotive Industry," Law 360, Apr. 23, 2015.
Zatkoff is a member of the Detroit Economic Club's Young Leader Section, the Michigan Intellectual Property Inn of Court, and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan. She earned her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
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Jeff Weiss, a partner at Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC, has been appointed to the firm's board of directors to serve for a two-year term. Jaffe CEO William Sider made the announcement.
Weiss is a member of both the securities regulation and mergers & acquisitions practice groups at Jaffe. He represents both public and private companies in mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings, strategic transactions and other general corporate matters. Weiss also acts as general corporate counsel for many private companies, and advises public companies with respect to their reporting requirements and corporate governance obligations.
In addition, Weiss serves on Jaffe's finance committee and is an active member of the State Bar of Michigan and the American Bar Association. He has been recognized as a DBusiness Top Lawyer, Super Lawyers Michigan Super Lawyer and Corporate Counsel Super Lawyer.
Weiss earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Michigan and is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.
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Attorney Theodore L. Degenhardt IV recently joined Plunkett Cooney as a member of its Insurance Law Practice Group.
Degenhardt, who is a member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office, represents insurance companies in coverage matters, including claims related to environmental contamination, construction defects, product liability, property losses and claims involving allegations of commercial crime and advertising injury.
A member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Oakland County Bar Association, Degenhardt received his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2012. While there, he worked as a judicial intern to U.S. District Court Judges Victoria Roberts and Paul Komives, Eastern District of Michigan. Degenhardt received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in 2009.
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Butzel Long is expanding once again with the addition of three new attorneys Joshua J. Chinsky, Mark E. Crane, and Michael R. Griffie.
Chinsky, an associate, specializes in White Collar Criminal Defense and is based in the firm's Detroit office. Crane, a shareholder, focuses his practice in Family Law and is based in the firm's Bloomfield Hills office. Griffie, an associate, specializes in Labor and Employment Law and is based in the Detroit office.
Chinsky also focuses his practice on Aerospace and Defense industry matters.
Prior to joining Butzel Long, Chinsky served as corporate counsel and deputy director, Studies and Analyses, for a Washington, D.C. area consulting company. He also served in the United States Marine Corps as a judge advocate. While on active duty, he prosecuted contested jury trials and served as a legal advisor to commanders, service members, and dependents. He continues to serve as a judge advocate in the Marine Corps Reserve.
Chinsky is a graduate of the Duke University School of Law. He also received his B.A. from the University of Michigan. He is admitted to practice in the states of Michigan and Georgia, and before United States Courts-Martial.
Crane has more than 23 years of experience in Family Law. For the past 12 years, he has been the principal of his own firm.
His primary practice areas include family law, divorce, paternity and custody litigation, commercial and general civil litigation, real estate litigation, tax litigation and appeals.
Crane is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. He attended the Detroit College of Law for two years. Crane earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan.
He is a sustaining member of the Oakland County Bar Association, and past chair of the OCBA's Family Court Committee. He also is a member of the State Bar of Michigan (Family Law Section), American Bar Association and a Fellow of the Oakland County Bar Foundation. He is a case evaluator for the Oakland County Circuit and District Courts and routinely appointed as a Guardian Ad Litem in the Oakland County Probate Court. He has provided pro bono legal representation through the Women's Survival Center, Oakland-Livingston Legal Aid and the Family Law Assistance Project.
Crane is admitted to practice in the courts of the State of Michigan and in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He carries a rating of "AV Preeminent" through the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating organization. He is certified as a divorce and family law mediator and as a collaborative divorce attorney. He is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and the Collaborative Practice Institute of Michigan. He is a founding member of The Commons, a metro-Detroit collaborative practice group comprised of attorneys, mediators, financial advisors, divorce coaches and mental health professionals.
He previously served on the Orion Township Board of Trustees, Orion Township Planning Commission, Orion Township Zoning Board of Appeals, and on the Boards of the North Oakland Transportation Authority and the Paint Creek Trailways Commission.
Griffie also practices in the areas of commercial litigation, and higher education law.
He joined Butzel Long with a decade of experience in school leadership, most recently serving as principal of the highly regarded Hamtramck Academy. As principal, he managed school operations and oversaw a $6.6 million budget.
In November, 2014, Griffie received the Michigan Chronicle's 40 under 40 award for his service in education leadership.
His community involvement has included serving on the Wayne County Ethics Board (2016) where he was appointed by Wayne County Executive Warren Evans.
Griffie is a graduate of Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and Wayne State University.
In addition, Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Claudia Rast has been appointed to serve a one-year term on the American Bar Association's (ABA) Cybersecurity Legal Task Force by the ABA President-Elect. Task Force members are charged with examining risks posed by criminals, terrorists and nations that seek to steal personal and financial information, disrupt critical infrastructure, and wage cyberwar.
Rast blends her expertise in law, business, and science to assist companies in their strategic use of technology, counseling clients in the areas of privacy, cybersecurity, data theft, intellectual property licensing and registration, and the forensic preservation and analysis of electronically stored information.
With the rise of cyber events in recent years, her background in forensics, IT environments and security has proved invaluable in working with clients to both defend against and respond to pervasive cyber attacks and to conduct cybersecurity awareness and response training sessions. Similarly, over the past several years, she has worked within both the IT entrepreneur community and the automotive supplier network to negotiate contracts covering innovative technologies associated with autonomous and connected vehicles, to address security, privacy, IP ownership, and new and potential regulations.
She is a board member with the New Enterprise Forum in Ann Arbor. She coaches technology start-ups in their efforts to connect with management expertise, venture capital, and business partners.
Rast is a frequent national speaker on matters ranging from cybersecurity, privacy, data breach, eDiscovery, and social media. In addition, she has published numerous articles including an online course for CPE credit, CPA's Guide to Privacy (Bisk Education 2006, 2012, 2014 & 2016), and a chapter on Privacy & Data Breach for Thompson Reuters' "Inside the Minds" Aspatore Book series (April 2013).
Her memberships include the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, where she has been involved in the leadership of the Section since 1999, including Chair of the Section in 2008-2009, Ann Arbor's New Enterprise Forum Board of Directors (2008-present), the Michigan League of Conservation Voters Board of Directors (2008-2013), and ICLE's Technology Training Advisory Board (1998-present). In 2001, she was the only lawyer named as a Technology Industry Leader in Crain's Detroit Business, and in 2003 the Ann Arbor Chapter of American Women in Computing named her as one of twenty "Top Michigan Women in Computing." In 2015, she was named by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as a "Leader in the Law."
Rast is a graduate of the University of Michigan (B.S., Natural Resources) and a graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
In 2014, she successfully completed the four-week online program, "Tackling the Challenges of Big Data," developed and taught by the faculty of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in collaboration with MIT Professional Education.
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Dykema recently announced the addition of Harold D. Pope to its Litigation Department as a senior counsel in the firm's Detroit office. Prior to joining Dykema, Pope practiced at the Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss office in Detroit.
Pope focuses his practice on representing local and national companies in state and federal courts on matters regarding commercial; products liability; defense of sex, age and race discrimination claims for corporate employers; personal injury; franchise termination and disputes over exclusive market areas; disputes between automotive suppliers and manufacturers; construction claims; general contact; small corporation disputes; professional malpractice; and directors' and officers' liability. His experience includes the dismissal and resolution of several multimillion dollar commercial disputes.
Pope is also very active in professional organizations, previously holding many leadership positions. He is a past president for the National Bar Association, past chair for the National Bar Institute, and past chair for the American Bar Association (ABA) Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice. Pope is also a past member of the ABA Board of Governors, the State Bar of Michigan Judicial Qualifications Committee and previously served on the Board of Trustees for the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association Foundation. He is a current member of the Wolverine Bar Association, the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association, the ABA House of Delegates Nominating Committee, and the ABA Audit Committee.
Throughout his career, Pope has received numerous honors and awards, including the National Bar Association's C. Francis Stradford Award, the State Bar of Michigan's Champion of Justice Award, the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association Trailblazer Award, the Wolverine Bar Association's Damon J. Keith Community Service Award, and the National Bar Association Commercial Law Section's Cora T. Walker Legacy Award.
Pope received his law degree from Duke University Law School and a B.A. in political science from Concordia College.
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The 2016 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business has recognized three of Foley's Detroit attorneys as leading lawyers in their fields. Among the attorneys named, Mark Aiello was ranked at the national level in Transportation. He represents businesses in the automotive industry nationally and is co-chair of the firm's Automotive Industry Team.
The Corporate/M&A practice, as well as Daljit Doogal and Steven Hilfinger, were recognized at the state level in 2016. Doogal is the managing partner of Foley's Detroit office. He focuses his practice on corporate, securities and restructuring law matters, along with cross-border transactions between the United States and India. Hilfinger focuses his practice in corporate and securities law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, private equity and venture capital transactions and government and public affairs matters. He is also the chair of the firm's Business Law Department in Detroit.
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Pepper Hamilton LLP is pleased to announce that Sean P. McNally has joined the firm as a partner in the Commercial Litigation Practice Group, resident in the Detroit office.
As a commercial trial and appellate litigator, McNally focuses his practice on the construction, manufacturing and real estate industries. Based upon his litigation experience, he also advises clients on mitigating and reducing risk related to overall business planning or individual transactions.
In construction and real estate litigation matters, McNally's clients have included owners, real estate developers, general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. He also has experience handling transactional matters in the automotive, construction and real estate areas, including supply agreements, commercial transactions, accommodation agreements, construction contracting, risk mitigation, real estate development, project financing and commercial leasing.
Prior to joining Pepper, McNally was the leader of the Construction Practice Group and the Automotive Industry Group at Kotz Sangster. He also served on Kotz Sangster's board of directors and was general counsel to the firm.
McNally received his law degree from Michigan State University College of Law and his B.S. from James Madison College at Michigan State University.
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Attorney Jesse Reiter is this year's recipient of the Dan Cullan Memorial Award, a national achievement award conferred by the Executive Board of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group (a subgroup of the American Association for Justice). Reiter received this award at a dinner held on July 23 at the AAJ Convention in Los Angeles for his dedication and unceasing commitment to excellence in advocacy, as well as for his work for the Birth Trauma Litigation Group and the children it serves.
Among other achievements, Reiter has written numerous birth injury articles discussing standards of care, litigation criteria, and procedural safety in regards to birth trauma and injury. Reiter, president and co-founder of Bloomfield Hills-based Reiter & Walsh PC, represents children and families impacted by brain injuries sustained during pregnancy, birth and delivery due to medical negligence. His firm, Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers, is one of the few law firms in the nation that focus only on birth injury and birth trauma.
Reiter sits on the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice, and is an executive board member of the Michigan Association for Justice. He is also a former executive board member and chair of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group. Reiter has been consistently selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America by U.S. News and World Report, and is listed as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers Association. He has also won the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel's Respected Advocate Award.
The Dan Cullan Memorial Award is bestowed on those who exemplify the qualities of Dr. Dan Cullan who dedicated his career to advocating for children impacted by birth injuries. Cullan was a renowned physician and trial lawyer; he co-founded the American Association of Justice's Birth Trauma Litigation Group, was a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates and President of the American College of Legal Medicine, and served as a professor of Preventive Medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine.
Published: Mon, Aug 01, 2016
