Deborah Rubin, attorney at Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC, was appointed to a one-year term as chair-elect of the Bankruptcy Section of the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA).
Rubin is a member of Jaffe's Insolvency and Reorganization, Litigation, and Privacy and Datasecurity Practice Groups. Her practice concentrates on all areas of bankruptcy law, including representation of creditors' committees and corporate debtors in bankruptcy proceedings and commercial litigation. She also represents businesses with workouts and assignments for the benefit of creditors. She has experience representing plaintiffs and defendants in avoidance litigation and collection proceedings.
The CLLA is North America's oldest creditor's rights organization, with nearly 3,000 attorney and other expert members in credit and finance who are actively engaged in the field of commercial law, bankruptcy and insolvency. The Bankruptcy Section was founded to promote high standards in the practice of bankruptcy and insolvency law.
In addition, Jaffe partner Mark Rubenfire was named president of the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit on June 19 at its annual meeting. He will serve a two-year term as lay leader of the organization, working with the executive director and board of directors.
Rubenfire serves as practice group coordinator of the firm's Real Estate Practice Group. He specializes in real estate law, real estate leasing, and real estate lending and workouts. He is past chairman of the firm's recruiting committee, as well as a past member of Jaffe's Board of Directors.
Rubenfire was first elected as a board member of the Jewish Community Center for Metropolitan Detroit in 2011. In 2012, he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors.
The Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit works to play a role in the physical, social, spiritual and educational well-being of the Jewish and general community. The facility offers year-round programming of families, children, teens and adults.
The firm is also pleased to announce that Holli Targan, partner and electronic payments expert, was recently elected to the Jaffe Board of Directors for a two-year term. Jaffe's Board of Directors is the managing body of the law firm, and oversees and guides the firm's direction and future.
Targan is chairperson of Jaffe's Electronic Payments Group. She specializes in payments system law, counseling banks and merchant acquiring, cryptocurrency, fintech, electronic fund transfer, payment facilitator and money transmitter businesses on contractual and compliance matters. She also handles payment company mergers and acquisitions.
Targan is the recipient of the 2018 Midwest Acquirers Association Industry Achievement Award and has been recognized as a Most Influential Woman in Payments, Best Lawyer in America, Michigan Super Lawyer and DBusiness magazine Top Lawyer. She is a frequent author and lecturer on payments-related legal topics, has received numerous industry awards and is recognized as one of the country's leading authorities on payment systems issues.
She currently serves on the board of directors for the Detroit Fintech Association, Merchant Acquirers Committee and Women's Network in Electronic Transactions, an organization she founded and previously served as president. In addition, she is a past president of the Electronic Transactions Association and past chairman of the ETA Certified Payments Professional Commission.
Targan earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School. She earned her Bachelor's degree from James Madison College at Michigan State University.
In addition, Jaffe partner Mark Cooper was recently elected to the firm's Board of Directors for a three-year term. Jaffe's Board of Directors is the managing body of the law firm, and oversees and guides the firm's direction and future.
Cooper is a member of Jaffe's Litigation Practice Group, specializing in commercial and general liability matters with a focus on risk management consulting, professional liability, all aspects of insurance coverage, construction defect, development and contract issues, and business disputes.
He is a past chairperson and founding council member for the State Bar of Michigan Insurance and Indemnity Law Section, is a fellow of the Oakland County Bar Foundation and is a Master of the Bench for the American Inns of Court.
Cooper earned a law degree from Michigan State University College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and government from the University of Missouri. He has earned multiple awards and honors from Michigan Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers and DBusiness magazine, including twice being voted a Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year Insurance Litigation.
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Bodman PLC is pleased to announce Wendy L. Zabriskie, a member of Bodman's Banking and Real Estate practice groups, has been reappointed to a three year term on the City of Birmingham Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Board.
The Brownfield Redevelopment Authority reviews proposals for the redevelopment of eligible, environmentally contaminated property in the City of Birmingham and determines what financial incentives are necessary to assist in the redevelopment of these sites.
At Bodman, Zabriskie represents financial institutions in connection with the financing of complex, multi-million dollar real estate transactions involving retail, office, residential, apartment, health care, entertainment, and multi-use projects located throughout the United States. Zabriskie serves on Bodman's Executive Committee, which guides the firm's business strategy and day to day operations, and served for many years as co-chair of the Banking Practice Group.
Chambers USA, Michigan Super Lawyers, and The Best Lawyers in America recognize Zabriskie as one of Michigan's leading banking and finance lawyers. Crain's Detroit Business named Zabriskie to its inaugural class of "Notable Women Lawyers in Michigan" in 2017.
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Butzel Long attorneys Geaneen M. Arends, Mark R. Lezotte, and Paul M. Mersino were among several attorneys participating in the fourth Small Business Legal Academy Detroit in conjunction with Startup Week June 18-19. Mersino moderated a panel on June 19 featuring Arends and Lezotte discussing organizational and tax considerations for small businesses.
Arends concentrates her practice on general business law and commercial real estate. She assists business clients with general business planning, entity formation and maintenance, mergers, acquisitions, private placements, woman-owned/minority-owned/disadvantaged business certification, insurance and risk management issues and general business contracts. She also has advised business clients on a variety of real estate transactions, including acquisition, development and leasing of multi-family residential, retail, office and industrial properties throughout the United States.
Lezotte has experience in corporate, health care, tax, and exempt organization matters, including start up tax and legal issues, corporate and nonprofit governance, board duties and responsibilities, regulatory investigations, tax aspects of business acquisitions and dispositions, and a wide range of business and commercial transactions.
Mersino is a member of the firm's Commercial Litigation Practice Group where he represents companies in a number of areas including complex commercial litigation, contract disputes, and non-competition and trade secret disputes. He also represents and advises a number of Startup companies, assisting them with their legal needs and matching them with potential venture capital funding, and has represented and been on the Board of Advisors for a Venture Capital fund.
In addition, Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Claudia Rast will be a featured speaker during the 2018 Sustainable U! Women & Girls' Development & Leadership Empowerment Institute on June 30 at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills. The topic for her presentation is, "Cyber Security: Sustaining U & UR Enterprise."
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.
Most recently, Rast is completing an American Bar Association (ABA) Presidential appointment to a one-year term on the Cybersecurity Legal Task Force and has been re-appointed to serve another one-year term. To date, Rast has served five one-year terms. 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 co-authored a chapter to the second edition of "The ABA Cybersecurity Handbook" that was published in 2017.
Rast also is an experienced environmental lawyer, focusing on alternative energy and sustainability practices, including work on the development of a global Rule of Law Index for environment and energy with the World Justice Project.
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 & 2018), a chapter on Privacy & Data Breach for Thompson Reuters' "Inside the Minds" Aspatore Book series (April 2013), a chapter titled "Confidentiality and Security in a Modern World" in the ABA publication "Ethics and Environmental Practice: A Lawyer's Guide" (July 2017), and co-authored a chapter in the "ABA Cybersecurity Handbook, Second Edition" (November 2017), titled "Best Practices for Incident Response: Achieving Preparedness through Alignment with Voluntary Consensus Standards."
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 (2008-2017), the Michigan League of Conservation Voters Board of Directors (2008-2013), ICLE's Technology Training Advisory Board (1998-2017), and the Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan Board of Directors (2017-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 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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Detroit-based management side labor and employment law firm Nemeth Law PC is pleased to announce that Sara M. Moore has joined the firm as a senior attorney. Moore's background as a litigator and general practitioner encompasses the areas of employment, whistle blowing, contract matters, municipal and family law. At Nemeth Law, Moore will focus on labor and employment and commercial/contract issues for employers.
Prior to joining Nemeth Law, Moore was an associate attorney at two Metro Detroit law firms. While a legal clerk in the City of Dearborn's Corporation Counsel, Moore played a leading role in the litigation of two significant Whistleblower Protection Act cases. Her legal experience also includes negotiated settlements for clients on collection matters, employment contracts and professional malpractice defense.
Moore earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. in Communication Studies also from the University of Michigan. She is licensed to practice in the Eastern and Western federal district courts of Michigan. Moore also served as a Wayne County court appointed special advocate in 2012-2013.
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Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC is pleased to announce that 30 of our attorneys have been named to Michigan Leading Lawyers 2018.
The Howard & Howard attorneys its are listed in Michigan Leading Lawyers 2018 are as follows:
Gustaf R. Andreasen; Michael J. Beals; Michael M. Bell; Daniel H. Bliss; Brandon J. Booth; Henry J. Brennan, III; Mark A. Davis, president & CEO; Joseph J. DeVito; Robert E. Graziani; Lisa S. Gretchko; Andrew (Jake) Grove; Sam J. Haidle; Jeffrey A. Hoover; Wayne C. Inman; Michael V. Kell; Rodger A. Kershner; Bradley J. Knickerbocker; Henry P. Lee; Patrick M. McCarthy; Gerald E. McGlynn III; Richard M. Miettinen; Susan E. Padley; Gary A. Peters; Mark W. Peyser; Brad A. Rayle; Jeffrey A. Sadowski; Michael F. Wais; Thomas H. Walters; John A. Wise; and Timothy M. Wittebort.
In addition, Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC is pleased to announce that Jon Robert Steiger has re-joined the firm, after 15 years as a partner with Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart, & Sullivan, the largest litigation specialty firm in the world, where he was involved with some of the most significant litigation matters in any U.S. courts. He now brings that experience to the lower cost Howard & Howard platform. Steiger was previously with Howard & Howard in Michigan before joining Quinn Emanuel and relocating to Los Angeles in 2003. He is licensed in California, Illinois, and Michigan, and will practice primarily out of the firm's Metro Detroit offices, and also nationally, as well as from the firm's other offices as needed.
Steiger's practice spans the entire realm of corporate and commercial litigation, and he is experienced in a wide variety of business disputes. This includes, for example, corporate control and proxy contests, M & A transactions, shareholder oppression, director and officer duties and liabilities, securities fraud, commercial contracts, real estate development and leasing, ERISA fiduciary duties, insurance coverage issues, patent, trademark and other intellectual property cases, trade secrets, non-competition covenants and unfair competition.
He also handles False Claims Act cases, interference with contracts and business relationships, fraud, misrepresentation and other business torts, as well as vendor, supplier, dealer, distributor and manufacturer's representative and franchise terminations. Throughout his career, he has also defended many types of employment cases, including all types of discrimination claims, whistleblower and qui tam claims, and wage-hour and other FLSA claims.
Steiger received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, and his B.S. from Duke University.
The firm also pleased to announce that Lisa Gretchko was recently named to a two-year term as vice president-publications of the American Bankruptcy Institute ("ABI").
Since 2014, Gretchko has been an executive editor of the ABI Journal, the organization's monthly publication of scholarly articles on a wide range of bankruptcy-related topics. She has been an ABI member since 1992 and was co-chair of its Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee in 2013-2015. She was honored as the ABI's 2014 "Committee Person of the Year" for that service.
Gretchko is a shareholder in Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC and works in the firm's Royal Oak office where she focuses her practice on bankruptcy and creditors' rights. She has represented nearly every constituency in bankruptcy cases both locally and nationally. Gretchko has lectured and written extensively for several organizations and publications on a variety of creditors' rights issues. She taught bankruptcy and creditors' rights as an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School from 2001-2003. Gretchko also served as a council member, then secretary (September 2001- September 2002) of the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan.
She has been designated a Michigan Super Lawyer every year since 2006, and named in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 2012. In 2011, Michigan Lawyers Weekly recognized her as a "Woman in the Law" honoree.
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Ogletree Deakins is pleased to announce that William Pilchak, a shareholder in the firm's Detroit (Metro) office, has been elected as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers Class of 2018. With Pilchak, Ogletree Deakins now has 55 attorneys who are Fellows of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers is a non-profit professional association honoring the leading lawyers nationwide in the practice of labor and employment law.
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Brian McKeen, founding and managing partner of McKeen & Associates in Detroit, presented at the American Association of Justice conference, AAJ Mastering the Medicine: Ireland Edition, in May at County Wicklow, Ireland.
McKeen presented on "Neurological Injury in the Preterm Newborn."
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Oakland County Probate Court Judge Linda S. Hallmark, chief judge pro tempore, served with attorney Edward Gold as co-moderator at the annual Family Court Forum on June 8 at the Travis Pointe Country Club in Ann Arbor. This year's topic was "Heck No, I Won't Go Children Who Resist Parenting Time."
The annual Family Court Forum is an opportunity for judges, attorneys and mental health professionals throughout Michigan to come together to discuss issues of mutual interest and develop inter-disciplinary solutions. Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bridget McCormack was in attendance and presented remarks from the Michigan Supreme Court. A panel of experts then discussed the legal and psychological challenges presented in difficult parenting time cases.
Hallmark has been a member of the Family Court Forum committee since its inception in 1999. She has served as an Oakland County Probate Court judge since 1998.
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John L. Mack has joined Fink + Associates Law as an associate. He will focus his practice on commercial and class action litigation.
Mack graduated from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University. Prior to law school, John worked as an administrator in intercollegiate athletics, serving as the associate director of championships at the Big Ten Conference headquarters and as senior associate athletics director at Northwestern University.
Mack is admitted to practice law in both Michigan and Illinois and is a member of the American Bar Association, the Macomb County Bar Association, and the state bar associations of Michigan and Illinois.
Following in his father's footsteps, John also serves as the pastor of Greater New Hope Missionary Baptist Church.
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Neuman, Anderson, Grieco, McKenney PC, a Birmingham-based business litigation firm, is pleased to announce their newest associate, Laura DePonio.
DePonio earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and is a 2017 graduate of Northeastern University College of Law. She also holds a Master's degree in Public Health from Tufts University Medical School with a concentration in healthcare and business administration.
During law school, she completed judicial internships with U.S. District Court Judge Victoria A. Roberts, Eastern District of Michigan, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Neuman, Anderson, Grieco, McKenney PC.
DePonio concentrates her practice in the area of complex commercial litigation. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Oakland County Bar Association.
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Sommers Schwartz PC is pleased to announce that Michael D. McCullough II has joined the firm as an associate in the firm's personal injury and medical malpractice litigation groups.
McCullough represents individuals and families injured as a result of medical malpractice and general negligence.
After receiving his bachelor's degree in Public Affairs from Wayne State University, McCullough stayed at Wayne to pursue his law degree.
McCullough is an active member of the State Bar of Michigan and its Young Lawyers Section.
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Health Alliance Plan has announced the appointment of Will Barnes as deputy general counsel. In this position, he is responsible for managing the in-house legal department of HAP, an operating division of Henry Ford Health System.
Barnes has 15 years of experience of in-house counsel for the health care industry. His work with both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations has included responsibility for significant business transactions, governance support, compliance and corporate health law legal analysis.
Prior to this appointment, Barnes served as vice president and general counsel of the Life, Disability and Dental subsidiaries of Health Care Service Corporation, a licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association based in Chicago. His previous experience includes serving as in-house counsel for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Indianapolis and Denver, as well as general counsel at Sterling Health Plan/Windsor Health Plan in Bellingham, Wash.
Earlier in his career, Barnes served as director of strategic development and managed care at the University of Colorado Hospital and director of Risk Contract Management at Primera Health Care in Denver. He also taught health law in a graduate management program at the University of Denver, having received his law degree and MBA from Syracuse University and a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Messiah College in Grantham, Pa.
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Kerr Russell Director of Marketing Roy Sexton was recently named one of Michigan Lawyers Weekly's "Unsung Heroes" of 2018.
Sexton is Kerr Russell's first marketing director, having held the role since July 2017. Previously, he was the senior vice president of Corporate Affairs for Trott Law in Farmington Hills. He has also held leadership roles at Saint Joseph Mercy Health System and Oakwood (now Beaumont) Healthcare.
In collaboration with the marketing committee, Roy helped developed Kerr Russell's "Est. in Detroit 1874" marketing campaign, which included all new creative materials and advertising, updated branding, and enhanced social media and public relations/media outreach. He is helping introduce the latest marketing technology and best practices to the firm and is working with practice/industry group leaders to refine and implement their business development strategies.
Sexton has nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, business development, and strategic planning, having worked at Deloitte Consulting, Oakwood Healthcare (now Beaumont), Trott Law (formerly Trott & Trott), and St. Joseph Mercy Health System. He has been heavily involved regionally and nationally in the Legal Marketing Association as a board member, content expert, and presenter. He is treasurer-elect currently for the Legal Marketing Association's Midwest Regional Board of Directors.
He earned his Bachelor's degree from Wabash College, and holds two masters degrees: an MA in theatre from The Ohio State University and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He is a graduate of Leadership Detroit and Leadership A2Y, was a governor-appointed member of the Michigan Council of Labor and Economic Growth, and was appointed to the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association Board of Governors in 2012.
He served as an at-large member of LMA's Midwest Regional Board, served on the advisory committee for Strategies Magazine, and was a member of the Social Media SIG steering group. He has been involved on the following nonprofit boards and committees: First Step, Michigan Quality Council, National MS Society, ASPCA, Wabash College Southeast Michigan Alumni Association, Penny Seats Theatre Company and the Spotlight Players. He currently sits on the boards of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Ann Arbor, Royal Starr Film Festival, Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, and encoremichigan.com. Earlier this year, he won Best Actor Musical from BroadwayWorld Detroit for his portrayal of John Jasper in Ann Arbor Civic Theatre's 2017 production of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." He is a published author with two books "Reel Roy Reviews," Volumes 1 & 2.
Published: Mon, Jun 25, 2018
