Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Tuesday announced her administration’s executive team, saying, “I am proud of the seasoned veterans who have chosen to return to state government – and to those who have already committed their careers to public service. Today’s appointments show a diverse cross-section of Michigan. I am proud of the team we have built to advocate for and protect all Michiganders. Together we will bring the Department of the Attorney General back to the people of our state.”
Nessel’s team includes:
—Kelly Keenan, deputy attorney general. Keenan is a veteran of the Department of the Attorney General, working in various roles, first for Attorney General Frank Kelley and then for Attorney General Jennifer Granholm, whom he followed to the executive office when she became governor. Keenan served as Gov. Granholm’s Legal Counsel, then went into private practice for several years. He headed the attorney general-elect’s transition team and has returned to the Attorney General’s Office to lead her team moving forward.
—Fadwa A. Hammoud, solicitor general. Hammoud, the first Muslim Arab-American solicitor general in the country, served as lead attorney in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, where she established the Business Protection Unit. Prior to her appointment as lead attorney, Hammoud prosecuted criminal enterprise, homicide, financial crime and identity theft. Hammoud is a trustee and treasurer of the Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education and the Henry Ford College Board; a Snyder-appointee to the Commission on Middle Eastern American Affairs; and, sits on the Legislative Committee for the Hispanic/Latino, Asian Pacific American and Middle Eastern American Affairs Commissions. A graduate of Wayne State University Law School and the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Hammoud clerked for U.S. District Court Judge George Steeh, Eastern District of Michigan, and was a 2018 member of the Harvard Business School’s Young American Leaders Program.
—David Knezek, director of legislative affairs. Knezek most recently served as a state senator and state representative, representing several communities in Wayne County. Prior to serving in the Legislature, Knezek was a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, completing two tours in Iraq as a scout sniper platoon member. A graduate of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Knezek is a lifelong resident of Dearborn Heights and remains active and engaged in the community as both a volunteer and as a board member for Starfish Family Services in Inkster and as chairman of the University of Michigan-Dearborn Alumni Society Board.
—Kelly Rossman-McKinney, communications director. Rossman-McKinney has more than 30 years of communications and issue management experience. Before starting her first public relations firm in 1988, Rossman-McKinney worked in the state House and Senate and in Gov. Blanchard’s administration as program director and communications strategist. She pioneered issue management in Lansing and continues to pursue cutting edge work in the field. Rossman-McKinney, who retired last year as CEO of Truscott Rossman, is a certified crisis communicator, a nationally accredited public relations counselor (APR), and a member of the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) distinguished College of Fellows.
—Laura Moody, chief of staff. Moody has spent more than 20 years in public service and has served under four attorneys general. After graduating from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, she served as a staff attorney in the Michigan Court of Appeals, a federal law clerk to of the U.S. District Court Judge Barbara K. Hackett, Eastern District of Michigan, and a Michigan Supreme Court Commissioner. In the Attorney General’s Office Moody served as chief of the Criminal Appellate Division, Criminal Bureau chief, chief legal counsel, and most recently served as chief deputy attorney general. She also currently sits as a governor-appointed commissioner on the Criminal Justice Policy Commission, was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to serve on the Model Criminal Jury Instruction Committee, sits on the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council and served on the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board.
—Keisha Glenn, auto insurance fraud specialist. Glenn, a Detroit native who spent six years fighting against auto insurance fraud in metro Detroit at Hackney Grover PLLC and Scarfone & Green PC, is taking on a newly established position within the Department of Attorney General. During her time at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Glenn worked on behalf of Michigan’s most vulnerable, providing free legal aid to qualified senior citizens and asylum seekers as an intern. Since then, she’s spent nearly a decade as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Wayne County in the special victims unit, trial division, major drug unit and juvenile division. She is the former chair of the Detroit Income Tax Board of Review.
—Ron Robinson, civil rights and civil litigation practice manager. Robinson has more than 30 years of experience as a civil rights attorney.
Currently the division chief of the Civil Rights and Liberties Division, Robinson joined the Attorney General’s Office under Frank Kelley. He was director of the Detroit office for the attorney general under five administrations and has litigated employment practices that denied women equal pay for equal work. Robinson is a graduate of the University of Detroit College of Law and a lifelong Detroit resident.
—Derrick Anderson, special assistant to the attorney general. Anderson has spent more than 40 years in law enforcement investigation. He most recently served as a Wayne County Mental Health Authority recipient rights investigator, investigating neglect and abuse of those receiving mental health services. A graduate of Wayne State University, Anderson also spent 29 years as a narcotics, gang squad and armed robbery division investigative detective for the Detroit Police Department and eight years as a DEA task force agent and FBI task force agent.
—Trinidad Lopez Pehlivanoglu, senior executive management assistant to the attorney general. Lopez Pehlivanoglu has served in the Attorney General’s Office for the last three years, first as a legal secretary supervisor and most recently as an executive assistant to the chief legal counsel. Prior to serving the department, Lopez Pehlivanoglu spent five years as a legal assistant for the Eaton County Prosecutor’s Office.
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