Five attorneys have been named winners of the Detroit Bar Association's Outstanding Young Lawyers Awards for 2020.
The honorees include Morgan Schut, Ponce Clay, Justin Hanna, Monica Andrade-Fannon, and Stephanie White.
"These awards recognize the accomplishments of attorneys, who despite being in the early stages of their career (10 years or fewer), have demonstrated great potential as future leaders of the legal community," said a spokesperson for the DBA.
Morgan Schut is the recipient of the 2020 Barrister of the Year Award. A 2016 graduate of Michigan State University College of Law, Schut is an attorney with Kemp Klein, who has been "highly involved" in the Barristers Section of the Detroit Bar, and "made the most significant contributions to the Barristers" over the past year.
Ponce Clay received the Community Impact Award for 2020. A 2015 alumnus of University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Clay spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy before being named director of Veterans Services for the Wayne County Department of Health, Veterans, and Community Services. The award recognizes a young attorney "whose integrity, competence, and accomplishments have significntly impacted the local community."
Justin Hanna, an attorney with Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss, is this year's recipient of the Pro Bono Award. Hanna earned bachelor, master, and law degrees from Wayne State University. He led a team of more than 20 Jaffe attorneys in an effort to assist some 140 Iraqi nationals from the Metro Detroit area who were detained as part of the administration's push to increase immigration enforcement.
Monica Andrade-Fannon is this year's winner of the President's Award, which recognizes a young attorney "whose early career has exhibited high standards of service to the profession, his or her clients, and the public." A 2017 graduate of MSU College of Law, Andrade-Fannon is a Skadden Fellow with the ACLU of Michigan, where she has worked for the past three years.
Stephanie White is the 2020 recipient of the "One to Watch Award," which is presented to a young attorney who has demonstrated "not only their legal acumen and talent, but also their potential for future professional growth and achievements." Also a graduate of MSU College of Law, White is an attorney with the Juvenile Law Group.
While there won't be an "in-person" awards ceremony this year due to the pandemic, the Detroit Bar Association plans to circulate "virtual interviews of all award recipients, as well as posting them to YouTube, in the near future," according to the DBA spokesperson.
"The virtual interviews will provide an opportunity to learn about each recipient's background, the work they are doing that has earned them their respective awards, and include a Q & A session between the award recipients and their mentors or nominators," the spokesperson said.
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Attorney Louis Ronayne of Plunkett Cooney's Commercial Litigation Practice Group has authored the Michigan chapter of a 50-state Business Litigation Compendium published by ALFA International.
According to ALFA International, a consortium of 150 independent law firm across the globe, the compendium is designed to provide business executives who find themselves embroiled in commercial litigation in unfamiliar jurisdictions with helpful information about the trial and appellate courts in each state, jurisdictional requirements for each court, the presence or absence of specialized commercial courts and options for mediation.
The compendium is available online for free at the ALFA International website at www.alfainternational.com.
Ronayne's Michigan chapter highlights the state's business courts, which in reality are special dockets within the existing court structure, as established under the Revised Judicature Act of 1961. Every circuit with at least three judges is required to have a business court. The chapter also touches upon Michigan's requirement that "[a]ll civil cases are subject to alternative dispute resolution processes unless otherwise provided by statute or court rule."
Ronayne is an associate attorney in the firm's Bloomfield Hills office who focuses his practice primarily in the area of commercial litigation with additional expertise in appellate and cannabis law. He represents clients in a range of litigated business disputes, including real estate leases and purchase agreements, regulatory enforcement actions and complex business torts.
In addition, Kris Young, chief of staff to Michigan House of Representatives Democratic Leader Christine Greig, is set to join Plunkett Cooney on January 4 as a client advisor in the firm's Government Relations, Public Policy and Regulatory Practice Group.
The addition of Young provides further depth to Plunkett Cooney's government relations practice, particularly with lawmakers and other elected state, county and local officials affiliated with the Democratic Party. Young will work in the firm's downtown Lansing office, which is located just blocks from the Michigan Capitol.
Young, who began working in Lansing in 2002 as a Legislative aide to House Minority Leader Buzz Thomas, has built an extensive network that extends to both sides of the political aisle. He has also amassed an impressive track record of legislative accomplishments, including:
- Public Act 392 of 2012 to create the Detroit Public Lighting Authority
- Public Act 296 of 2010 to create the Art Institute Authorities Act
- Public Act 4 of 2009 to update the Uniform Video Services Local Franchise Act
- Public Act 135 of 2007 to create the Prostate Cancer Income Tax Check-off
- Public Act 339 of 2005 to update the Neighborhood Enterprise Zone Act
In addition to his public-sector experience, Young previously worked for AT&T as the company's external affairs director. While there, he developed legislative and local government relationships to support company initiatives, and he administered the company's Michigan political action committee and corporate political contributions. Among his legislative accomplishments at AT&T are Public Act 365 of 2018, which created the Small Wireless Facilities Act and Public Act 366 of 2018, which updated the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act.
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Pleasantrees, a vertically integrated cannabis company rooted in cultivating the highest-quality cannabis available in Michigan, has recently named Jerome Crawford as its director of legal operations and social equity.
Crawford joins Pleasantrees from MAHLE Industries, where he was senior corporate counsel. Before that, he was associate general counsel of Horizon Global Corporation, a publicly traded company and world provider of custom towing, trailer and cargo management products. In these corporate counsel positions, he has handled an array of international issues spanning areas such as real estate, M&A, intellectual property, product liability, employment, environmental and corporate law. He began his legal career at the law firm Dickinson Wright PLLC.
In this newly created role, Crawford will direct and support all legal needs for the organization and will spearhead social equity initiatives to ensure the company makes a positive, genuine and lasting impact within local communities as it grows.
In addition, Crawford will support Pleasantrees' continued advocacy for legislative reform aimed toward the release of those incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes, as well as the mass-expungement of criminal records regarding cannabis offenses.
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Success Mortgage Partners and Title Partners is proud to announce Owen V. Lee, CEO, was elected to the Mortgage Bankers Association Board of Directors to serve a two-year term.
The MBA board is comprised of real estate finance leaders who are selected because of their expertise, intelligence, and contribution to the mortgage industry. This board sets the strategic direction for the MBA and oversees the management of the association's affairs.
Lee graduated from Villanova University before receiving his law degree from Michigan State University College of Law. Lee is very involved with the Mortgage Bankers Association, along with other various affiliates, to create a positive impact on the mortgage industry as a whole.
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Royal Oak-based Howard & Howard has welcomed Brett G. Garwood and Hubert H. Yi to the firm. Garwood began his career with the firm as 2019 summer associates and will practice out of the Royal Oak office. Yi joined the firm in 2015 as an intellectual property intern and will continue his practice out of the firm's Royal Oak office.
Garwood concentrates his practice in business and corporate law. He assists on a variety of matters involving business transactions and develops solutions to support clients' diverse and ever-changing needs. This includes drafting and reviewing various agreements, researching complex legal issues, and preparing corporate governance documents.
"I am an attorney who creatively solves problems and provides quality services tailored to achieve clients' objectives," Garwood said.
Yi's practice is focused on securing global IP protection for the inventions and innovations of his clients in a variety of technologies within the electrical and mechanical arts. In addition, he conducts due diligence investigations and advises clients regarding freedom-to-operate and patentability opinions.
"I am committed to understanding the details of my clients' inventions to assist them in obtaining strong IP protection," Yi said.
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Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC has welcomed three associates to its Southfield office: Kelley Donnelly as an associate in the firm's litigation practice group, Milan Spampinato as an associate in litigation and adjunct in the insolvency practice group, and Joshua Muhleck as an associate in the firm's insolvency practice group. Jaffe CEO Jeffrey M. Weiss made the announcement.
Prior to joining Jaffe, Donnelly worked most recent as a law clerk at Garmo & Kiste. In her position at Garmo & Kiste, she worked on a variety of cases ranging from family law litigation to contract disputes. In her new role at Jaffe, Donnelly will be focusing on business-driven litigation following a practical, client-centric approach. She earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School and a Bachelor of Public Affairs from Wayne State University.
Spampinato has been working in the legal field since 2015, starting as a legal clerk at Reid and Reid Law Offices followed by clerking with the Oakland County Probate Court. Spampinato continued to work as a legal intern for U.S. Bankruptcy Court Chief Judge Scott W. Dales, Western District of Michigan. Most recently, Spampinato worked as a legal clerk at Thrun Law Firm PC. At Thrun, Spampinato specialized in various educational legal matters, including child protection laws and school bond qualifications. Spampinato earned her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University.
Muhleck previously worked at Khurana Law Firm as a law clerk. His responsibilities included drafting litigation documents for personal injury cases and analyzing legal procedures pertaining to Michigan's No-Fault law. He has volunteered at Camp Quality Michigan, where he spends one week each summer serving as a camp companion for children battling cancer or in cancer remission. At Jaffe, Muhleck will join one of the largest and most respected insolvency and reorganization practice groups in the Midwest. He earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Spanish from the University of Michigan.
In addition, Best Lawyers has named Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC to the 2021 class of "Best Law Firms." Jaffe CEO Jeffrey M. Weiss made the announcement.
Jaffe has been recognized in the following areas as part of the "Best Law Firms" class of 2021:
Copyright Law
Litigation-Intellectual Property
Technology Law
Appellate Practice
Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
Corporate Law
Immigration Law
Information Technology Law
Litigation-Insurance
Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Real Estate Law
Tax Law
Trusts and Estates Law
