Varnum is pleased to announce that Edward Gusky, Ziyad Hermiz, and Maureen Rouse-Ayoub and have been elected to the firm's partnership, reflecting growth in the firm's Birmingham and Novi offices.
Gusky is a member of the Real Estate Team and is based in the Novi office. He has experience in real estate development, transactional and finance law. He represents developers in a variety of commercial enterprises including multifamily housing projects, assisted living facilities, condominiums, strip malls, office buildings and self-storage facilities. He also has mergers and acquisitions experience, including sophisticated stock and assets sales involving simultaneous multi-corporation closings.
Gusky joined Varnum in 2018 from a regional firm where he led the real estate practice. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan.
Hermiz is a member of the Varnum's Litigation and ADR Practice Team, focusing on business and commercial litigation. Based in the Birmingham office, he has experience in trade secret and non-compete disputes, shareholder/member disputes, franchise litigation, civil RICO, real estate litigation and other business matters. In addition to his litigation practice, he has experience serving as outside general counsel for clients, assisting and advising with respect to day-to-day corporate and legal issues.
Hermiz joined the firm in 2020 from a Michigan-based law firm. He graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University.
Rouse-Ayoub is a member of the Labor and Employment Practice Team, based in the Novi office. She has experience representing employers in all areas of employment law and labor management relations. An experienced litigator, she defends employment-related claims and regularly writes and speaks on a variety of labor and employment maters.
Rouse-Ayoub joined Varnum in 2018 from a Michigan-based law firm, where she co-chaired the workplace practice group. She received her law degree from Detroit College of Law and attended Madonna University for her undergraduate degree.
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Brooks Kushman is proud to announce the addition of Robyn Lederman to the firm's five-member Executive Committee. Lederman was elected by her peers for the position in December 2021 and assumed her role effective January 1.
Lederman will replace Elizabeth Janda on the Executive Committee, who has served on the committee since it was formed in 2019.
Lederman has served as co-chair of Brooks Kushman's trademark department since 2018. Under her leadership, she's been involved in growing the firm's practice across disciplines while continuing to excel in client service. As a co-chair of the trademark group, she helps drive a robust training and mentoring mentality within the department and works to foster a strong business focus within the trademark department and throughout the firm.
Lederman is also a distinguished trademark attorney and has received recognition for her unique approach to managing global brands by World Trademark Review as a "Global Leader," Managing Intellectual Property as an "IP Star," and a "Leader in the Law," by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
"I am excited for this opportunity and look forward to this next chapter. While Brooks Kushman is a great law firm filled with many talented professionals, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve on the Executive Committee and further advance our firm, strengthening our approach for our amazing clients as well as our attorneys and staff," says Lederman.
With more than 25 years of experience practicing in trademark law, Lederman specializes in global branding strategy with a keen eye on clearance, protection, and enforcement for start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
Lederman works extensively with company legal, marketing, and business development groups to devise cost-effective strategies to achieve marketing goals. She works with her clients on issues beyond trademark registration that include brand enforcement programs, copyright, domain name recovery, IP due diligence, licensing and other IP agreements, trade dress protection, and dilution avoidance.
She represents clients in varied industries including agriculture, automotive, biotech, food and beverage, entertainment, financial services, high-tech, and fashion.
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Liam K. Healy was recently named a member (partner) at Kerr Russell. He was selected at the end of 2021 for the promotion effective January 1, 2022.
Healy joined the firm in 2019. He focuses his practice on helping clients maintain compliance with the myriad of state and federal tax laws and regulations that govern individuals and businesses. He also practices in the areas of employee benefits and ERISA, specializing in designing pension and executive compensation plans to benefit business owners and executives. With a broad range of experience in business law and business tax matters, Healy has counseled business owners through every stage, from formation to the sale of a business.
Healy earned a B.A. from the University of Michigan and law degrees from Georgetown University Law Center and Michigan State University College of Law.
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Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is pleased to announce that attorney Kiersten J. Reinhold has joined the firm.
Reinhold joins the firm's General and Automotive Liability practice group. Her practice focuses on first-and third-party automotive defense and other general liability matters. She also has experience in employment and civil rights law.
Reinhold received her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Prior to joining Collins Einhorn Farrell, Reinhold clerked for the City of Pittsburgh Law Department, assisting in municipal and labor/employment matters. She has also interned with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Reinhold is a member of both the Detroit Bar Association and the Oakland County Bar association.
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Plunkett Cooney recently named four local attorneys as shareholders. Danny C. Allen, Howard B. Goldman, Justin J. Hakala, and Matthew J. Zmijewski were recently approved by the firm's Board of Directors as the firm's newest shareholders. The promotions are based on the recommendations of the firm's Shareholder Evaluation Committee members, and the change in status was effective on January 1.
A member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office, Allen focuses his practice in the areas of first-party no-fault and third-party motor vehicle negligence. As former house counsel for a major American insurance provider, he has experience handling personal injury protection, uninsured/underinsured motorist, premises liability and bodily injury claims, as well as related appeals.
A member of the State Bar of Michigan, Allen received his law degree from Wayne State University Law School in 2007. He received his master's degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago in 2000 and his undergraduate degree from Albion College in 1996.
Goldman, who has more than 30 years of experience, joined the firm as a lateral hire in 2021. He focuses his practice on the representation of borrowers, lenders, landlords and tenants in all aspects of real estate transactions. He has expertise in all aspects of commercial property transactions, including purchases, financing and sale-leasebacks. Goldman also coordinates with lenders on behalf of his clients regarding COVID-19 issues, and its impact on hospitality and retail properties.
Admitted to practice law in Michigan, Illinois, and New York, Goldman received his law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1985. He is a member of the Illinois and New York State bar associations and the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan. He also serves as the Michigan chair of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.
Hakala, who is a member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office, focuses his practice primarily in the areas of medical malpractice and life sciences defense. He represents physicians, health systems and hospitals in health care litigation, and he defends claims of alleged professional liability in cases involving birth trauma, cardiac arrest, nursing home care, missed diagnoses and ophthalmology. Hakala also has experience handling product liability matters against medical device and other life sciences companies. He is the author of the definitive Michigan subject matter treatise on the topic titled "Product Liability in Michigan."
Named a Rising Star in medical malpractice by Michigan Super Lawyers magazine since 2013, Hakala received his law degree from the Wayne State University Law School in 2009. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 2004.
Zmijewski is a member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office and the Transportation Law Practice Group. His expertise includes the defense of first-party claims and third-party auto negligence matters, as well as cases involving bodily injury and uninsured and under insured motorist claims. He also has experience investigating and resolving fraudulent motor vehicle liability suits.
Zmijewski is a member of several professional organizations, including the Association of Defense Trial Counsel, the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel and the Central Michigan Adjusters Association, as well as the State Bar of Michigan and the Detroit, Oakland County, and Macomb County bar associations. Zmijewski graduated from Wayne State University Law School in 2010 and received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in 2007.
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Professor Christopher Lund has been named Wayne State University Law School's new associate dean for research and faculty development.
The role, which was first held by Professor Jonathan Weinberg, supports and promotes faculty scholarship and academic achievement. Weinberg, who served as associate dean since 2018, will continue in his role as a professor of law at Wayne Law.
Since joining Wayne Law in 2009, Lund has taught a variety of courses, including Torts, Contracts, Constitutional Law, Religious Liberty in the United States, and Evidence, and has been voted Professor of the Year seven times.
Lund taught at the Mississippi College School of Law prior to joining Wayne Law. Before teaching, he clerked for Judge Karen Nelson Moore on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, served as the Madison Fellow at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and practiced law at Dechert LLP in Philadelphia. Lund earned his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law and his bachelor's from Rice University with majors in mathematics and psychology.
Winner of the 2017 Berman Prize for Excellence in Scholarship by the Law and Religion Section of the American Association of Law Schools for his piece "Religion is Special Enough," Lund has served as chair of the Association's Section on Constitutional Law, as well as chair of the Section on Law and Religion and the Section on New Law Professors.
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On behalf of Kitch Attorneys & Counselors, Chair and Chief Executive Officer Mark A. Wisniewski announced the promotion of the following local Kitch attorneys:
PRINCIPAL
Brandon Koppin, Detroit
Michael Vecchioni, Detroit
Matthew Faiver, Detroit
ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL
Kaitlyn Elias, Detroit
Ahndia Mansoori Graves, Detroit
Farah Israel, Detroit
Michael Kern, Detroit
Zeinab Saad, Detroit
Rebecca Waisanen, Detroit
Paul Shailor, Mt. Clemens
SENIOR ASSOCIATE
Brittany Lawler, Mt. Clemens
Andrea Paone, Detroit
Paul Wilk Jr., Detroit
