LEGAL PEOPLE

U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters announced that the U.S. Senate has confirmed Judge Jonathan J.C. Grey to a seat on the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan.
Grey was nominated by President Joe Biden on September 2, 2022. On November 30, 2022, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing considering his nomination. On February 9 the Judiciary Committee advanced Grey’s nomination on a bipartisan vote.

Grey has served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Eastern District of Michigan since 2021. He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio from 2016 to 2021 and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan from 2012 to 2016.

From 2011 to 2012 and 2007 to 2009, Grey was an associate at Seyfath Shaw LLP in Chicago. He served as a law clerk for Judge Damon J. Keith on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 2010 to 2011 and Judge W. Louis Sands on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia from 2009 to 2010.

Grey received his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2007 and B.S. from Morehouse College in 2004.

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Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is pleased to announce that attorney Simonne Kapadia has joined the firm.

Kapadia is an associate attorney in the firm’s Appellate Practice Group, where she focuses on civil appeals in federal and state courts. Her practice involves areas such as legal-malpractice law, insurance coverage, commercial law, and more.

Before joining Collins Einhorn, Kapadia served as a judicial law clerk for Oakland County 52-4 District Court Judge Kirsten Nielsen Hartig in Troy. During her clerkship, Kapadia performed legal research and drafted opinions on various civil and criminal law issues.

Kapadia received her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law.  She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Kapadia’s legal education included internships with the University of Michigan’s Office of the General Counsel and with BISSELL Homecare Inc.

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Butzel attorney and shareholder James C. Bruno has been named to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s Hall of Fame Class of 2023. He is one of 29 attorneys who will be honored during a luncheon on April 21
at the Detroit Marriott Troy and profiled in an upcoming edition of Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

Bruno’s primary practice includes corporations and limited liability companies; the Uniform Commercial Code; sales representatives and distributorships; automotive and other industry supplier relations; international business law and foreign employment; closely held business; mergers and acquisitions; and joint ventures. This includes counseling, negotiations, drafting, and dispute resolution.

Bruno has served on Butzel’s Board of Directors. He has been active in the firm’s foreign practice. He advises clients in their entry and operations in Mexico and elsewhere outside the United States. His practice also includes mediation of commercial disputes.

Bruno is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the American Bar Association. He has served as chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Business Law Section, co-chair of the Corporate Laws Committee, Council Member of the International Law Section, co-chair of the International Business Law Committee, and member of the Advisory Committee for the Michigan Bar Journal.

Bruno was an initial recipient of the Michigan State Bar’s Stephen H. Schulman Outstanding Business Lawyer Award. He was named Lawyer of the Year in International Trade in Detroit and has been listed in the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Attorneys, The Best Lawyers in America, The Best Lawyers in America Consumer Guide for his work with closely held business entities, DBusiness Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit, and Michigan Super Lawyers.

He has written numerous articles and been a speaker and moderator at a variety of programs on international, corporate, immigration and business topics in automotive and other industries. He was the editor of the Business Problems and Planning column of The Michigan Bar Journal for many years.

Bruno’s legislative work has included assisting in the drafting of the Michigan Business Corporation Act, Michigan Professional Corporation Act, and Michigan Limited Liability Company Act.

He has been the firm’s representative to the automotive trade association, the Original Equipment Manufacturers Association. He was counsel general in Detroit for El Salvador from 1973 to 1997.
Bruno is a graduate of Georgetown University, University of Michigan Law School, and University of Michigan Graduate School of Business.

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Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced that attorney and voting rights advocate Aghogho Edevbie joined her administration March 6 as deputy secretary of state.

A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Edevbie has played a role for more than a decade in protecting voters through his advocacy for ballot drop boxes, early voting, and protections for election workers. For the last three years, Edevbie has served as the Michigan state director for All Voting is Local, a nonpartisan voting rights organization.

“I am deeply honored to join Secretary Benson and her team supporting Michigan voters and election workers,” said Edevbie. “Our democracy remains strong in Michigan and by working together to make nonpartisan improvements we can ensure democracy prevails for many years to come.”

As deputy secretary of state, Edevbie will lead the development and implementation of the administration’s election policy. He will also work on outreach and education through engagement with state and local elected officials, as well as supporting clerks and community organizations and leaders.

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Williams, Williams, Rattner, & Plunkett PC is pleased to announce that Jeremy Manson has been elected shareholder.

Manson focuses his litigation practice on business, real estate, employment, and probate matters on behalf of individuals, small businesses, and large corporations.

Manson is an active member of the legal community serving on the board of directors of the Michigan State University College of Law Alumni Association, and is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the Oakland County Bar Association, and the Jewish Bar Association of Michigan.

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Warner Norcross + Judd LLP has named Nazli G. Sater executive partner of its Bloomfield Hills office.  

As executive partner, Sater will lead operations for the newest of the firm’s nine offices across the state of Michigan. Attorneys in the Bloomfield Hills office, which is located at 40701 Woodward Ave., focus on family law, mergers and acquisitions, trusts and estates, private client and family office matters, funds and investments, tax law and corporate law. Warner is the only large Michigan law firm with offices in Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties.   

“Warner is a full-service law firm with robust business and corporate services,” Sater said. “The Bloomfield Hills office brings those services closer to our clients in Oakland County and the surrounding area while also offering an array of personal legal services ranging from family law, tax and trust and estate practices. We have many very accomplished lawyers within our firm who can advise our clients about their personal legal needs.”

Sater, who also chairs of the firm’s Family Law Practice Group, represents clients in all aspects of family law, ranging from divorce cases, including complex business valuation issues and property division, premarital and post-nuptial agreements, custody and parenting time, spousal and child support, as well as mediation and arbitration of all related issues.

Active professionally and in the community, Sater has been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers in America©, Michigan Super Lawyers and DBusiness Top Lawyers. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, and the Oakland County Bar Association.

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Ottenwess Law is proud to announce that Managing Partner Stephanie Ottenwess has been selected to be included in the Leading Lawyers 2023 class of “Top Lawyers, Women Leaders.” This accomplishment is featured in the Hour Magazine Detroit, February 2023 Edition.

Ottenwess is a health law attorney who provides counsel to clients in transactional matters and compliance with federal and state healthcare regulations, including federal Stark and state self-referral laws, federal and state anti-kickback laws, HIPAA and state privacy laws. She has a special interest in telemedicine and has counseled health care providers in providing and billing for telemedicine and teleradiology services. Ottenwess also represents executives and physicians in employment contract negotiations and related matters.

In addition to the Leading Lawyers 2023 class of “Top Lawyers, Women Leaders,” Ottenwess has received several other legal honors in her career, including Michigan Lawyers Weekly Influential Women of Law (2022), Top 100 Leading Women Lawyers in Michigan, Leading Lawyer in Health Law, DBusiness Top Lawyer, Leading Women Michigan Lawyers, and one of the Women Who Move Detroit (2022).

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The Dobrusin Law Firm is pleased to announce that Erin Klug has been named to the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) Rising List for 2023.

The NAWL Rising List recognizes individual attorneys advancing in their legal careers, using their talents to help others advance in their careers, or fighting to advance their fellow women in the legal profession.

In recent years, Klug has also been recognized by organizations such as the World Trademark Review, Crain’s Detroit Business, DBusiness Magazine, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, and Super Lawyers®.

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Eighteen Kemp Klein attorneys have been included in the 2023 edition of U.S. News Best Lawyers in America®. Those featured include:

William B. Acker – Litigation and Controversy – Tax, Real Estate Law, Tax Law, and Trusts & Estates
C. Leslie Banas – Corporate Law and Real Estate Law
Cynthia E. Brazzil – Corporate Law
Richard C. Bruder – Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
Joseph P. Buttiglieri – Litigation – Trusts & Estates
Ralph A. Castelli Jr. – Corporate Law and Real Estate Law
Mark R. Filipp – Litigation – Labor and Employment
Brian R. Jenney – Elder Law and Trusts & Estates
David D. Marsh – Real Estate Law
Alan A. May – Litigation – Trusts & Estates and Trusts & Estates
Norman D. Orr – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Corporate Law
Thomas C. Rauch – Real Estate Law
Brian H. Rolfe – Commercial Litigation
Stuart Sinai – Securities Regulation
Amy A. Stawski – Family Law
Thomas V. Trainer – Elder Law and Trusts & Estates
Michael D. Umphrey – Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships) and Trusts & Estates
Robert S. Zawideh – Arbitration and Litigation – Trusts & Estates

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Plunkett Cooney partner Douglas C. Bernstein was recently named to the Michigan Lawyers Weekly (MiLW) Hall of Fame Class of 2023.  MiLW will host its annual Hall of Fame awards ceremony on April 21, at the Detroit Marriott Troy hotel.

A member of Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office, Bernstein serves as the firm’s Business Law Department leader. He concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial litigation, loan restructuring, commercial loan documentation, bankruptcy, banking-related litigation and appeals. His clients include regional and national banks, credit unions and loan servicers, as well as automotive suppliers and charitable foundations.

Prior to joining Plunkett Cooney, Bernstein worked as an in-house attorney at Michigan National Corporation for more than 20 years. He subsequently joined the Standard Federal Bank Legal Department when the bank merged with Michigan National Corporation in 2001.

Bernstein earned his undergraduate degree in 1978 from Wayne State University and his law degree in 1982 from the Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State University College of Law).

Bernstein has received several honors for his legal work, including selection as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He has also received an AV Preeminent™ rating by Martindale-Hubbell, a leading peer-to-peer professional ratings service, and he has earned designations as a Michigan Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine from 2008 to 2022 and as one of the Best Lawyers in America® from 2014 to 2023. Bernstein has also been named as a 2018 Leader in the Law honoree and a 2020 Go To Lawyer for Business by MiLW.

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Bradley Knickerbocker of Howard & Howard Attorneys was selected to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Go To Lawyers” for construction law. This is Knickerbocker’s second “Go To” award in the last year; he was previously recognized for his expertise in real estate and condo law.

For more than 35 years, Knickerbocker has represented his clients in numerous practice areas, including real estate; construction and development; business litigation; environmental; mergers and acquisitions; franchising; automotive; with an emphasis on real estate acquisitions/dispositions; commercial leasing; and zoning.

In addition to being a partner with business law firm Howard & Howard, Knickerbocker has served as outside general counsel to public and private companies, in which he addressed all matters of corporate and commercial issues. Specifically, he served as interim general counsel for Big Boy Restaurants International, a regional restaurant franchisor. He advised, directed, and handled all legal aspects of franchising, construction, leasing, employment, insurance, property sales, and trademarks, while addressing day-to-day legal matters.  

Outside of his legal practice, Knickerbocker volunteers for Make-A-Wish Michigan, where he is a member of Team Grace in support of his daughter. His team is a WAM 300 (mile) bike 2–8-person team and regularly participates in fundraising opportunities for the organization.

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Maddin Hauser is pleased to announce that Michigan Lawyers Weekly selected shareholder Craig E. Zucker for its “Hall of Fame” 2023 class.

Zucker is a firm shareholder and a veteran legal advisor who focuses his practice on bankruptcy, complex insolvency-related matters, and general business concerns. Before joining Maddin Hauser in 2018, Zucker was a partner at Erman, Teicher, Zucker & Freedman PC for more than 30 years.

Zucker represents debtors and creditors in federal, bankruptcy, and state court proceedings and out-of-court workouts, and mediations. He also represents business owners and tackles their broad business concerns. In addition, Zucker delivers knowledge of construction law, particularly in construction-related lien and bond rights in federal and state court matters.

As a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Zucker is active in every aspect of firm development – from firm management and recruiting to training and mentoring to the promotion of firm attorneys.

He is particularly aware of the importance of supporting women and diverse attorneys in realizing their “A” games and advancing their careers.

Zucker is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell and has been consistently named among the Best Lawyers in America since 2010. He has also been listed as a Top Lawyer by DBusiness Magazine in the Litigation-Bankruptcy category and as a Michigan Leading Lawyer in Bankruptcy & Workout Law: Commercial and Creditor’s Rights/Commercial Collections Law.