LEGAL PEOPLE

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan recently announced that he has appointed Hassan Beydoun as his Group Executive of Economic Development, where he will lead the Jobs and Economy Team’s efforts to grow Detroit’s economy. Beydoun previously served as senior advisor and counsel to the mayor.

In addition to continuing the city’s recent success attracting major employers in his new role, Beydoun will focus heavily on making Detroit the most friendly city in the country for innovators and start-up entrepreneurs.  

Beydoun said that the knowledge he gained from his father and other entrepreneurs in his family have helped him to understand what up-start businesses need to be successful.

“I come from a long line of entrepreneurs, and I learned a lot watching my immigrant father grow from an employee to an employer, and since then have interacted with countless innovators, creators, and collaborators in and beyond Detroit. Many complain of barriers they run into when scaling their business and navigating the city’s overly complex web of regulations, institutions, and stakeholders” said Beydoun.

“Our policies and processes that too often constrain and overladen enterprise can be reformed to reflect and support a changing economy in which businesses can thrive. Detroit is already one of the fastest growing hubs for start-ups in the country, but it has the potential to be the world’s premier innovation economy. My goal is to achieve that by building a more cohesive citywide ecosystem that drives success and equitable change for the community.”

Born in Detroit’s Warrendale neighborhood and raised in the Aviation Subdivision, Beydoun has served as Duggan’s legal counsel and senior advisor. Since his appointment in 2021, he has driven and advised on major initiatives ranging from the Transportation Innovation Zone around Michigan Central to the Joe Louis Greenway and Blight to Beauty. He has also been the lead advocate for the city’s interests and legislative agenda in Lansing.

Prior to joining the Duggan Administration, Beydoun served as the general counsel to the Michigan House of Representatives. In that role Beydoun was instrumental in the passage of auto no-fault reform legislation, as well as in eliminating driver responsibility fees, accelerating mobility innovation, and expanding expungement laws. He was also involved in the legislative components of Detroit’s Grand Bargain and Financial Review Commission that set the stage for the city’s exit from bankruptcy and state oversight. Beydoun has also served as chief counsel for the Legislature’s regulatory oversight bodies and in several investigations, including the Flint water crisis.

Beydoun earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Wayne State University before graduating from the University of Iowa College of Law.

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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced the appointment of Daryl Royal to the Workers’ Disability Compensation Appeals Commission.

Royal is an attorney and currently serves as chairperson of the commission since his appointment in 2019. Previously, he was the owner of his private practice law firm in Dearborn for more than 30 years, primarily focusing on social security disability insurance and workers’ compensation where he has had cases before the Michigan Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.  He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Pre-Law from Michigan State University and his law degree from the Wayne State University Law School.

Royal is reappointed for a term commencing August 1 and expiring July 31, 2024. He is also redesignated to continue serving as chair.

The?Workers’ Disability Compensation Appeals Commission created in Executive Order No. 2019-13 handles, processes, and decides appeals from orders of the director and the?workers’ compensation magistrates as provided for under the Worker’s Disability Compensation Act of 1969. The Commission may promulgate rules on administrative appellate procedure for purposes under the act.  

This appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.   

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Plunkett Cooney attorneys Danielle Chidiac and Claire D. Vergara were recently named to the Lawyers of Color (LoC) magazine 2023 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Annual Hot List.  

Honorees will be profiled in the DEI Hot List 2023 issue, as well as in the free digital version that will be available on the publications page of LoC’s website.

Co-chair of Plunkett Cooney’s DEI Committee, Chidiac practices primarily in the areas of insurance coverage, representing leading property and casualty insurance companies in coverage cases throughout the Midwest. Her coverage work as a member of the firm’s Insurance Coverage Practice Group includes the handling of coverage issues involving environmental contamination and travel insurance related to COVID, as well as research and coverage opinions regarding general liability policy issues that involve environmental, property damage or construction defect claims.

Chidiac, who is a member of Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office, received her law degree from Wayne State University Law School in 2020. She received her undergraduate degree from Oakland University in 2017.

Vergara works in the Detroit office and is a member of the firm’s DEI Committee. She is also a member of Plunkett Cooney’s Transportation Law and Medical Litigation practice groups. Vergara focuses her practice in the areas of medical liability, trucking litigation, first-party No-Fault auto insurance law and third-party motor vehicle negligence claims. She also has experience handling insurance-related matters involving personal injury and general negligence.

Vergara is a member of the Michigan Asian Pacific American Bar Association and currently serves as secretary of the organization’s executive board. Licensed to practice law in the state and federal courts in Michigan, Vergara received her law degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in 2012. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 2009.

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Intellectual property law firm Fishman Stewart PLLC is pleased to announce that six firm attorneys have been named Leading Lawyers this year.  

The following attorneys have been granted this honor, along with their categories of distinction:

• Michael D. Fishman – Copyright/Trademark Law, Intellectual Property Law, Patent Law

• Michael B. Stewart – Copyright/Trademark Law, Intellectual Property Law, Patent Law

• Ronald W. Citkowski – Intellectual Property Law, Patent Law

• Julie A. Greenberg – Copyright/Trademark Law

• John P. Guenther – Intellectual Property Law

• Barbara Lynn Mandell – Commercial Litigation, Copyright/Trademark Law, Intellectual Property Law

Fishman Stewart founding members Fishman and Stewart were first recognized in 2014, shortly after Leading Lawyers began surveying attorneys across the state of Michigan. Both are members of the Leading Lawyers Advisory Board.

In addition, Greenberg and Mandell were listed as Leading Lawyers Top Women Leaders in the July/August issue of DBusiness.

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Bodman PLC in pleased to announce that Alexander Choi has joined the firm as an associate attorney in the Real Estate and Construction practice groups, based in the Troy office.

Choi focuses his practice on construction law and real estate transactions. He represents owners, general contractors, and subcontractors in negotiating contracts and resolving disputes
involving residential and commercial projects such as multifamily, retail, and industrial buildings. He also represents clients in connection with commercial and residential purchase and sale transactions and has represented landlords and tenants in negotiating and documenting leases of office, commercial, and residential spaces.

Before joining Bodman, Choi practiced at another Michigan-based law firm where he was an associate attorney in the construction law, real estate, and business litigation practices.
Choi is a graduate of University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and earned his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University.

As a law student, Choi served as a judicial clerk for Magistrate U.S. District Court Judge R. Steven Whalen, Eastern District of Michigan and Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Wendy Potts.

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Dickinson Wright is pleased to announce that ten lawyers have been ranked in the 2023 edition of the IAM Patent 1000. The firm also received a Silver ranking for its patent practice in Michigan and a Bronze ranking for its patent prosecution practice in Toronto.

Below are Dickinson Wright’s Michigan rankings for the 2023 edition of the IAM Patent 1000:

John S. Artz – Litigation: Recommended

James Cleland – Prosecution: Recommended

William H. Honaker – Prosecution and Litigation: Recommended

Michael N. Spink – Prosecution: Recommended

The firm is also pleased to announce that Chambers 2023 High Net Worth (HNW) Guide has named  several Dickinson Wright attorneys are listed as “Leaders in their Fields” in Private Wealth Law. Among those listed is Henry M. Grix of the firm’s Troy office.

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Miller Canfield attorney Chip Brower has been appointed senior vice chair of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA).  In June 2024, Brower will become the 12th chair of the ITA. He succeeds a line of practitioners and academics who have led the 3,500-member organization since its inception in 1986.

Brower is a professor of law at Wayne State University and Of Counsel to the International Disputes Group at Miller Canfield in Detroit. Before moving to Michigan in 2012, he was a professor at the Croft Institute for International Studies at the University of Mississippi for 14 years. He has been a member of the ITA’s Executive Committee for many years, serving as vice chair of the Institute, chair of the Academic Council, and chair or co-chair of several committees and task forces.

Brower has served as arbitrator, counsel, or advocate in proceedings conducted under the AAA Commercial Rules, the AAA International Rules, the HKIAC Rules, the ICC Rules, and the SIAC Rules, as well as in advisory proceedings before the International Court of Justice. He has also served as an expert witness on the U.S. law of international arbitration and litigation for high-value proceedings in Canadian courts. His scholarship on international commercial and investment treaty arbitration has been cited and quoted by federal courts in Canada and the United States, most recently by the Eleventh Circuit’s unanimous ­en banc opinion in Corporación AIC, SA v. Hidroeléctrica Santa Rita SA.

Brower is an elected member of the American Law Institute and has been listed in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration since 2014. In the past, he has served on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law, as a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University’s Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, as visiting professor and scholar-in-residence at American University’s Washington College of Law, and a member of the AAA’s Observer Delegation to UNCITRAL Working Group II.

Brower received the Smit-Lowenfeld Prize for the best article on international arbitration in 2012, and the Donald H. Gordon Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2017.

Bower graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.A. in Political Science and Russian Language and from the University of Virginia with his law degree.

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Sangeeta Shah, CEO at Brooks Kushman, has been nominated to become a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation.

Shah is  responsible for leading the firm’s Executive Committee. In addition to serving as the CEO, Shah maintains an active docket as an IP practitioner with more than 20 years of experience in managing patent portfolios, PTAB matters, patent litigation and opinions. Shah works closely with several Fortune 500 clients for whom she provides strategic counseling and guidance on global intellectual property portfolios. Her patent expertise has resulted in national recognition from Managing IP, Best Lawyers, IAM, AIPLA and the PTAB Bar Association.

Prior to becoming CEO, Shah served as the firm’s chief diversity officer. In that position, she developed and implemented a range of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within and outside of the firm through outreach programs and partnerships. Under her leadership, the firm was recognized in 2018 and 2019 by ChIPs and Diversity Lab as a national Honor Roll Firm for its dedicatiaon to advancing diversity and inclusion, and was named a Midsize Mansfield Certified Plus firm in 2022. Shah also hosts the “Breaking Mindsets” Podcast where she interviews leaders who defy expectations and have accomplished great change in their field.

Brooks Kushman is also proud to announce that it has been recognized as a gold-standard firm once again in Intellectual Asset Management’s (IAM) annual IAM Patent 1000. Eight Brooks Kushman attorneys were also recognized as recommended IP practitioners. Frank Angileri, Sangeeta Shah, Michael Brodbine, John LeRoy, Marc Lorelli, Tiffany Fidler, Ph.D., Benjamin Stasa, and Martin Sultana were honored as patent leaders in Michigan. Angileri, LeRoy and Lorelli were honored for their notable work this year with IP Litigation, while Shah, Brodbine, Fidler, Stasa, and Sultana were recognized for their excellence in patent prosecution. This group of attorneys have all been recognized in the guide for the past several years.

In addition, Brooks Kushman is proud to announce that two of its attorneys, Elizabeth Janda and Hope Shovein, have been listed in the World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) Leaders 2023 Directory.

Janda serves as the co-chair of Brooks Kushman’s Trademark practice and has more than 30 years of experience in intellectual property law. She manages substantial trademark portfolios and protection programs both domestically and internationally and works closely with a network of vetted international contacts developed over the past decades. Janda handles trademark matters in a variety of industries, including the automotive field; restaurants and food products; toys and entertainment; computers; advertising and marketing businesses; mortgage companies, banks, and credit unions; and consumer products and services.

With more than 20 years of IP experience, Shovein manages trademark portfolios and develops IP strategies, including clearance, prosecution, enforcement, and everything in between, for both domestic and multinational companies. She also counsels on brand protection programs utilizing investigations, demand letters, online and social media platform takedowns, domain name complaints, as well as Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings. She specializes in helping clients enforce their rights in any medium, including the unauthorized use of trademarks and copyright-protected material on the internet. Shovein is a past chair of both the State Bar of Michigan’s Intellectual Property Law Section and also the Young Lawyers Section. She has been named to World Trademark Review’s “WTR 1000” since 2018.

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Dykema recently announced that it has been named to Bloomberg Law’s third annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Framework. Dykema is one of only 55 U.S.-based law firms that was recognized for its level of disclosure of diversity-related metrics and distinguished performance against six core pillars: demographics, leadership and talent pipeline, recruitment and retention, business innovation and strategy, marketing, and diversity & inclusion in the community.