LEGAL PEOPLE

The Michigan Supreme Court recently issued administrative orders that make appointments and reappointments and name new leaders to the Attorney Discipline Board and the Attorney Grievance Commission.

—Attorney Discipline Board

• Alan Gershel (attorney member) – reappointed for a term commencing October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2026; appointed chairperson for a term commencing October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2024. Before his retirement, Gershel worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit for many years and later as a law professor. Prior to his appointment to the ADB, Gershel served as a grievance administrator for the AGC. In 2007, he was named Moot Court Alumni Member of the Year by the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where he earned his law degree.

• Peter Smit (attorney member) – appointed vice chairperson for a term commencing October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2024. Smit is a private practice attorney focusing on personal injury, wrongful death, auto and trucking litigation. He is certi?ed in Alternative Dispute Resolution for practice in the U.S. District Court for Western District of Michigan and in Michigan circuit courts. Smit has been named numerous times to Best Lawyers in America® He earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

• Kamilia K. Landrum (layperson member) – appointed for a term commencing October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2026. Landrum currently serves as the youngest-ever executive director of the nation’s largest branch of the NAACP: the Detroit Branch. She is a past recipient of the Michigan Chronicle “40 under 40” Trailblazer Award. She earned a Master of Public Administration degree in nonprofit policy and management from Wayne State University.

• Linda Orlans (attorney member) – reappointed for a term commencing October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2026. A practicing attorney, Orlans is founder and executive chair of the Orlans Group, which focuses on real property transactions. In 2011, she received the Hon. George Bashara Jr. Distinguished Alumni Award from Michigan State University College of Law, where she earned her law degree.

—Attorney Grievance Commission

• Latoya M. Willis (attorney member) – appointed chairperson for a term commencing October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2024. Willis has served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for more than 20 years. Willis earned her law degree from University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

• J. Paul Janes (attorney member) – reappointed vice chairperson for a term commencing October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2024. Janes works in private practice and focuses on commercial and insurance litigation, automobile no-fault, personal injury, and medical malpractice. He has been named to Michigan Super Lawyers® and Best Lawyers in America® lists. Janes earned his law degree from University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

• James Moritz (layperson member) – appointed for a term commencing October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2026. Moritz is a retired Ford Motor Company and Ford Credit executive with expertise in global insurance leadership. He earned a Master of Business Administration from Wayne State University.

• Alexander Pahany (attorney member) – appointed for a term commencing October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2026. Pahany serves as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Huron County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He previously worked in private practice and as a school teacher. Pahany earned his law degree from Ave Maria Law School.

• Kathryn R. Swedlow (attorney member) – appointed for a term commencing October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2026. Swedlow is an attorney in the Criminal Defense Resource Center of the State Appellate Defender Office and previously worked in the federal court system. She is a past recipient the Criminal Defense Association of Michigan Justice for All Award. Swedlow earned her law degree from the City University of New York Law School at Queens College.

In 1978, the Michigan Supreme Court established a bifurcated disciplinary system for Michigan attorneys consisting of an investigative and prosecutorial agency—Attorney Grievance Commission—and a separate adjudicative agency—Attorney Discipline Board. Each body is comprised of six lawyer members and three non-lawyer members, all of whom are appointed by the Supreme Court.

•            •            •

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the appointment of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to the Michigan Workforce Development Board.

Duggan is the 75th mayor of the City of Detroit. He has been in office since January 2014 and currently is serving his third four-year term. He received a Bachelor of Arts and a
law degree from the University of Michigan.

Duggan is reappointed to represent a chief elected official of a city or county in this state for a term commencing September 29, 2023, and expiring May 29, 2027.

The Workforce Development Board is responsible for the development and continuous improvement of the workforce development system in Michigan. The board will act as an advisory body and will assist the governor with the development, implementation, and modification of Michigan’s four-year state plan pursuant to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and advance the Governor’s “60 by 30” goal of helping 60% of our workforce achieve a post-secondary degree or certification by 2030.  

This appointment is not subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.

•            •            •

Dickinson Wright is pleased to announce that Mahesh Nayak (member and International Practice Group co-chair, Troy) has been named to the State Bar of Michigan’s Judicial Qualifications Committee. His appointment to the committee is effective October 1, 2023.

The Judicial Qualifications Committee evaluates candidates for possible appointment to judicial vacancies at the request of the Michigan governor. The evaluations of this committee are advisory only and are not provided to, or subject to approval by, the Board of Commissioners or Representative Assembly. The committee reports in confidence to the Michigan governor.  

Nayak concentrates his practice in litigation and business law. As founder and co-leader of Dickinson Wright’s International Practice, Nayak has represented both foreign businesses expanding into the United States and overseen the firm’s North American clients’ interests abroad. Prior to joining private practice in 1999, Nayak served both as assistant attorney general with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and as a criminal prosecutor with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in Detroit.

In addition, Dickinson Wright is pleased to announce that the firm’s litigation and labor & employment practices, along with ten attorneys, are recognized in the Benchmark Litigation United States 2024 Edition.

Benchmark Litigation recognized the following Michigan Dickinson Wright practices and attorneys:

Phillip DeRosier – United States (National) and Local Litigation Star

Timothy Howlett – Local Labor & Employment Star

Brandon Hubbard – United States (National) and Local Litigation Star

Scott Petz – Future Star

Kathryn Wood – Local Labor & Employment Star

•            •            •

The Professional Liability Defense Federation (PLDF), a national organization of legal and insurance professionals who focus on the defense of professional liability claims, has named David Anderson, a shareholder at Collins Einhorn Farrell, as its president for 2023- 2024. Anderson was installed as president at the organization’s annual meeting in Denver on September 27-29.

Anderson has defended a wide variety of professional liability claims, ranging from legal malpractice to claims against accountants, insurance agents, architects and engineers, real estate/title agents and even fine art appraisers. He has also defended numerous corporations against product liability claims, including death cases.

In addition, PLDF has announced the election of James J. Hunter, a partner at Collins Einhorn.  Hunter was elected at the organization’s annual meeting in Denver on September 27-29.

Hunter focuses his practice on legal-malpractice defense and defending lawyers and judges in disciplinary matters. Before joining Collins Einhorn, Hunter worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Wayne County and then practiced several years in a white-collar criminal defense firm.

The mission of the PLDF is to enhance the stature and effectiveness of professional liability defense professionals through education, training, and the exchange of information. For additional information on the PLDF, visit www.pldf.org.

•            •            •

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the recent appointment of Megan Cashen to serve as a public administrator for Macomb County.  

Cashen is a Michigan native and longtime resident of Shelby Township. She attended Michigan State University where she obtained a BA in History in 2007 and Michigan State University College of Law where she obtained a law degree in 2010. Cashen is a third-generation attorney in Macomb County and possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience garnered through more than a decade of practice focused nearly exclusively on probate matters. Cashen was sworn in on September 22.

County public administrators have powers and duties primarily related to intestate decedent estates where there are apparently no known heirs, including managing the determination, collection, liquidation, and/or distribution of any assets in the estate.  Attorneys that serve in this capacity often also have private practice responsibilities that are separate and unrelated to their appointment as county public administrator.

•            •            •

Butzel attorney and shareholder Debra A. Geroux is a speaker in demand. She will be a co-presenter during three upcoming professional organization programs focused on cybersecurity with Scott Wrobel, managing member, N1 Discovery:

• October 18 webinar: Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) Cybersecurity & Incident Response: 2023 Update on Best Practices for Detecting, Avoiding, Responding to a Cybersecurity Incident.

• October 30 webinar: HCCA Healthcare Privacy Compliance Conference. The theme for the conference: “Does Your Role Require You to Stay Up to Date on Healthcare Privacy Issues and Trends?” Geroux and Wrobel will be speaking on Network Vulnerabilities: Tips for Understanding and Assessing Vulnerabilities That Threat Actors Use to Compromise Your Electronic Data.

• November 3 HIPAA COW Fall Conference: Geroux and Wrobel will co-present a session on Responding to a Cybersecurity Incident at the in-person one-day conference in Wisconsin.

Geroux’s healthcare practice focuses on health care compliance, cybersecurity and privacy, and statutory reporting obligations. She has assisted health care practitioners in defense of state and federal debarment, fraud, waste and abuse investigations and litigation, licensing and credentialing, government and commercial payor audits and a host of other health care issues. She also has experience in supply chain and source contracting for a large Michigan-based health system, including negotiations of its IT contracts.

Geroux earned her Certified in Healthcare Privacy Compliance (CHPC) designation from the Compliance and Certification Board. She also holds a Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) designation.

Geroux has been named to Best Lawyers in America, Lawyer of the Year, Health Care Law, 2022 and 2024, and Best Lawyers in America, Health Care Law, 2018-2024 and Commercial Litigation, 2021-2023.

In addition to her healthcare practice, Geroux has experience in general commercial civil litigation, as well as other regulatory matters, including issues pertaining to federal and state Disadvantaged Business Entity certifications and compliance, and cybersecurity incident response and reporting obligations.

•            •            •

McDonald Hopkins is proud to announce the election of three local attorneys to the firm’s membership as of October 1. The Detroit office attorneys are Ashley Jericho, Heather Shumaker, and Mark Steiner.

Jericho is a member in the firm’s Strategic Advisory and Restructuring Department. She has more than a decade of insolvency experience, including representing consumer and business debtors, creditors and trustees in bankruptcy proceedings, contested matters and adversary proceedings. She also represents purchasers of distressed assets in distressed workouts and provides general business counseling in non-distressed settings to a variety of business and business owners. She is based out of the firm’s Detroit office.

Shumaker is a member in the firm’s national Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group. She is accredited by the International Association of Privacy Professionals as a Certified Information Privacy Professional for the United States Private Sector, the gold standard certification for information privacy professionals. Her practice focuses on advising companies in a wide variety of industries on addressing data privacy and cybersecurity incidents. Shumaker represents clients across the country working remotely for the Detroit office of McDonald Hopkins.

Steiner is a member of the Litigation Department and focuses his practice on business litigation, trade secret, non-compete and unfair competition, and warranty and recall in the automotive industry. He has handled automotive, supply chain, healthcare, manufacturing, and other contractual business disputes throughout the country. Steiner’s practice also includes experience in defending privately held corporations in shareholder oppression disputes, as well as defending and pursuing claims on behalf of individual directors and officers.

•            •            •

Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that Alexis Smith-Scott has been selected for the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Leadership Detroit Class 44.

The Leadership Detroit program is a nine-month transformational leadership program designed to challenge emerging and existing leaders from Southeast Michigan to bring about positive change.

Smith-Scott has a history of service to organizations that support the Metro-Detroit community and building outreach and intervention programs targeting youth from underrepresented groups. She serves on the board of directors for Teen HYPE and on the Business 313 Advisory Board for Life Remodeled/ Durfee Innovation Center. For more than twelve years, she has been a frequent motivational speaker at Matrix Off the Streets – For Homeless Teens, Detroit’s only voluntary, licensed, community-based, short-term emergency shelter program for youth. She has been the annual fundraising co-chair of the Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy Fashion Show since 2016, raising funds for families to afford tuition cost.

Smith-Scott is also an advocate for legal education amongst underrepresented youth. As the legislative chair of the Motor City Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, she recently returned from the nation’s capital where she joined more than 600 African-American teens from over 30 states in advocating for significant issues related to youth and the Black community.

Smith-Scott was also appointed to the Wayne State University Law School Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force and is the founder of the “Be The Change” mentoring program called Project: BE. Under Smith-Scott’s guidance and leadership, the program is produced and held annually by the WSU Black Law Student Association, where 7th and 8th grade students are invited to Wayne State University Law School to meet local attorneys and participate in a mock debate.

Smith-Scott is an associate attorney in Bodman’s Detroit office. Her practice focuses on representing business clients in connection with complex commercial transactions and corporate law matters including corporate organization and mergers & acquisitions.