LEGALPEOPLE

oley & Lardner LLP is pleased to announce that John F. Birmingham Jr. has been selected to serve a six-year term as a member of the firm's national Management Committee. He will also continue to serve clients as a partner in the Detroit office. Birmingham is chair of the firm's national Labor & Employment Practice. He focuses his practice on class actions, non-competition and trade secrets matters, employment-related litigation, and labor law. He regularly counsels clients on a vast array of labor and employment issues and develops problem prevention and resolution strategies. He holds memberships with a variety of professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, Oakland County Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, as well as the Federal Bar Association and the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. In addition, last week Governor Rick Snyder announced the appointment of Steven Hilfinger as director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. Hilfinger is managing partner of the Detroit office of Foley & Lardner and is a recognized expert in corporate acquisitions, restructurings and regulatory affairs. Hilfinger has focused his 23-year legal career on corporate and securities law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, private equity and venture capital transactions, debt and equity finance transactions, business formation and corporate governance, and general corporate and contract counseling. His practice includes representation of automotive suppliers and other manufacturers, medical device makers, private equity and venture capital funds, financial institutions, and other publicly and privately held businesses. Hilfinger is a member and former co-chair of the firm's Automotive Industry Team and a member of the Transactional & Securities, Private Equity & Venture Capital and International Practices. Hilfinger is an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth, Detroit Chapter, where he serves on the board of directors and is a member of the programs committee. He frequently speaks on mergers and acquisitions and finance matters. Hilfinger obtained his B.B.A. degree (concentration in accounting) from the University of Michigan in 1984. He earned his law degree from Northwestern University in 1987. He recently served as chairperson of the Finance Committee of First United Methodist Church in Birmingham. He has also served as a member of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Advisors, was selected for Leadership Detroit XIX, serves as a partner of the Cornerstone Schools and is an active participant in Foley's IDEA (Improving Detroit through Entrepreneurial Advancement) program, as a speaker and mentor. Hilfinger is admitted to practice law in Michigan and Illinois and is a member of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association and the Business Law Sections of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan. Hilfinger will begin serving as director on Feb. 28. An executive order reorganizing the department will be issued in the near future. * * * I. India Geronimo has been named director of the Damon J. Keith Law Collection of African American Legal History. Geronimo previously served as a law clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Damon J. Keith, Sixth Circuit, and more recently clerked for the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Previously, she clerked for the U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Carter, Southern District of New York, and was as an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union Racial Justice Program where she was the Marvin M. Karpatkin Fellow. She has been involved in litigation and advocacy surrounding a variety of civil rights issues. Geronimo will also be working with the Keith Center to develop programming around its "education as a civil right" initiative. The Keith Collection, which houses exhibits such as "Marching Toward Justice" and "Saluting a Giant," was created to meet the need for a central repository for the nation's African American legal history. * * * Butzel Long attorneys Mary Mullin, Laurie J. Michelson, and David F. DuMouchel received a Certificate of Appreciation from The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Amicus Curiae Committee for their work preparing an Amicus Brief to the Michigan Supreme Court for the funding of indigent criminal defense services. Based in Butzel Long's Detroit office, Mullin practices in the areas of white collar criminal defense, appellate litigation, and advertising, marketing, and sweepstakes law. Prior to joining Butzel Long, Mullin served as a law clerk to Michigan Supreme Court Justice Michael F. Cavanagh from 2006-2008. Mullin is a member of the State Bar of Michigan. Mullin is a graduate of Creighton University School of Law (2006) and Boston College (B.A., Computer Science, 2000). Michelson has been appointed a federal magistrate judge with the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Michigan effective on Feb. 22. Currently, she is the practice group leader for Butzel Long's Intellectual Property, Media and Technology practice, and is the former chair of the firm's Recruiting Committee. Michelson practices in the areas of white collar criminal defense and media/intellectual property law. In 2004, Michelson, along with DuMouchel, gained their client's acquittal in one of the largest health care fraud trials in history in the U.S. District Court in Boston. Michelson is ranked in Chambers USA (2010) in the area of Litigation: White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations and in "The Best Lawyers in America" (2009 to present) in the area of First Amendment Law. Prior to joining Butzel Long, Michelson served as law clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Cornelia G. Kennedy, Sixth Circuit. Michelson is a graduate of The University of Michigan (A.B., 1989) and Northwestern University (law degree, 1992). Michelson has written numerous articles on media and intellectual property issues. She serves as president (past secretary, past treasurer and past program chair) of the Federal Bar Association, Eastern District of Michigan. She also was chair of the American Bar Association Communication Law's Training and Development Committee. She is a member of the Advisory Board of Trustees of Eton Academy, and the Goodfellows. Based in Butzel Long's Detroit office, DuMouchel chairs the firm's Corporate Compliance, Internal Investigations and Criminal Defense practice. DuMouchel's practice is limited to white collar criminal defense, professional licensure and criminal health care, criminal IRS investigations of both taxpayers and professionals, SEC enforcement of corporate executives, public corruption, as well as grand jury investigations, internal corporate investigations and compliance. DuMouchel is a recipient of the Leonard Gilman Award from the Federal Bar Association as the outstanding criminal law practitioner in the Eastern District of Michigan. He has been named by "Best Lawyers" as the "2010 Detroit Criminal Defense: White-Collar Lawyer of the Year." He has been listed in each "Best Lawyers" edition for the last 25 years, up to and including the most recent. He also is listed in "Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers," and in "Michigan Super Lawyers." From 1978 to 1985, DuMouchel served as chairperson of the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission. DuMouchel served as law clerk to Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Giles Kavanagh from 1975-1977. He was an adjunct professor of law at Wayne State University and is a frequent lecturer on criminal practice matters. He has served on the faculty of the U.S. District Court, Advocacy Institute; ICLE: Attorney Grievance and Discipline Practice; ICLE: Health Care Law Institute; ICLE "Polygraphs;" ABA Health Care Fraud, 2005; ABA White Collar Crime Institute, 2006, 2007, 2008; State Bar of Michigan Program, "Compelled Waiver of Attorney-Client Privilege," 2006; Michigan Association of CPA's, "Accounting Fraud," 2006, 2007, 2010. He also is a frequent speaker on internal corporate investigations and federal criminal procedure matters. DuMouchel served as a member of the Advisory Committee which drafted the Restatement of Law Governing Lawyers of the American Law Institute, and is on the Member's Consultative Group of the ALI Model Penal Code Sentencing Project. DuMouchel is a Master of Bench emeritus, American Inn of Court Ch. XI. He is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Michigan State Bar Foundation. DuMouchel is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and serves as a member of the Criminal Procedure Committee, and is a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers. DuMouchel is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School (1975) and the University of Detroit (M.A., 1972). In addition, Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Robert P. Perry was the featured speaker during a Feb. 17 program highlighting the new tax law--TRA 2010, which has revolutionized estate planning. The program was presented by Visionary Marketing Group, a Sterling Heights-based brokerage agency. Perry has experience in estate and business succession planning. His experience includes: the preparation and implementation of buy-sell agreements, irrevocable life insurance trusts, charitable remainder and lead trusts, generation-skipping and "dynasty" trusts, personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, split dollar insurance planning, family limited partnerships and limited liability companies and planning for distributions from qualified plans and individual retirement accounts. Perry also has experience in miscellaneous probate and trust issuance, tax compliance and estate tax audit and internal revenue service litigation matters. Perry is a frequent lecturer on various estate planning topics, including estate planning for qualified plan assets and individual retirement accounts and using charitable planning techniques for qualified plan assets. In addition, Perry has published numerous articles on estate planning and tax topics. * * * Steven Ribiat joined Brooks, Wilkins, Sharkey, & Turco PLLC on Feb. 16. Ribiat was previously a shareholder at Butzel Long where he served as a Business Litigation practice group leader, and was on the Board of Directors. Ribiat is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School. He is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, member of the State Bar of Michigan's Professional Ethics Committee, and appointed to the State Bar of Michigan Task Force on Attorney-Client Privilege. Ribiat is also listed in "The Best Lawyers of America" for Commercial Litigation and as a "Top Lawyer" in Metro Detroit for Business Litigation in dbusiness. * * * James B. Thelen has been named associate dean for Legal Affairs and general counsel at Cooley Law School. He takes over duties from James Robb, who has been named associate dean for Development and Alumni Relations. Thelen was most recently a partner at Miller, Canfield, Paddock, and Stone, where he handled several matters on Cooley's behalf. He first joined Miller Canfield in 1995, and was an associate attorney in the Labor and Employment Practice Group. He was named a principal in 2005. At Miller Canfield, he managed discrimination and other employment-related litigation for employers, as well as governmental and administrative agency proceedings involving unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, labor relations, affirmative action, and Department of Labor audits. Thelen served as the assistant general counsel and assistant vice president for Legislative Affairs at Western Michigan University 1997-1999 before returning to private practice at Miller Canfield. He also served as an adjunct professor at WMU from 1997-2002, teaching upper level undergraduate courses in judicial process and political/social history. He was named to "Best Lawyers in America" 2010-2011, "Michigan Super Lawyers" as a "Rising Star" in 2008, and "America's Leading Business Lawyers Up and Coming" in 2006 for Chambers USA. He speaks and publishes frequently on employment law. Thelen earned his law degree from Tulane University School of Law and his bachelor of arts degree from Western Michigan University. Published: Mon, Feb 21, 2011