LEGAL PEOPLE

Butzel Long attorneys Gary W. Klotz and Bethany Steffke Sweeny will discuss the Americans With Disabilities Act - New Regulations during a meeting of the American Society of Employers on Tuesday, April 26, in Livonia. The program will address pertinent regulation definitions of disability and what new compliance requirements employers are subject to. Klotz has represented employers in labor and employment law matters for more than 30 years. He has defended employers in state and federal courts, as well as before state and federal administrative agencies. He also has experience representing employers in labor arbitration cases, collective bargaining negotiations, and preventive employee relations counseling. Klotz is the author of numerous articles about labor and employment law, and he regularly speaks at management education programs about labor and employment issues. Sweeny concentrates her practice in the area of labor and employment law, focusing on employment litigation involving state and federal claims of harassment, retaliation and discrimination, as well as FMLA and whistleblower claims. She has represented employers in front of various administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and other state agencies. Sweeny also provides employers with general advice regarding employment law issues and litigation avoidance. * * * Frank T. Mamat has been appointed to be president of the 400 Club in Southeast Michigan by the chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party. Mamat, a labor partner at the Farmington Hills office of Foster, Swift, Collins, & Smith PC, started the 400 Club in 1991 - which went on to become the largest funding organization for Republican politics in Oakland County. Historically, almost every Republican lawmaker and government official and judge in Oakland County is a member. Mamat founded the club in 1991, and it has hosted such national newsmakers as President George H.W. Bush (No. 41), Secretary of State Alexander Haig, Senator Richard Lugar and many other prominent national leaders, as well as Dave Bing, L. Brooks Patterson and numerous Michigan state officials and leaders. * * * Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is pleased to announce that Kenneth R. Marcus, a partner in the firm's Health Care Department, recently addressed attendees at the Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issues program sponsored by the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA). He participated in presentations titled "2010: The Regulation, Accreditation and Payment Practice Group's Year in Review" and "Medicare Part A Jurisdiction Litigation Update." Marcus is a nationally-recognized authority on Medicare and Medicaid payment appeal issues. He has represented numerous hospitals in individual and group appeals before the Provider Reimbursement Review Board and the federal courts. In addition, he frequently advises clients in matters involving the Medicare and Medicaid Anti-fraud and Abuse Provisions, the Stark Act, and the Federal False Claims Act, including representation of clients accused of violating these laws and consultation regarding business arrangements potentially exposed to liability under these laws. Marcus is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and vice chair of its Reimbursement, Accreditation and Payment Practice Group. He has been named in "The Best Lawyers in America" from 2008 to 2011 and in "Michigan Super Lawyers" from 2007 to 2010. Additionally, dBusiness named him a "Top Lawyer" in both 2010 and 2011. Marcus earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School. He also earned an M.H.S.A. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from the State University of New York. * * * Farmington Hills-based Zausmer, Kaufman, August, Caldwell, & Tayler PC (ZKACT) announced that it has added attorney Amy Monopoli to its staff. Monopoli focuses her practice in the areas of commercial litigation and insurance defense. Prior to joining the firm, she worked in the areas of commercial litigation and criminal defense for a firm in Massachusetts and has courtroom and trial experience. While there, she was named as a "Rising Star" in the Massachusetts edition of "Super Lawyers." Admitted to practice in both the state of Michigan and Massachusetts, Monopoli earned her law degree from Boston University School of Law and her B.A. from Brown University. In addition, ZKACT announces that attorney Robert P. McArdle has joined the firm. McArdle concentrates his practice on first and third party auto claims, premises liability and employment matters. He has more than a decade of experience in civil litigation, including trial experience having represented cases throughout the Michigan involving first and third party auto claims, premises liability, dog bite, insurance coverage and dram shop issues. Previously, McArdle clerked for the Saginaw City Attorney's Office, where he prosecuted traffic violations and criminal matters. He also served as a law clerk for Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Robert Ransom before entering private practice with a metro Detroit insurance defense firm. The University of Toledo College of Law and University of Michigan alum has lectured at seminars for insurance companies and presented to clients, schools and community groups on various legal topics. * * * Andrew B. Wachler presented "The Changing Audit Landscape: Medicare, Medicaid & Third Party Payors," at the Michigan Medical Group Management Association (MMGMA) Spring Conference in Mt. Pleasant. The MMGMA works to advance the profession of medical group practice management and health care delivery in various forms of medical group practice. It also works to cooperate with other allied health organizations in improving health care delivery to the general public. In addition, Wachler presented "The New Landscape of Audits: MICs, MACs, RACs, and ZPICs," as part of a team of presenters at the Health Care Compliance Institute conference in Orlando. The presentation covered recent developments and emerging issues related to MICs, MACs, RACs and ZPICs; compliance measures and operational tips for providers in the government audit response process; and various appeals processes and successful strategies and defenses to employ on appeal. The Health Care Compliance Association is a compliance and ethics group with more than 6,500 members dedicated to providing resources for industry professionals worldwide. Wachler has been practicing health care law for more than 25 years. He counsels health care providers and organizations nationwide in a variety of health care legal matters. He writes and speaks nationally to professional organizations and other entities on health care law topics such as Medicare appeals, Stark and fraud and abuse, HIPAA, and other topics. * * * Anthony J. Rusciano and Michael S. Bogren have been re-elected chairman and secretary/treasurer respectively of the Board of Directors of Plunkett Cooney PC. Rusciano is the firm's longest serving board member with 19 years of service, including 10 years as board chairman from 1997 to 2002 and again from 2006 to 2011. He joined the firm in 1980 and has been a shareholder since 1985. A graduate of the New England School of Law, Rusciano is a senior member of Plunkett Cooney's Commercial Litigation Practice Group and Healthcare Industry Group. He concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial litigation, labor and employment discrimination, corporate compliance, financial services liability and healthcare law. Rusciano primarily represents corporate clients in complex commercial litigation, including anti-trust issues, intellectual property matters, breach of contract, unfair competition, condemnation matters, business torts and labor and employment issues. He is admitted to practice and has appeared before trial and appellate courts in Michigan and North Carolina, as well as in the federal courts in Michigan, Ohio and Alabama. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Massachusetts, Oakland County and American Bar associations. In addition, Rusciano is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and ALFA International's Health Care Practice Group Steering Committee. Bogren, who has held the board's secretary/treasurer position for eight consecutive years, was also re-elected for another one-year term. He was named a shareholder in 1989 and has been a member of Plunkett Cooney's board of directors since 2003. In addition to his board duties, Bogren manages Plunkett Cooney's Kalamazoo office, serves as the firm's Regional Office Department and Governmental Law Practice Group leader. He focuses his practice in the areas of municipal law, civil rights and labor and employment law. A 1982 graduate of University of Detroit School of Law, Bogren has experience representing municipalities in both state and federal court claims involving police liability, due process, first amendment issues, Open Meetings Act, Freedom of Information Act, zoning, civil rights and employment law. Bogren is active in a number of professional organizations, including the Kalamazoo County Bar Association, State Bar of Michigan (Public Corporations and Real Property sections), American Bar Association, International Municipal Lawyers Association and Association of Governmental Risk Pools. * * * Wayne State University Law School is pleased to announce that two individuals will join its faculty. They are Assistant Professor Kirsten M. Carlson and Assistant Professor (Clinical) Eric C. Williams. Carlson will teach Civil Procedure and American Indian Law beginning in fall 2011. She most recently served as a staff attorney at the Indian Law Resource Center in Helena, Mont., with a practice focusing on international and national advocacy to protect the rights of Indian nations to self-government, their lands, cultures and environments. Before that, she was a visiting scholar at the University of Ottawa, a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, and a law clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Diana E. Murphy, the Eighth Circuit. Carlson is secretary/treasurer of the State Bar of Michigan's Indian Law Section and a past recipient of a National Science Foundation Law and Social Science Dissertation Research Grant and the American Bar Association's Henry J. Ramsey Diversity Award. She earned a bachelor's degree in international studies from the Johns Hopkins University, a master's degree in Maaori studies as a Fulbright Scholar from Victoria University in New Zealand, a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a doctor of philosophy (political science) from the University of Michigan. Williams will direct the Small Business Enterprises and Nonprofit Corporations Clinic beginning in summer 2011. He previously worked in New York in private practice, as a legal consultant at Labaton Sucharow LLP, as a business litigation associate at Nixon Peabody LLP, and as a managing partner in the Law Office of Coleman and Williams. He also gained experience in the nonprofit sector as director of development at the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island and as senior program developer at Focus: HOPE in Detroit. Williams earned a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Michigan, a master of philosophy in international relations from Magdalene College at Cambridge University and a law degree from Columbia University School of Law. * * * Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is pleased to announce that Carol A. Friend, partner and chair of the firm's Business Immigration Practice Group, was recently appointed to the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts Board of Trustees. Music Hall provides accessible music, theater, dance and other performance programming and education to a diverse audience. Music Hall, a cultural resource for the Detroit area, opened in 1928. Friend concentrates her practice in the area of employment-based immigration and represents national and international companies in obtaining authorization for employees to work temporarily and permanently in the United States and abroad. Her practice encompasses a variety of industries, including agriculture, biotechnology, health care, automotive, robotics, engineering and information technology. She has been recognized in "Best Lawyers in America" from 2009 to 2011; in DBusiness' list of "Top Lawyers" in 2010 and 2011; and in "Michigan Super Lawyers" in 2010. Aside from her new position with Music Hall, Friend has served on the Board of Directors of InForum since 2008. Friend earned a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and a B.G.S. with a concentration in business from Oakland University. * * * Dykema is pleased to announce that Nicholas J. Winters has joined its Real Estate Group as an Associate in Bloomfield Hills. Winters' experience is focused on transactional real estate matters, including negotiation and documentation of agreements for the purchase and sale of commercial real estate, the acquisition and disposal of property, leasing arrangements for both commercial and retail space and development of shopping centers. Winters was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 2006. He obtained his law degree from Wayne State University Law School. Winters is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association, the Federalist Society, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), serves on the City of Rochester Hills Historic Districts Commission and, in 2008 and 2010, was listed as a "Rising Star" in "Michigan Super Lawyers." ---------------- To get an announcement listed in the next "Legal People," e-mail releases and photos to editor@legalnews.com. ---------------- Published: Mon, Apr 25, 2011