Legal People

Thomas E. Coughlin, a partner with Southfield-based Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss, has been appointed to the firm's Board of Directors. Jaffe CEO Rick Zussman made the announcement. Jaffe board members serve two-year terms and are responsible for the development of the firm's policies and its strategic planning. Coughlin is a partner in the Southfield office of Jaffe Raitt. He is the practice group coordinator of the firm's Insolvency & Reorganization Practice Group, specializing in bankruptcy, commercial transactions and finance law. Coughlin earned his Bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School. * * * Fredrick J. Dindoffer, a member of Bodman PLC practicing in the firm's Detroit office, presented to the Environmental Bankers Association (EBA) at its conference, "Best Practices and Misconceptions in Environmental Banking," held on June 13 in Stowe, Vermont. Dindoffer's presentation focused on best practices for addressing lenders' environmental interests following the 2010 amendments to Part 201 of Michigan's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. The EBA is a non-profit association that represents the financial services industry, including bank and non-bank financial institutions, insurers, and those that provide services to them. Established in 1994, the EBA was formed to respond to increased sensitivity to environmental risk issues and the need to develop policies and procedures for financial institutions to address those issues. Dindoffer is chair of Bodman's Environmental Practice Group. He is an expert in environmental considerations of lending institutions, including both commercial lending and environmental matters that relate to fiduciaries. He also assists clients with Brownfield redevelopments, environmental litigation, obtaining environmental permits, counseling with respect to their responsibilities on environmental matters and performing necessary due diligence and planning for corporate acquisitions, real estate purchases and financing. Dindoffer is listed in "The Best Lawyers in America" 2011 under Environmental Law and Litigation-Environmental and in "Michigan Super Lawyers" 2007-2010. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Great Lakes Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which covers metro Detroit. Prior to becoming an attorney, Dindoffer worked for the United States Environmental Protection Agency as an engineer in its air emissions programs. * * * Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is pleased to announce that Robert M. Heinrich has joined the firm as a partner in its Trusts and Estates Department. He will be located in Honigman's Oakland County office. Heinrich will concentrate his practice on estate planning and wealth management for high net worth individuals, including the sophisticated use of insurance products to manage assets. He is also a Certified Financial PlannerTM. Prior to joining Honigman, Heinrich was a managing director at Schechter Wealth Strategies, where he advised high net worth individuals regarding sophisticated insurance and wealth management strategies. Before that, he was a business executive and a lawyer in private practice, including acting as COO and general counsel at Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and as a lawyer at two national law firms. He earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia. Additionally, the firm would like to announce that it is the only Michigan law firm to receive a first tier ranking for Corporate/M&A and Real Estate in the 2011 "Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business" (Chambers). Honigman's Litigation Department also received the first tier ranking along with two other Michigan firms. In addition, firm Partner and Real Estate Chair Lawrence D. McLaughlin was designated a "star" in the real estate law practice. A total of twenty-one Honigman attorneys were listed in all practice areas noted in Chambers. This is the eighth consecutive year that the firm's Corporate/M&A and Real Estate practices have received Chambers' highest ranking in Michigan. This is the seventh consecutive year that Honigman's Litigation practice has received Chambers' highest ranking in Michigan. Other practices ranking in the top three Chambers' tiers are Employee Benefits; Labor and Employment; and Banking and Finance. The following individuals at Honigman were named Leading Attorneys by Chambers in 2011 (the practice areas appear below as designated by Chambers: Corporate M&A: * David Foltyn. * Donald J. Kunz. * Alan S. Schwartz. Real Estate: * Richard J. Burstein. * Gregory J. DeMars. * Denise J. Lewis. * Howard N. Luckoff. * Lawrence D. McLaughlin. Litigation: * Norman C. Ankers. * Joseph Aviv. * Herschel P. Fink. * Raymond W. Henney. * Richard E. Zuckerman. Employee Benefits: * Michael J. Friedman. * Gregory G. Schermerhorn. Labor & Employment: * William D. Sargent. Banking & Finance: * Donald F. Baty Jr. * E. Todd Sable. * Robert B. Weiss. Honigman is also pleased to announce that Evan J. Leibhan, an attorney in the firm's Corporate and Securities Department, has been named to the Kadima Board of Directors. Kadima is a nonprofit, nonsectarian mental health agency that provides residential and support services for children and adults with mental illness in Oakland County. At Honigman, Leibhan focuses his practice on acquisitions, private equity, financing, securities and general corporate law. He earned his law degree from Wayne State University. He received a B.A. in General Business Administration from Michigan State University . Leibhan was named by "Michigan Super Lawyers" as a "Rising Star" in 2010. * * * Julie I. Fershtman, a shareholder with Foster, Swift, Collins, & Smith PC, was a speaker at the IBA West National Agribusiness Conference on June 13, 2011, in Denver. A member of its faculty since 2006, Fershtman also speaks at its conferences in California, Virginia, Ohio, and Iowa. These are the largest insurance education conferences for agribusiness and farm risks in the United States. Fershtman is president-elect of the State Bar of Michigan and a trustee of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. She also serves on the ABA House of Delegates and is a vice chair of a committee of the ABA Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section. With a practice that is national in scope, Fershtman has won jury trials in three states. A frequent writer and speaker, she is the author of three books, a contributor to three ABA books, and author of more than 200 published articles. She has spoken at conferences in 27 states. Fershtman focuses her law practice in the areas of commercial litigation, insurance law, and equine law. A member of the State Bar of Michigan since 1986, she graduated from Emory College in 1983 and Emory Law School in 1986. * * * Clark Hill attorney Kaveh Kashef was elected by unanimous vote to a three-year term on the Oakland County Bar Foundation Board of Trustees. Kaveh is a member in Clark Hill's Birmingham office, where he focuses his practice on automotive, construction, real property, employment and commercial litigation. Kaveh has been involved with the Oakland County Bar Association for nearly 10 years. In addition to his position on the Board of Trustees, he is the outgoing chair of the OCBA New Lawyers Committee which, under his leadership, experienced its best year ever, raising more than $11,000 for its selected charity, Forgotten Harvest. Kaveh has been repeatedly named by Law & Politics Magazine's Super Lawyers publication as a "Rising Star" in the legal field. Kaveh earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan and his law degree from Tulane University Law School. * * * Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Phillip C. Korovesis was a featured speaker on May 6 during a program presented by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) on "Non-Compete Agreements from Every Angle." The 90-minute program is now available on webcast - (free to ICLE Partners). For more information, visit: http://www.icle.org/modules/store/seminars/schedule.aspx?product_code=2011ct5307 Based in Butzel Long's Detroit office, Korovesis is a Litigation Practice Group leader and also serves as the chair of Butzel Long's Trade Secret and Non-Compete Specialty Team, which focuses on trade secret, non-compete and business tort litigation. Korovesis' practice is focused on commercial disputes, with trial, litigation and consultation expertise in non-compete/trade secret disputes, product liability defense, life insurance claims and business and financial services industry disputes. He has tried cases in state and federal courts in various parts of the country and has represented clients in state and federal appellate courts. He has arbitrated cases before the American Arbitration Association, the National Association of Securities Dealers, and the New York Stock Exchange (now The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). Korovesis is a regular presenter on trade secret and non-compete issues to lawyers and other professionals. He was recently elected president of the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel (MDTC). He is an active member of the Defense Research Institute in the commercial litigation, product liability and life insurance areas. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Korovesis is a graduate of Wayne State University (B.S., 1984; law degree, 1987). He also is a graduate of Leadership Oakland, Class XVIII, and has been recognized by "Michigan Super Lawyers" (Business Litigation). Additionally, Butzel Long attorneys Sean H. Cook and Jennifer E. Powell were featured speakers during the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) 2011 Mergers & Acquisitions Conference on June 21 in Novi. Cook was a featured speaker during an Ask the Expert panel presentation. Powell spoke during a breakout session on: "What CPAs Involved in M&A Transactions Should Know About Securities Laws and Recent Regulatory Reform." Based in Butzel Long's Bloomfield Hills office, Cook's practice includes federal and state tax planning and controversy; general corporate law which covers shareholder and owner issues, choice of entity analysis and formation and dissolution transactions; commercial law covering contract review and UCC issues; merger and acquisitions; succession planning; estate and trust planning and administration; non-profit entities, and general tax planning and consultation. Cook has helped clients buy and sell their businesses from structuring the transaction and handling the due diligence through closing and post-closing transactions. In the succession planning area, he has handled generation wealth transfers through a variety of mechanisms from traditional gifting to recapitalizations and family partnerships. In addition, Cook is a CPA with more than eight years experience with a national firm and a metro Detroit firm. Cook was recently named by DBusiness as a Metro Detroit Top Lawyer for Tax Law and Nonprofit/Charities Law. Cook has published a number of legal articles. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) (2009-2012) and is the immediate past chair of the MACPA Federal Tax Task Force. Based in Butzel Long's Bloomfield Hills office, Powell focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and private equity financing, corporate governance, securities law compliance, securities offerings, and general corporate matters. Powell has experience in representing buyers and sellers in merger and acquisition transactions involving both public and private companies. She regularly advises companies and investors in venture capital and private equity financing transactions. Powell's practice also includes other complex transactional, corporate and securities matters, such as joint ventures and cross-border transactions, SEC compliance and reporting, public offerings and corporate governance. Her corporate finance experience includes IPOs, public "shelf" offerings and private placements of securities. Powell represents companies as general corporate counsel, providing advice in all aspects of corporate governance. Powell is the co-chair of Butzel Long's Pro-Bono Committee and a member of the firm's M&A and Investment Management Groups. Powell is admitted to practice in Michigan and Massachusetts. In addition, health care attorney Adele P. Jorissen has joined Butzel Long as an associate attorney in the firm's Bloomfield Hills office. Jorissen has represented health care providers in transactional and corporate matters. She also has represented them in Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC), Medicare, and other third-party payor audit appeals. Prior to joining Butzel Long, Jorissen served internships and clerkships with the Michigan Children's Law Center, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Juvenile Division, and the Department of Homeland Security. She also was a legal advocate at a local domestic violence shelter, where she accompanied and represented domestic violence survivors in court matters. Jorissen is a graduate of Ave Maria School of Law (2007) and a graduate of the University of Dallas (B.A., 2004). * * * David H. Fink, managing partner of Bloomfield Hills-based Fink & Associates Law, recently began his role as a member of the Michigan State Officers Compensation Commission (SOCC). Fink was appointed to a four-year term by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2010 and attended the commission's first 2011 meeting in April. The commission is comprised of seven officers and determines the salaries and expense allowances of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, members of the State Legislature and the Justices of the Supreme Court. The compensation for all State of Michigan judges is tied to the salaries of the Justices of the Supreme Court. Fink is the founder of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Fink & Associates Law, where he focuses his practice on complex commercial and class action litigation in the areas of business disputes, antitrust, consumer fraud, environmental law, intergovernmental disputes, securities fraud, shareholder derivative litigation and construction contract matters. Fink was named a 2011 "Leader in the Law" by Michigan Lawyers Weekly and has been listed as a "Super Lawyer" in "Michigan Super Lawyers" magazine every year since 2007. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and serves on the Bloomfield Hills Schools Foundation Board of Directors. * * * Dykema Gossett PLLC is pleased to announce that Kyle R. Dufrane, a member resident in the firm's Detroit office, has been appointed to Michigan's Military Appeals Tribunal by Governor Rick Snyder. Dufrane was appointed along with fellow Michigan attorneys Bob Gardella and Bradley Smith. The tribunal hears cases involving Michigan military personnel who have been court-martialed and seek an appeal. Dufrane's law practice focuses on consumer finance litigation, product liability defense, toxic tort, complex commercial litigation, insurance litigation, and class actions. He is experienced in litigating consumer financial services disputes for national financial institutions and during his more than 10 years of practice, he has represented some of the nation's largest financial institutions in these matters. Dufrane also maintains an active role in several professional and legal organizations. In addition to the Military Appeals Tribunal, he was recently appointed to serve as a hearing panelist for Michigan's Attorney Discipline Board. * * * Jeff Kravitz of Jeffrey R. Kravitz PLLC will present a workshop on "Lease Restructuring" at the State Bar of Michigan's Real Property Law Section Summer Conference in Traverse City later this month. Kravitz will discuss the issues that tenants, landlords and lenders face when a tenant requests a lease modification due to the economy. Many retailers are facing serious financial difficulties due to recent economic conditions. More and more, retailers are looking to their landlords for relief. Kravitz will present strategies for successful outcomes to these situations. Kravitz is a commercial real estate attorney with experience in the field. Jeffrey R. Kravitz, PLLC is as full-service commercial real estate law practice located in Bloomfield Hills. Published: Mon, Jul 11, 2011