Dykema
Dykema has announced that Kathleen M. Burgess joined the firm as chief financial officer on Nov. 29. Burgess is a senior financial executive with nearly 20 years of experience in planning, management and leadership of diverse and global finance functions.
Her experience includes work in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, strategic and business planning, capital and facilities investment, process change and improvement, and financial systems development.
Burgess comes to Dykema from the position of senior director, product group controller – Heavy Vehicle Product Group at Dana Holding Corporation.
Earlier in her career she was vice president Finance – Chassis Systems at Arvin Meritor OE LLC. She also held a number of positions at the Ford Motor Company, including Finance Manger, Risk Analysis – Ford Credit.
A graduate of Michigan State University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Materials and Logistics Management, Burgess began her career with Unisys corporation. She then earned an MBA in Finance and Operations Management at the University of Michigan.
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Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP recently announced its rankings in the 2010 Legal 500 guide for the U.S. and Japan. The firm has a total of 17 practices recognized this year and was ranked in several new practices areas including Corporate Restructuring; Project Finance; Structured Finance; patent Licensing; Marketing and Advertising; Technology; Mergers & Acquisitions; and Tax.
Here is a listing of the firm’s ranked practices:
• Corporate Restructuring: Judy A. O’Neill.
Attorneys in this practice are recognized as “proactive and thoughtful.” O’Neill is described as being “bright, hard working, creative, and attentive to the client.”
• Project Finance: advice to lender.
Foley is recognized in the Legal 500 guide as a regular feature in wind and solar energy projects.
• Structured Finance:
Patent Licensing
Clients hold Foley’s patent licensing practice in high regard, recognizing that the firm has especially strong links to Asia and represents several Japanese clients.
• Patent Litigation: high-tech, electronics and IT.
Attorneys in this practice are recommended for providing “very client oriented service to an impressive client roster,” and clients state the firm benefits from “superb knowledge of often complex subject matter.”
• Patent Prosecution: utility and design patents.
This practice is recommended for being “fantastic on all fronts,” and clients praise the firm for its “efficient and seamless work.”
• Marketing and Advertising.
• Sports.
The Sports practice at Foley is noted as being one of the biggest sports law practices in the U.S., handling transactions, litigation, intellectual property, antitrust and financing matters for local and major league teams.
• Technology: data protection and privacy.
Technology: outsourcing.
This Foley practice is recommended for providing “expeditious and accurate service,” and clients say the firm’s technology lawyers are “the best in the business.”
• Mergers & Acquisitions: middle market: Patrick Daugherty.
The Legal 500 guide recommends this Foley practice for “impressing clients by driving and counseling them through M&A deals.”
• Construction: Central.
Clients describe Foley attorneys in this practice as “among the best.”
• Real Estate: Central.
• Real Estate: East Coast.
The Legal 500 guide recommends this Foley practice, stating that its team has a “first-rate knowledge of the local markets.”
• Real Estate: West Coast.
Attorneys in this practice are noted as having particular expertise relating to the hospitality and leisure industry.
• Domestic tax: East Coast.
Intellectual property: Japan: International firms and joint ventures
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Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
(Ogletree Deakins)
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart P.C. has been recognized among the top 30 law firms for client service in The BTI Client Service A-Team Survey 2011.
Kim Ebert, managing shareholder for Ogletree Deakins said, “We are very pleased by this recognition. Premier client service is one of the foundations of our firm, and it is extremely important to us that we meet and exceed our clients’ service expectations.”
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Beier Howlett
Attorney Peter Gojcaj has been named partner with Beier Howlett law firm in Bloomfield Hills. Gojcaj is a member of the firm’s business law practice group. The announcement was made by firm president Tim Currier.
Gojcaj specializes in commercial litigation, business litigation, labor and employment matters, business formation, shareholder/member rights, creditors’ rights and corporate law. As an attorney with Beier Howlett since 2007, he has been instrumental in launching social media and marketing campaigns for the firm. Find the firm on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/BeierHowlett. He is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association and the business law and litigation sections of the State Bar of Michigan.
As an active member of the community, Gojcaj is a founding member of the newly formed Albanian American Chamber of Commerce; a member of the St. Thomas Moore law society; and holds various positions with the Knights of Columbus, Ate Gjergj Fishta Chapter.
Gojcaj earned his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy in 2005, and his bachelor of science from Wayne State University in 1996.
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Plunkett Cooney
Plunkett Cooney continued the expansion of its Banking, Bankruptcy & Creditor’s Rights Practice Group with the recent additions of attorney Natalie N. Bloyer.
An associate attorney in Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office, Bloyer focuses her practice on loan workouts, loan originations and real estate matters. She represents regional and national financial institutions, including special servicers and lenders, as well as corporate clients in a variety of financing, real estate and commercial transactions.
In addition to expertise in employment law, Bloyer has experience in the area of corporate law, assisting clients with negotiating and drafting private offering documents, management contracts, leases, purchase agreements and loan modifications for commercial loans and mortgages.
Admitted to practice in the state and federal courts in Michigan, Bloyer is a member of the Oakland County, Armenian-American, Federal and American bar associations.
Bloyer earned her law degree in 2004 from University of Loyola Chicago School of Law. While there, she worked as a judicial extern for U.S. District Court Judge Morton Denlow, Northern District of Illinois. Bloyer graduated in 2000 from University of Notre Dame.
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Wachler & Associates PC
Andrew B. Wachler of Wachler & Associates PC, along with Melanie Combs-Dyer, Health Insurance specialist with the Provider Compliance Group, Office of Financial Management at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, spoke about CMS’ recent Improper Payment Initiatives at the 8th Annual ABA Washington Healthcare Summit.
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. In addition, 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.
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Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School congratulates Diane H. Fears, director of Career Services, on her appointment to the Board of Directors for the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Project (MiUI). Fears, who serves as the office’s principal public interest and government adviser as well as the Law School’s Student Voluntary Pro Bono Program coordinator, accepted the invitation to join the board on Dec. 5 and attended her first MiUI meeting Dec. 10.
“I’m honored and excited to join an enthusiastic group of law students and legal professionals advocating for jobless workers in Michigan,” Fears said. “The need is great given that Michigan is struggling with the second highest unemployment rate in the nation. I’m gratified that, once again, Wayne Law is reaching out to the community.”
According to Krystal Gardner, assistant dean of Career Services, Fears’ board membership will benefit Wayne Law students participating in MiUI and the Wayne Law Student Voluntary Pro Bono Program. In addition, the Career Services Office will enjoy new and enhanced relationships with public interest and public sector employers.
Fears, a lifelong Detroit resident, attended Cass Technical High School and earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Detroit, now known as University of Detroit Mercy. A 1989 Wayne Law graduate, she practiced labor and employment law for 12 years with a major Michigan law firm. Fears is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the ABA, the Wolverine Bar Association, the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association and Delta Sigma Theta, a national public service sorority.
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Butzel Long
Phillip C. Korovesis will be a featured speaker during the Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) Definitive Non-Compete Agreement seminar on Jan. 28, in Detroit. Korovesis will co-present the program with Thomas G. McNeill of Dickinson Wright PLLC.
Based in Butzel Long’s Detroit office, Korovesis serves as a practice group leader for the firm’s Litigation practice. His practice is focused on commercial disputes, with trial, litigation and consultation expertise in the following areas: non-compete/trade secret, product liability defense, life insurance claims, business disputes and securities related disputes.
Korovesis has tried cases in state and federal courts, and has represented clients in state and federal appellate courts. He also 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 the chair of the firm’s Non-Compete and Trade Secret Practice Group which focuses on trade secret, non-compete and business tort litigation. Korovesis has presented numerous programs on trade secret and noncompete issues to industry representatives and other lawyers. He is an active member of the Defense Research Institute in the commercial litigation, product liability, and life insurance areas. He also is vice-president of the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel. 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 is also a graduate of Leadership Oakland, Class XVII and is recognized by “Michigan Super Lawyers” (Business Litigation).
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State Bar of Michigan
Bloomfield Hills.-based The Roeper School, a co-educational day school for gifted children, recently announced that school attorney and director of financial aid and scholarships, Susan Learman, was named a committee member of the State Bar of Michigan. Head of School Randall Dunn made the announcement.
Serving on the Law-Related Education and Public Outreach Committee of the State Bar of Michigan, Learman will help develop proactive ways to educate the public on their rights as citizens. Learman will also be part of a sub-committee on building lawyer-educator relationships that finds resources for teachers and makes recommendations concerning programs advancing public understanding of law and the legal profession with particular interest in community programs.
“I wanted to give back to my community and this was the perfect opportunity,” said Learman. “This works well with both of my passions in that I’m working and speaking on behalf of teachers to lawyers and working on behalf of attorneys with teachers.”
Learman earned her A.B. from University of Michigan and her law degree from Wayne State University. She has worked for nearly 20 years in educational organizations, and has aided in fundraising and revenue generation for educational nonprofits, managed school legal issues and supported school capital campaigns.
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Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP
Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is pleased to announce that Kenneth R. Marcus, a partner in the firm’s Health Care Department, recently moderated a webinar panel entitled “Graduate Medical Education Payment Implications of the Healthcare Reform Law Part II: CMS Issues Final Regulations.” The webinar was sponsored nationally by the American Health Lawyers Association and drew an audience from law firms and teaching hospitals located throughout the country.
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 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.
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Strobl & Sharp P.C.
Strobl & Sharp P.C. recently announced that Paul V. McCord has joined the firm as a shareholder in the firm’s Taxation practice area.
McCord represents clients in federal, state, and local tax matters, concentrating his practice in multi-state tax issues, state and local tax investment incentives, planning, and the resolution of tax controversies including real and personal property tax appeals. He advises businesses in various industries on the tax ramifications and benefits of various organizational structures’ tax return positions and tax incentive opportunities.
McCord earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Marquette University in 1988. After his undergraduate education, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, including service in the 1991 Gulf War. He then earned his law degrees from the University of Illinois College of Law in May 1995 and from Georgetown University in 1997. He is an adjunct professor in the graduate tax program at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
McCord is frequent speaker and author on federal and state tax matters, and has authored numerous articles on a variety of tax topics appearing in “Wayne Law Review,” “Michigan Tax Lawyer,” “Michigan Business Law Journal,” “Michigan Real Property Review,” and the “Illinois Bar Journal.”
