LEGAL PEOPLE

Joseph D. Gustavus, a principal in the Troy office of the law firm on Miller Canfield, will speak at the American Conference Institute's 7th annual National Exports Control Forum on International Technology Transfers and Deemed Export Compliance, Jan. 28-29 in San Francisco. Gustavus will serve as a panel member on "Monitoring Technology Transfer and Deemed Export Compliance by Foreign Affiliates, Subsidiaries, Parents and Joint Ventures." He joins the founder and principal of DL Exports International and deputy director of global trade policy of Microsoft Corporation. At Miller Canfield, Gustavus is a corporate attorney representing multinational clients and clients primarily in the automotive, defense, aerospace, software and information technology sectors. He counsels and assists clients with their complex domestic and international acquisitions and commercial transactions, ITAR and export control compliance issues, corporate governance and with building, demonstrating, and protecting the value of their intellectual property rights. He is also a certified publicaccountant. He earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School and his B.A. from Michigan State University. Additionally, Miller Canfield announces that it has been "highly recommended" once again as a leading litigation firm in Michigan, according to "Benchmark Litigation: The Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys," published by Legal Media Group. The guide recognizes Miller Canfield "Local Litigation Stars," Thomas W. Cranmer (Commercial Litigation and White-Collar Crime); Donna J. Donati (Civil Litigation); Michael W. Hartmann (Commercial Litigation); A. Michael Palizzi (Commercial Litigation); Clarence L. Pozza Jr. (Commercial Litigation and Securities); and Carl H. von Ende (Antitrust, Intellectual Property and Securities). Miller Canfield's Litigation and Trial team was also honored in a new, national litigation report as an "Awesome Opponent" among an elite group of U.S. law firms known for their litigation prowess. The BTI Litigation Outlook 2013 report from The BTI Consulting Group asked over 300 general counsel and in-house litigation heads at top-spending organizations in over 20 industries to identify the best litigation firms. In addition, the legal referral guide, Best Lawyers honored 23 Miller Canfield lawyers as "Lawyer of the Year" in their respective community and legal specialty; 10 of the 23 were in litigation areas, including: James L. Allen (Detroit) Banking & Finance Litigation; Michael P. Coakley (Detroit) Securities Litigation; Thomas W. Cranmer (Detroit) Criminal Defense: Non-White-Collar; Joseph M. Fazio (Ann Arbor) Real Estate; Michael W. Hartmann (Detroit) Legal Malpractice Law-Defendants; Kurt P. McCamman (Kalamazoo) Labor & Employment Litigation; Thomas C. O'Brien (Ann Arbor) Bet the Company Litigation; A. Michael Palizzi (Detroit) Intellectual Property Litigation; Clarence L. Pozza Jr. (Detroit) Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy) Litigation; and Clifford W. Taylor (Lansing) Appellate. * * * Karl Schettenhelm Jr. is proud to announce he has become a community partner of the Southeast Michigan program of LEAVE A LEGACY®. Through their partnership, Schettenhelmmaintains his commitment to the community by supporting and promoting the need for individuals to support their favorite charities in their wills or estate plans. Schettenhelm is a tax attorney in Michigan with a focus upon individual, charitable, business and qualified plan succession planning. His work from 1976 has led to the establishment of major charitable gifts, the creation of model foundations for scholarship, research support and support for community development, including the creation of "public charitable organizations" and to the successful structuring of businesses to maximize their value to both the owners and the community. His recent May 2012 work with his partners from Strobl & Sharp for the Taxation Section for the State Bar of Michigan led to the publication of a study that was four years in development and was published in August 2012 for the Michigan Bar Journal provided by the State Bar of Michigan to all attorneys licensed to practice law in Michigan. * * * Attorney Richard A. Walker joins 1-800-LAW-FIRM as chief marketing officer and business law attorney. Walker, who earned his undergraduate degree from Edinboro University and his MBA from Wayne State University, is a graduate of the Michigan State University College of Law. Walker has also done considerable work with the NBA and NFL. * * * Jeffrey R. Clark, a partner at the law firm of Cummings, McClorey Davis & Acho PLC (CMDA), has been selected as a 2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Land Use and Zoning by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell. Furthermore, Clark has achieved the AV Preeminent peer review rating. Clark works out of the firm's Livonia office and concentrates his practice on municipal law, land use and zoning, and personal injury defense litigation. He earned his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and an A.B. from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan (Master Lawyers Section and Public Corporation Law Section); Oakland County Bar Association; and Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association (Masters Lawyers Section). * * * Joseph A. Golden of law firm Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, Rivers, & Golden has been named the recipient of the 2013 Distinguished Service Award by the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan. Golden has lectured extensively throughout the U.S. on a variety of employment rights issues, most notably wrongful discharge, and testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Labor and Education committee on the proposed Civil Rights Bill in 1991. He is a founding member of the National Employment Lawyers Association and served this body as its president from 1991 to 1993. In addition, he has served on the governing Council of the American Bar Association's Section of Labor and Employment Law and is currently on the Executive Board of the Michigan Employment Lawyers Association, an organization Golden founded in 1992. In 1996, he was inducted as a fellow to the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Golden has been recognized by The National Law Journal as Who's Who of Employment/Labor Lawyers and honored in Best Lawyers in America continuously since 1993. He is also a member of the American and Michigan Associations of Justice. In 2012, he became chair of the Macomb County Bar Association's Masters Section and was inducted as a fellow to the State Bar of Michigan Foundation. Golden earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Wayne State University and his law degree from University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. * * * Mark St. Peter, a computer forensics expert and managing director of Southfield-based Computing Source, has earned the internationally recognized Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) certification from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (AFCE). The CFE certification is administered by the ACFE, the world's largest anti-fraud organization and premier provider of anti-fraud training and education, comprised of nearly 65,000 members. To obtain a certification, individuals must be in good standing as an associate member of the ACFE, pass the CFE exam, provide professional letters of recommendation and receive approval from the certification committee. The esteemed CFE certification indicates proven expertise in fraud prevention, detection and deterrence. CFEs are trained to identify the warning signs and red flags that indicate evidence of fraud and fraud risk. CFEs around the world help protect the global economy by uncovering fraud and related issues, while implementing processes of prevention. With more than 30 years experience, St. Peter is an associate member of the American Bar Association and also holds a Certified Computer Examiner certification. He has more than eight years experience with electronic discovery, computer forensics, Internet usage, file storage, deletion, metadata, preservation and presentation of electronic data. He also serves as managing director of Computing Source, a full-service litigation support company, providing computer forensic, e-discovery and digital imaging services. * * * Demrie L. (Wilkinson) Graham has joined Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC as a partner in the firm's real estate practice group. Jaffe CEO Bill Sider made the announcement. Graham has experience in complex commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, development, and leasing and purchase agreements. Prior to joining Jaffe, Graham practiced at Holland & Knight LLP in Orlando, Fla. A recognized attorney, Graham was a recipient of the Rising Star Award in 2010 from Florida Super Lawyers magazine. Graham graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. An alumna of Kalamazoo College, Graham earned her bachelor's degree in political science and international studies. Graham is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, and routinely participates in the organization's law conference roundtables. * * * Ten Oakland County Circuit Judges were honored as "Top Judges" by DBusiness magazine in a list that was published in the January/February issue. As part of DBusiness' 2013 Top Lawyers Peer Review Survey, more than 18,000 private lawyers in the Metro Detroit area were asked to pick three judges per county from the area's circuit courts. The selection was based on criteria including integrity, knowledge of the law, efficiency and judicial temperament. Those Oakland County judges chosen included: Judge James Alexander Judge Rae Lee Chabot Judge Colleen O'Brien Judge Daniel P. O'Brien Judge Shalina Kumar Judge Wendy Potts Judge Cheryl Matthews Judge Phyllis McMillen Judge Martha Anderson Judge Edward Sosnick (retired) * * * Gov. Rick Snyder recently announced the reappointment of Michael Watza to the Michigan Gaming Control Board. The five-member board licenses and regulates commercial casinos in Detroit, and oversees pari-mutuel horse racing and Native American casinos throughout the state. Not more than three members can be from the same political party. Watza is co-chair of the governmental and commercial litigation practice groups at Kitch, a law firm with offices in Detroit, Lansing, Marquette, Mt. Clemens, Chicago and Toledo. He serves as general counsel to PROTEC and the Mobile Technology Association of Michigan and is an adjunct faculty member at the Michigan State University College of Law. Watza earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a law degree from the Detroit College of Law. He will continue to serve as a Republican. Watza will serve a four-year term that expires Dec. 31, 2016, and the appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. * * * Southfield-based Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth, & Heller PC has been named as one of the "2013 Go To Law Firms® at the Top 500 Companies" in the area of Contracts Litigation. The honor, a result of work done by the firm's Real Property and Mortgage Dispute Resolution Group, places the firm in an elite group that delivers work for the in-house legal departments at Fortune 500 companies. Led by Martin Frenkel and David Hart, Maddin Hauser's real property litigation team has experience in litigation, arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution procedures involving a wide variety of cases. Members of the firm's real property litigation practice group have represented clients across the whole spectrum of real estate and banking matters in federal and state trial courts, appellate courts, and administrative agencies and boards. * * * Founding partner Robert Iwrey of Southfield-based The Health Law Partners, has been recognized by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell as a 2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Health Care. Founding partner Jessica Gustafson made the announcement. In order to be recognized with this honor, Iwrey first achieved an AV Preeminent rating in the rigorous Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings survey facilitated by LexisNexis. Iwrey is a practicing litigator and has specialized his practice in health care transactional law, including licensure, staff privileges, contracts, physician practice issues, and health care investigation and audit defense. Iwrey was also recognized as a DBusiness Top Lawyer in Health Care/Corporate Governance & Compliance in 2010, 2012 and 2013. An alumnus of the University of Michigan, Iwrey went on to graduate from Wayne State UniversityLaw School. * * * Clark Hill attorney Paul S. Magy has been elected president of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Metro Detroit, effective Jan. 1. Magy is resident in the firm's Birmingham office and a member of the Real Estate Practice Group. BOMA is a professional trade association whose members either own or manage commercial real estate, or provide goods and services to the industry. Magy has more than 30 years of experience in commercial real estate law. Magy has experience representing all types of commercial property owners, developers, property managers and brokers. In addition to his work with BOMA, Magy is involved in a number of real estate trade associations. He is a long time member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), serving as ICSC's Michigan state director from 2001-2004 and has held numerous other state and regional offices for ICSC. In 2012, Magy was awarded ICSC's highest honor, the Trustees Distinguished Service Award, at a special ceremony at RECon in Las Vegas. He is currently chair of the Michigan ICSC's Continuing Education Program for Real Estate Professionals and frequently presents at seminars and programs on a variety of real estate related topics. His work in the area of shopping center related law and involvement with ICSC earned him a seat on ICSC's National Legal Advisory Council beginning in 2002. Magy was recently named to become its chairman effective at the 2013 RECon. Magy earned both his law degree and B.A. from Wayne State University. * * * Detroit-based intellectual property firm Young, Basile, Hanlon, & MacFarlane PC is pleased to announce that Michael M. Jacob and Jeffrey D. Wilson have joined the firm. The two new shareholders will be members of the firm's litigation practice group. Jacob brings more than 40 years of experience handling complex commercial, insurance and intellectual property litigation. He has represented multinational corporations as well as local businesses in all areas of business litigation. Jacob has represented both majority and minority owners in shareholder oppression litigation and partnership disputes as well as former officers and directors of insolvent insurers throughout the country. Wilson's national litigation practice is concentrated on employment, commercial and intellectual property disputes. For more than 15 years, Wilson has represented management clients in all aspects of employment law and has experience as lead trial counsel in commercial and intellectual property litigation throughout the country. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Wayne State University Law School. The two lawyers join Young Basile after developing a successful litigation boutique firm located within the Troy offices of Young Basile. "For several years now, we have worked with Young Basile's lawyers as co-counsel on a variety of client matters," said Jacob. "The quality of the firm's legal and administrative team is extraordinary, and it will benefit our clients greatly." "We are very excited," Wilson added, "and we know we can help Young Basile's outstanding team continue to grow into a national-class business and IP litigation practice group, while maintaining the mid-market billing rates that our clients expect." With offices in Michigan, California and Illinois, Young Basile provides a full range of intellectual property and commercial legal services to clients in all business sectors, with a focus on technology-intensive industries including automotive, software, electronics and medical devices. * * * The law firm of Foster, Swift, Collins, & Smith PC is pleased to announce the election of attorney Alexander A. Ayar as a shareholder in the firm's Farmington Hills office. Ayar's law practice focuses on commercial litigation, involving real estate law, business, construction, environmental, employment, municipal, strategic transactions & alliances. He also practices in the general business transactional area, assisting businesses in their operation and corporate structure. In addition to his practice, Ayar is a Fellow of the Oakland County Bar Foundation, the immediate-past president of the Chaldean American Bar Association, as well as a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Oakland County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce. Ayar earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School. Published: Mon, Jan 28, 2013