Legal People

Dykema
Dykema recently announced that the firm has hired Richard Holdrup as its chief operating officer. Prior to joining Dykema, Holdrup was chief financial officer at Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Minneapolis.
Holdrup, who will work from the firm’s Detroit office, brings to this position more than 30 years of financial and administrative management experience with corporations and large law firms. While at Dorsey & Whitney, he led the firm’s financial operations, as well as its facilities management, client intake and information technology and resources functions.
Holdrup entered the legal industry in 2002 when he worked as chief financial officer for Squire, Sanders in Cleveland, and later held similar positions at Heller Ehrman and Howard Rice, both in San Francisco. While at Howard Rice he was a member of a three-person team which successfully negotiated a combination with Arnold & Porter in 2012. Prior to working in the legal industry, he held a number of senior financial positions in the consumer products industry.
“The legal industry is becoming more and more complex as client demands and needs evolve,” Holdrup said. “I look forward to working at Dykema and bringing my strategic outlook, financial skills and hands-on operational expertise to the position.”
Holdrup earned his B.A. in Finance from Baldwin-Wallace College and his MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business.

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Butzel Long
Butzel Long attorney Shanta S.W. McMullan is one of 100 attorneys named to Lawyers of Color’s Inaugural Hot List of Early-to-Mid-Career Minority Attorneys Under 40 from the Midwest Region. The honorees will be included in the Hot List Special Issue.
McMullan, based in the firm’s Detroit office, concentrates her practice in labor and employment law. She represents employers in judicial and administrative proceedings, and provides employment counseling regarding compliance with federal and state employment laws (including FMLA, FLSA, ADA and Title VII). She is admitted to practice in the State of Michigan, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit.
She recently was elected to serve a one-year term on the Board of Directors of the Wolverine Bar Association. In addition, McMullan is a member of the American Bar Association and the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association. She participated in the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association’s first Inns of Court program and the local Federal Bar Association’s (FBA) diversity committee, where she has been instrumental in the organization of an annual law day program at the federal court. She also serves as a co-chair of the FBA’s summer programs committee, where she organizes educational opportunities for law students.
In 2011, McMullan was selected to participate in Inforum’s inaugural NextUP Emerging Leaders Program, Flight 1SE, a leadership training program. Inforum is the leading professional organization focused on creating strategic connections and accelerating careers for women throughout Michigan and the Midwest.
Moreover, McMullan served for four years as a mentor and board member of Student Mentor Partners, an organization that provides mentoring and tuition assistance for underprivileged metro-Detroit high school students.
McMullan is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School (2007). She also is a graduate of the University of Michigan (B.A., 2000).
In addition, Butzel Long was recognized recently by the American Bar Association (ABA) for its membership commitment promoting the interests of U.S. lawyers at home and abroad. Butzel Long was one of 100 firms recognized nationally, and one of 23 recognized as a full firm participant.
“We have a long and strong history with the American Bar Association,” said Justin G. Klimko, president and managing shareholder, Butzel Long. “Firm attorneys are active within the ABA and several serve in key leadership roles. The ABA is a leader in setting standards within the legal profession. We are honored to be recognized by the ABA.”

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Plunkett Cooney
Plunkett Cooney partner and longtime skiing enthusiast Charles H. Gano was recently appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to the Michigan Ski Area Safety Board.
Gano is one of seven board members who will work with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to oversee the operation of ski areas, surface and chair lifts, and rope tows.
Gano, who replaces former board member James Kiefer, will serve the remainder of a term expiring June 8, 2016. Gano will represent the Central U.S. Ski Association.
In addition to Gano, Jim Bartlett, president and general manager of Nub’s Nob, and Timothy Meyer, mountain operations manager for Caberfae Peaks and Ski Resort, were also appointed by the governor. Appointments to the board were subject to the advice and consent of the Michigan Senate.
A trial attorney in northern Michigan since 1976, Gano represents health care providers, members of the resort/golf/ski industry and summer resort associations. He also handles matters involving medical malpractice and hospital liability.
Gano is a member of the Association of Ski Defense Attorneys and has been involved in ski industry-related activities for more than 30 years. He previously served as a legal advisor to the National Ski Patrol, the Midwest Ski Area Association and the National Ski Areas Association.
Gano earned his bachelor’s degree from Miami University in 1972 and his law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1976.

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National Bar Association Judicial Council
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Denise Langford Morris was recently installed as chair of the National Bar Association Judicial Council at the organization’s 42nd Annual Meeting recently held in Miami, Florida.
In her remarks as incoming chair, Langford Morris encouraged the membership to “Work to help our community leaders, religious leaders, legislative law makers and local politicians and others in our respective jurisdictions to hear us as judges as we work to improve the system we call ‘justice in America.’ Let us work diligently this year to share our best practices with one another in an effort to, hear me now, ‘raise the bar and uplift the bench.’”
In 1992 Langford Morris was appointed to the circuit court and was elected to the court in 1994. She was re-elected in 2000, 2006 and 2012 and is the first African American to serve on the Oakland County Circuit Court bench. Langford Morris is a former assistant prosecuting attorney for Oakland County and a former United States assistant district attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP
For the fifth year, Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is the only Michigan-based law firm to be named one of the 50 Best Law Firms for Women by Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC. Honigman earned this recognition from 2008 through 2012 with the exception of 2010 when no list was published. Recognition is based on law firms’ family-friendly policies and focused initiatives that help retain and advance women attorneys. Honigman will be featured in the August/September issue of the Working Mother magazine, and on workingmother.com and flextimelawyers.com.
Honigman’s family friendly practices and innovative professional development initiatives have received numerous accolades. The firm earned statewide recognition as a Top Workplace in Michigan from the Detroit Free Press in 2011 and 2012. The firm also earned accolades from the Michigan Business & Professional Association for being one of the “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” in both the Metropolitan Detroit (2010, 2011 and 2012) and West Michigan regions (2011 to 2013). In addition, Honigman is one of only two law firms named as National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR) for the second consecutive year. Honigman was named to the national “Best and Brightest” list as well. These awards are based either in whole or in part on employee and attorney interviews and survey responses.

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Bodman PLC
Bodman PLC attorney Jason R. Gourley has been appointed to the board of trustees of Nonprofit Enterprise at Work, Inc. (NEW).
Gourley is a member of Bodman’s Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group and is based in the firm’s Detroit office. He represents clients in all facets of complex business and commercial litigation with a particular emphasis on antitrust, intellectual property, business torts, and class actions. His clients include non-profit healthcare organizations, privately held companies, large banking institutions, and commercial lenders. He has experience in Michigan and federal courts. He also has alternative dispute resolution experience and completed certified mediator training at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.

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Warner, Norcross, & Judd LLP
Warner, Norcross, & Judd LLP partner Mary Jo Larson has been honored by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as one of its 2013 “Women in the Law.”
The award, which will be presented in a special ceremony in Detroit on Sept. 26, recognizes the contributions of 25 leading women attorneys across the state.
Larson concentrates her practices in employee benefits law, with a focus on 401(k)s, pension plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans and executive compensation. With more than 30 years of experience, she has been widely recognized for her expertise in employee benefits in Michigan.
She has been elected as a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. Larson has been named one of the Top 100 Michigan Lawyers and Top 50 Women Michigan Lawyers by Michigan Super Lawyers. She is ranked by Chambers USA as one of America’s Leading Lawyers and received a number one ranking in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation area. In addition, Larson has been included in Best Lawyers in America since 2001.
Larson’s work to establish a dialogue on race and diversity among business leaders in Detroit earned her and her colleagues the Emerging Leadership Award from Leadership Detroit – the first time the organization has ever recognized a group for leadership and community involvement.
She is a member of the American Bar Association and State Bar of Michigan.
Active in the community, Larson serves on the boards of Forgotten Harvest, America’s largest food rescue organization, and Quest University, Canada’s first independent, non-profit liberal arts and sciences university. She has been an active member of Inforum Michigan since 2005.

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Wachler & Associates PC
Terese Farhat and Erin Diesel Roumayah have joined Wachler & Associates PC. Wachler & Associates’ Managing Partner Andrew B. Wachler made the announcement.
Farhat joins the firm as a corporate health care attorney with more than 20 years of experience in providing legal and consulting services to various health care providers including hospitals and health systems, physicians and physician groups, long-term care facilities and behavioral health providers. Farhat was previously employed at Clark Hill PLC where she focused her practice in many areas of health care law such as hospital/physician transactions, corporate compliance, regulatory and information privacy and security. Prior to joining Clark Hill, Farhat spent a significant portion of her legal profession as in-house counsel to Beaumont Health System where she provided legal services to its three acute care hospitals, research and clinical trials review board, long term care service providers, ambulatory services and physician provider network.
Farhat has extensive expertise in the health care regulatory arena and routinely provides advice to clients on matters such as hospital/physician arrangements and skilled nursing facility provider transactions that implicate the Stark law and/or Anti-Kickback Statute. She offers clients creative solutions to assist them with compliance program development. Farhat has in-depth knowledge about the HIPAA privacy, security and breach notification regulations and she has experience leading investigations related to significant data security breaches in order to comply with federal and state laws. In addition to traditional health care legal services, Farhat is often consulted by clients to provide guidance on corporate governance and operational matters.
Farhat is a frequent presenter on a variety of health care related topics, including corporate compliance programs, transactional matters as well as health care reform and its regulatory impact on providers. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Health Care Law Section and Elder Law Section, American Health Natinsky Publishing Network, Lawyers Association, Health Care Compliance Association and Michigan Healthcare Human Resources Association.
Roumayah joins Wachler & Associates PC as a health care attorney representing providers and suppliers in the defense of RAC, Medicare, Medicaid, and third-party payor audits. She dedicates a substantial portion of her practice to the successful defense of health care entities at all stages of the administrative appeals process.
Prior to joining Wachler & Associates, Roumayah gained litigation and transactional experience as a civil litigation associate at a prominent law firm in the Metro Detroit area, representing national lending institutions in matters concerning distressed residential real estate.
Roumayah earned her law degree at Wayne State University Law School. Prior to law school, Roumayah attended the University of Michigan, and earned dual majors in Political Science and Germanic Studies.
Roumayah is admitted to the State Bar of Michigan and is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association.

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Dickinson Wright PLLC
Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that Attorney Michael R. Kramer has been elected chairman of the Board of Trustees for Oakland University for a one year term. He had previously been elected chair of the board in 2012.
Kramer was first appointed to OU’s board in August 2008 by then-Governor Jennifer Granholm. He serves as a director/vice chairman for Oakland Family Services.
 He is a past director of Resolution Trust Corporation; State of Michigan’s Export Development Corporation; Jewish Home for the Aged; Crestmark Bancorp, Inc.; Attorney Discipline Board and Past President and Director of the Franklin Hills Country Club. He was selected as one of the Best Lawyers in Michigan by his peers.
 “I’m pleased to accept the responsibility of leading the Oakland University Board for a second consecutive year,” Kramer said. “We have a tremendous mix of talent, business savvy and leadership on our board. I’m also looking forward to working with Interim President Youngblood, Provost Lentini and Oakland University faculty and staff to continue the positive momentum they’ve helped build over the past several years.”

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Collins, Einhorn, Farrell
Southfield-based Collins Einhorn Farrell announced that attorney Robert C. Tice has joined the firm to add depth and experience to the firm’s Employment Practices Liability Practice Group.
With more than 30 years of experience, Tice focuses his practice on labor and employment litigation and general civil litigation. AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, he has been recognized by Michigan Super Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America® and DBusiness “Top Lawyers.”
Tice is a regular speaker to insurance companies, self-insured employers and other groups on labor and employment law. He also counsels employers regarding employment rights and obligations.
Tice is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Labor and Employment Section; American Bar Association Litigation and Labor and Employment Sections; Oakland County Bar Association, vice-chair Employment Law Committees; designated Oakland Circuit Court employment panel mediator; and Wayne County Mediation Tribunal.
He graduated from Michigan State University and earned his law degree from the Detroit College of Law (Michigan State College of Law). Prior to joining the firm, Tice was a partner in an employment practices liability boutique firm in Oakland County.

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Ossian Law PC
Kathryn Ossian, founder and CEO of Ossian Law PC edited the newly released Practicing Law Institute (PLI) publication Social Media and the Law. The book, featuring Ossian and other legal social media experts, is available on the PLI site at http://www.pli.edu. The book is currently first on the PLI bestseller list.
Ossian specializes in all aspects of Information Technology law, and can be reached at Kathy@ossianlaw.com. Ossian Law PC is based in Ferndale.

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Professional Resolution Experts of Michigan (PREMi)
Professional Resolution Experts of Michigan (PREMi) has added attorney Sheldon Stark to its ranks in its efforts to assemble the most qualified, most proficient, and most recognized names in the ADR field.
Stark’s 40-year legal career includes program director roles with the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, a position on the faculty of University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and with Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop, and a successful private practice focusing on employment discrimination, civil rights, business disputes, and personal injury matters. He was at the forefront of the ADR movement, and has been providing ADR services since the mid-1980s.
Additionally, Stark has written and contributed to numerous handbooks, practice guides, and articles, and has presented on various topics to countless bar associations, conferences, and continuing legal education seminars in Michigan and across the country. For more than a decade, he served as a trainer in ICLE’s mediation and advanced mediation training programs, and is responsible for training over 1,000 lawyers and ADR professionals.