Attorney Julie Isola has been named research director for the Michigan Court of Appeals. Chief Judge William B. Murphy announced the appointment.
Isola joined the Court of Appeals in 1992. She then served as law clerk to Judge Myron H. Wahls. From 1995 to 1999, Isola served as supervisor of the Southfield Research Division, directing the work of staff research attorneys. In 1999, she was named district commissioner in the Detroit Office of the Research Division.
Prior to her tenure with the Michigan Court of Appeals, Isola was with Barris, Sott, Denn, & Driker as a litigation attorney.
Isola graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in Business Administration. She earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.
• • •
Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is pleased to announce that Stanley H. Pitts, a partner in the firm’s Labor and Employment Department, has been reappointed to the State Bar of Michigan Professional Ethics Committee for a term that continues through September 2015. Pitts joined the committee in 2009 and previously served as its chair.
The committee prepares written opinions on professional ethical conduct at the request of the State Bar president, Board of Commissioners, Representative Assembly, Attorney Discipline Board, Attorney Grievance Commission, executive director or individual members of the State Bar inquiring about their own contemplated conduct. It also recommends amendments to the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct and other standards of professional conduct, and reviews proposed amendments.
Pitts is a litigation attorney who concentrates his practice on the defense of employers facing labor and employment challenges. He defends individual and class action lawsuits at the state and federal level and he provides assistance during administrative agency investigations.
Pitts has more than 30 years of litigation experience on behalf of public and private employers, having served as lead counsel in numerous high-stakes employment discrimination trials and complex litigation matters. He represents individual owners and corporations in a wide range of employment discrimination matters that encompass issues such as race, national origin, religion, disability and reasonable accommodation, sexual harassment, genetic information, gender, equal pay, pregnancy and age, as well as premises liability, whistleblower, disability accessibility and noncompete enforcement matters.
In addition to his position on the Professional Ethics Committee, Pitts serves the State Bar as a member of a hearing panel for the Attorney Disciplinary Board and as a member of the Labor and Employment section.
Pitts earned his law degree from the Wayne State University Law School and his B.S. in accounting from Wayne State University.
Honigman is also pleased to announce that Brian D. Wassom, a partner in its Intellectual Property (IP) Department and Leader of the firm’s Social, Mobile and Emerging Media Industry Group, has written an e-book for the Kindle platform titled “Social Media and School Discipline.” The e-book is a brief but comprehensive survey of the case law involving the discipline of students and faculty in public and private Kindergarten through 12th grade schools and universities over social media content.
Wassom focuses his practice on intellectual property and First Amendment-related litigation. He has experience in the areas of copyright, trademark, publicity rights, entertainment and other related litigation. Wassom also assists clients with issues regarding social media and other emerging forms of digital communication, and advises on application of advertising regulations and IP laws to social media. In addition, he assists media companies in exercising freedom of the press, obtaining access to information and defending claims of defamation, invasion of privacy and eavesdropping.
He also authors a blog (Wassom.com) analyzing the law governing social media, as well as the online treatises “Wassom on Social Media Law” and “Augmented Legality.” The latter examines the law governing “augmented reality” technologies.
Wassom chairs the Hot Topics Subcommittee of the ABA Intellectual Property Section’s Copyright Litigation Committee. In this position, he is responsible for managing a group of lawyers who track copyright litigation developments in federal courts across the country. In addition, he serves as a trademark and copyright review editor and is a member of the editorial board for Landslide, which is published by the ABA Intellectual Property Section.
He earned his law degree at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He also earned a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from Wayne State University.
• • •
McKeen & Associates PC announced Managing Partner and Founder Brian J. McKeen presented at the Michigan Association of Justice (MAJ) Voir Dire Seminar on Oct. 18 at The Westin in Southfield.
McKeen’s presentation focused on “The Importance of Attorney-Conducted Voir Dire, Motions in Limine and Preserving the Record.”
McKeen has been practicing law since 1982. In the past year, and throughout the course of his 30-year career, he has resolved numerous birth trauma cases. He also has been an advocate for his clients and become one of the foremost medical malpractice attorneys in the Midwest.
McKeen currently sits on the executive boards of the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ) and the American Association for Justice (AAJ). He formerly served as chair of the AAJ Professional Negligence Section, Medical Negligence Exchange Group and Birth Trauma Litigation Group (BTLG). McKeen is a member of The Inner Circle of Advocates, and organization of the top 100 plaintiff attorneys in the country. In 2012, he was named among the Top Attorneys in Michigan as published by The New York Times.
McKeen earned his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley School of Law in Lansing. He also earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Central Michigan.
• • •
The law firm of Couzens Lansky is pleased to announce that 10 attorneys from the Farmington Hills office have been named as Michigan Super Lawyers for 2013 and one attorney has been named on the Rising Star list for 2013.
The following attorneys from Couzens Lansky have been recognized in 2013:
Jack S. Couzens, II—Estate Planning and Probate.
Jerry M. Ellis*—Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights.
Donald M. Lansky*—Mergers and Acquisitions.
Kathryn Gilson Sussman**—Estate Planning and Probate.
Donald A. Wagner*—Banking.
Gregg A. Nathanson*—Real Estate.
David A. Lawrence*—Employment and Labor.
Ronn S. Nadis*—Real Estate.
Phillip J. Neuman*—Business Litigation.
Robert A. Berlow*—Real Estate.
Hayley E. Rohn**, an associate of the firm, has been named by Super Lawyers Magazine as a 2013 Michigan Rising Star for her work in Estate Planning and Probate.
* These attorneys have also been recognized in Super Lawyers Business Edition for their achievement in their area of business practice.
** These attorneys have also been recognized in Super Lawyers Women’s Edition, a separate national publication, for their achievement in their area of business practice.
• • •
Justin Schmidt has joined Southfield-based Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC as an associate in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Jaffe CEO Bill Sider made the announcement.
Schmidt focuses his practice on aviation liability claims, and thus far in his career has represented stakeholders in high-profile aviation disaster cases, including the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, American Airlines Flight 587 and Colgan Air Flight 3407.
Prior to beginning his legal career, Schmidt served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he was stationed at locations around the world, including Okinawa, Japan and Camp Pendleton, Calif. Schmidt also served our country during a seven-month combat tour in Fallujah, Iraq.
Schmidt is a graduate of the University of Michigan and he earned his law degree in 2008 from Rutgers University School of Law.
• • •
On Wednesday, Nov. 6, retired Judge Harold Hood will receive the ninth annual Dennis W. Archer Award for Public Service, presented by the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association Foundation .
The award will be presented during a gala reception at the newly-renovated Cobo Center in downtown Detroit.
“I am honored and overwhelmed to receive this award,” Hood said in response to the announcement. “To be honored for doing what I have loved doing for these many years is both gratifying and humbling.”
A lifelong Michigander, Hood has spent his adult life serving the community as a soldier, attorney, public servant, educator, and as chief judge pro tem of the Michigan Court of Appeals.
After serving in the Korean War, Hood graduated from Wayne State University and its law school. His first role as a public servant was as assistant corporation counsel for the City of Detroit, a position be began in 1961. Eight years later he was appointed to serve as chief assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, the first person of color to occupy that position.
In 1973, Hood was appointed to his first judicial position on the Common Pleas Court for the City of Detroit. His years of service on the bench include tenures with Detroit’s Recorders Court, the 3rd Judicial Circuit Court of Wayne County, and ultimately the Michigan Court of Appeals, to which he was first appointed by then Governor William Milliken in 1982.
In addition to his professional success, Hood has been a long-time, dedicated volunteer and educator in both the legal and wider communities. His professional activities include the American Bar Association, the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, the American Judicature Society, the Michigan Judges Association, and the Association of Black Judges of Michigan, of which he was the founding chairperson.
In his personal life, Hood served for several years as a board member and as chair of the Ecumenical Theological Seminary. He is also a member and past president of the Old Newsboys Goodfellows Fund of Detroit. In addition to these activities, Hood serves in the graduate division of Central Michigan University and has also been a faculty member at the Michigan Judicial Institute, the National Judicial College, and an adjunct professor at Cooley Law School in Lansing and Auburn Hills.
In addition to this year’s Archer Award, in 2003, the Association of Black Judges in Michigan established the Judge Harold Hood Award for judges who have rendered outstanding service to the legal community. Most recently, in 2011 Hood received the Founders’ Award from the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness.
• • •
At its recent annual meeting in September, the State Bar of Michigan’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section bestowed upon William L. Weber Jr. of Professional Resolution Experts of Michigan (PREMi) its Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his dedication to the ADR field.
At that same event, PREMi’s Antoinette R. Raheem was elected ADR Section chair for 2013-14, and PREMi’s Martin C. Weisman was named chair-elect, putting him in line to succeed her for the 2014-15 term. All three are veteran mediators, arbitrators, and facilitators, and Weber and Weisman have appeared before the Michigan Legislature to promote more widespread support and adoption of ADR laws.
“I am honored to lead the ADR Section and to be one of several PREMi professionals in key positions,” said Raheem of Bloomfield Hills. Along with Raheem and Weisman, five other PREMi attorneys in leadership roles within the ADR Section, and another six PREMi professionals have served as ADR Section Executive Committee or Council members.
“PREMi’s mission has always been to assemble the most qualified, most proficient, and most recognized names in the ADR field,” explains Weber, the organization’s executive director. “Our continuing presence among the ADR section leadership is a testament to the success of that mission.”
• • •
Andrew B. Wachler of Wachler & Associates PC presented “Recent Developments Affecting Up Front Compliance and Legal Strategies for Physician-Owned Hospitals” to Physician Hospitals of America members at the PHA’s 13th Annual Conference in New Orleans. Physician Hospitals of America offers support, advocacy and educational services to the physician owned hospital industry.
Wachler’s presentation kicked off the event and featured a comprehensive overview of the Medicare audit appeals process, legal strategies for today’s aggressive audit environment, and smart compliance policies for physician-owned hospitals. Wachler also updated members on CMS’s new Two-Midnight Final Rule, which became effective October 1.
In addition, Wachler spoke on Medicare, RAC and security audits in Las Vegas before an audience from the Healthcare Billing and Management Association. The Healthcare Billing and Management Association is a national organization based in Laguna Beach, California.
Wachler’s presentation focused on educating providers about the importance of implementing compliance programs, as well as defense mechanisms and appeals strategies providers may employ when faced with an audit. Wachler gave an overview of the Medicare audit appeals process, HIPAA Technology Security Audits, and recent risk areas that are important to medical billers subject to audits.
Wachler also joined U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI), and noted physicians Steven Grant, MD and Thomas Simmer, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer of Blue Shield of Michigan in presenting a primer on the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare.”
Moderated by Marianne Udow-Phillips, the session, titled “Affordable Care Act 101: Everything You Need to Know Before October 1st,” featured a panel discussion at Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield.
The event was made possible by the Professional Advisory Committee of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund, the Maimonides Society and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
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.
• • •
Miller Canfield principal Steven D. Mann, will participate in a panel discussion as a panelist on “Financial Challenges to Local Governments,” at the American Bar Association (ABA) State and Local Government Law Section’s fall meeting October 24-27 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The session will explore creative and resourceful approaches to addressing stresses on financing local government functions.
Mann resides in Miller Canfield’s Detroit office. He specializes in the area of municipal finance, representing public agencies as bond counsel. His practice covers all facets of tax increment financing, special assessments, and economic development. He has also authored several amicus curiae briefs in both the Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court arguing on behalf public bodies and municipal associations in cases involving complex issues related to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act.
Mann received his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and his B.B.A. from Cleary College.
• • •
Building upon the firm’s expertise and diversity, Brooks Kushman PC has hired Kristin L. Murphy, Linda D. Mettes, Rachel A. Smith and Dorne J. McKinnon-Rybicki, adding more than 60 years of combined legal experience at the firm’s Southfield office. The announcement was made by Brooks Kushman President Mark Cantor.
Murphy’s practice at Brooks Kushman will focus on domestic and foreign patent prosecution. She will join Brooks Kushman’s medical device team to further expand the practice area.
Prior to joining Brooks Kushman, Murphy was a managing partner at Rader, Fishman, & Grauer in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. In addition to prosecution experience, she also has experience in the trademark, unfair competition and patent litigation arenas. Over the last 16 years, Murphy has worked closely with medical device manufacturers to protect their innovations and develop strategic global portfolios for small startup medical device companies, as well as large Fortune 500 entities. She has experience with biopsy, ophthalmic and neurosurgical devices, robotic catheters for minimally invasive surgical procedures, spinal implants and tools for spinal surgery, and medical dressings. Prior to joining the legal field, Murphy was a project engineer for a manufacturing company.
She earned law degrees from the University of New Hampshire (formally the Franklin Pierce Law Center) in Concord, N.H. and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Western New England University in Springfield, Mass.
Specializing in IP litigation, Mettes brings nearly 20 years of litigation experience in a variety of technologies in the mechanical, electrical and life science industries. In the medical device and life science arena, Mettes has experience with neurosurgical devices, stents, ophthalmic surgical equipment, implants, medical imaging contrast agents, robotic catheters, vaccines, stimulants, analgesics, hormone replacement and birth control pills.
Before joining Brooks Kushman, Mettes was also a partner at Rader, Fishman, & Grauer for several years and at Kenyon & Kenyon in New York for nearly a decade, where she practiced all facets of IP litigation. She earned a law degree from the Northwestern University School of Law in Evanston, Ill. and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois in Champaign, prior to working as a mechanical engineer.
Specializing in preparing and prosecuting patent applications, Smith will add depth to Brooks Kushman’s nationally recognized patent practice. Smith also previously practiced Rader, Fishman, & Grauer prior to joining Brooks Kushman. Her experience goes beyond the patent prosecution arena and includes patent litigation, patent licensing and negotiations thereof, as well as freedom to operate and opinion work. Smith’s practice is primarily focused in the automotive, electronics and medical device industries. Smith has prosecuted numerous domestic and foreign patent applications relating to medical devices. She has also performed due diligence and provided strategy and counseling to several medical supply companies. Smith earned her law degree from Wayne State University in Detroit and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Ohio Northern University in Ada.
With more than 20 years of combined in-house and outside counsel experience, McKinnon-Rybicki will focus her trademark practice on foreign and domestic clearance, prosecution, opposition and cancellation proceedings, and enforcement.
Prior to joining Brooks Kushman, she served as a trademark attorney for Harley-Davidson, where she oversaw all aspects of trademark registration and brand protection in the Latin America region and acted as primary legal counsel to the licensing department. McKinnon-Rybicki earned a law degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from Michigan State University in East Lansing.
• • •
Farmington Hills-based Trott & Trott PC recently announced the addition of Laurel Hurite as the firm’s human resource manager. Trott Managing Partner Jeffrey Raff made the announcement. As the human resource manager, Hurite is responsible for overseeing the firm’s human resource department and objectives, including negotiating and administering all firm benefits, cultivating and sustaining a strong company culture, and overseeing employee communications and compliance regulations.
Prior to joining Trott, Hurite worked in the mortgage industry as a human resource business partner, helping to recruit and oversee the new hire process and on boarding, as well as managed employee relations, data analysis and training. She also previously served as human resource manager for Milford-based Amera Mortgage Corporation, and as an account service representation for Eastpointe-based Health Management Systems of America.
Hurite graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, and earned a senior professional human resource certification from Eastern Michigan University’s extended HR Certification Institute program. Actively involved in the human resource industry, Hurite is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management, Human Resources Association of Greater Detroit and Employee Assistance Program Association.
