Wayne Law to present April 9 panel discussion about Detroit's renaissance

 Three investors will join a business law professor to discuss how economic development, entrepreneurship and the law are working together to help Detroit grow and thrive Wednesday, April 9, at Wayne State University Law School.


The panel discussion, “Detroit’s Renaissance: The Intersection Between Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and the Law,” will take place from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in the Lecture Hall (Room 2242) of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at the law school, 471 W. Palmer St. The event is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided. To register, contact Brianna Fritz at brianna.fritz@wayne.edu or (313) 577-2733. Parking will be available for $6.50 (credit and debit cards only) in Structure One across West Palmer Street from the law school.

The event is sponsored by the Dean’s Office at Wayne Law. Dean Jocelyn Benson will moderate the discussion.

Panelists will be:
• Gabe Karp, a partner at Detroit Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that backs early stage technology companies. Karp is a respected authority and frequent speaker and writer on legal issues surrounding interactive promotions, including social networking and viral marketing campaigns, mobile marketing, emerging technologies and technology startups. He previously was executive vice president and general counsel of ePrize Inc. (now HelloWorld Inc.), an interactive promotions company that represents more than 75 of the top 100 brands in the world. He led the efforts on multiple acquisitions, venture financings, credit facilities and ultimately the sale of the company to a private equity firm.

• Josh Linkner, CEO and managing partner of Detroit Venture Partners. Linkner was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young and was a President Barack Obama Champion of Change Award recipient. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Disciplined Dreaming — A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity” and has a new book, “The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation,” coming out in May. Linkner is the founder and former CEO of ePrize and founded, built and successfully sold three other technology companies. He has been on the board of directors of more than 50 organizations, including startups, a major hospital system and nonprofits.

• Gary Torgow, a 1985 Wayne Law alumnus, chairman of Talmer Bancorp Inc., chairman of Talmer West Bank and president and founder of the Sterling Group, a Michigan-based real estate and development, investment and management company. Torgow’s company was part of the partnership that developed the commercial buildings of Campus Martius in Detroit. The Sterling Group also bought the Guardian Building in downtown Detroit in 2003, renovated it and sold it to Wayne County in 2007. He has been honored many times for his civic and charitable efforts. Awards he’s received include the NAACP’s Fannie Lou Hamer “Keeping the Spirit Moving” Award, Fair Housing Leadership Award from the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit, Ohio Civil Rights Commission’s “Keeping the Dream Alive” Citation, Spirit of Detroit Award from Detroit City Council and Frank A. Wetsman Young Leadership Award from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.

• Eric Williams, assistant (clinical) professor at Wayne Law and director of the Program for Entrepreneurship and Business Law. Through his position at Wayne Law, Williams makes sure students and activities in the Program for Entrepreneurship and Business Law help aspiring business professionals in underserved communities participate in the economic revival of Detroit. The program offers early stage legal assistance to participating local startups and creates forums for entrepreneurs to receive general legal guidance, access community resources and share their own business experience.

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