Chambers USA 2014 has just released its newest rankings, and has recognized two attorneys at Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy, & Sadler with its two highest rankings.
Edward Dawda received a Band 1 ranking in the practice of real estate, and was recognized for his work within retail, industrial and commercial development.
Theresa C. Joswick received a Band 2 ranking in the practice area of employee benefits and executive compensation.
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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder recently announced appointments to the newly created Indigent Defense Commission.
The commission was created as a result of efforts to improve legal representation for low-income criminal defendants. In October 2011, Snyder issued Executive Order 2011-12, establishing the initial Indigent Defense Advisory Commission, responsible for recommending improvements to the state’s legal system. These recommendations served as the basis for legislation to address this need as well as called for the 15-member Indigent Defense Commission that the governor signed into law in July 2013.
The 15-member board collects and compiles data necessary for the review of indigent defense services in Michigan, creates standards to ensure all systems providing indigent defense meet constitutional obligations for effective assistance of counsel, and develops requirements by which a person may establish a claim of indigence so those truly in need of a public defender will have one.
After the initial terms, members will serve four-year terms. Their appointments are not subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
Local appointees include:
Initial one-year terms expiring April 1, 2015
Kevin Oeffner is the court administrator for the Oakland County Circuit Court, where he previously served as deputy court administrator. He also served as the chief of program evaluation for the Oakland County Board of Commissioners and as program evaluation analyst for the Ingham County Controller’s Office. Oeffner earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s in public administration and a master’s in business administration with a concentration in finance, all from Michigan State University. He will represent members submitted by the chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.
Initial two-year terms expiring April 1, 2016
Frank Eaman is the owner of Frank D. Eaman PLLC. He previously worked with Bellanca, Beattie, & DeLisle PC; Eaman & Ravitz PC; and Gage, Burgess, Knowx, Burgess, & Eaman. He has been named a Michigan “Super Lawyer” since 2008 and is an ex-officio member of the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan board. Eaman earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago and a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. He will represent members submitted by the Criminal Defense Attorney Association of Michigan.
Brandy Robinson is a research and writing specialist with the Legal Aid & Defender Federal Defender Office. She previously served as an assistant defender with the State Appellate Defender Office, was a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Julian Abele Cook Jr., and was an associate in the public law group at Miller, Canfield, Paddock, and Stone. Robinson earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and African-American studies and a law degree, both from the University of Michigan. She will represent those whose primary mission or purpose is to advocate for minority interests.
William Swor is an attorney with William W. Swor and has practiced federal criminal and immigration law for more than 40 years. He is on the board of directors of the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan as well as the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services. Swor is a member of the Practitioners Advisory Group to the United States Sentencing Commission. Swor earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Oakland University and a law degree from Wayne State University Law School. He will represent members submitted by the Criminal Defense Attorney Association of Michigan.
Initial four-year terms expiring April 1, 2018
Nancy Diehl retired from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in 2009, where she served as trial division chief. She founded and directed the Child Abuse Unit and the Child and Family Abuse Bureau. Diehl received Western Michigan University’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009, Wayne County Council Against Family Violence Spirit Award in 2009, and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Jean King Leadership Award in 2006. Diehl earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and general business from Western Michigan University and a law degree from Wayne State University. She will represent members submitted by the State Bar of Michigan.
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Clinton Mikel, a partner at the national health care law firm The Health Law Partners PC, presented at the 2014 ABA Physicians Legal Issues Conference on HIPAA enforcement and guidelines with respect to the latest technology and security advancements. Founding Shareholder Adrienne Dresevic, who was a vice chair for the Conference’s planning committee, made the announcement.
The presentation, titled “A View From the Cloud: Cutting-Edge Insight on the HIPAA Omnibus Rule, Cloud Privacy & Security, and HIPAA Enforcement,”” provided guidance to health care providers on the variety of complex issues associated with the recent HIPAA Omnibus Rule, as well as the heightened scrutiny and enforcement related to the same. The HIPAA Omnibus Rule was the first major update to HIPAA in years. Mikel was joined by Jerome B. Meites, general counsel for HHS’s Office for Civil Rights, and Hemant Pathak, assistant general counsel for Microsoft, for the presentation.
Held in Chicago, The Physicians Legal Issues Conference gave participants a medical-legal overview of changes in the healthcare delivery system, their impact on the practice of medicine and various strategies to meet the new challenges.
Mikel serves as chair of the ABA eHealth, Privacy and Security Interest Group, and vice chair of the ABA’s Publications Committee. He practices in all areas of health care law, garnering critical attention in state and federal health information privacy compliance and telehealth/telemedicine matters. A frequent speaker and author in these areas of law, Mikel routinely holds educational sessions for clients interested in telemedicine and the legalities surrounding this new and growing area of health care.
Mikel received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, and completed his undergraduate degree at Cornell University.
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Wayne State University Law School Assistant Professor Sarah Abramowicz’s article, “Adoption and the Limits of Contract in Victorian Adoption Case Law and George Eliot’s ‘Silas Marner,’” was selected for the 2014 Harvard/Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum.
The forum took place Friday, June 27, and Saturday, June 28, at Stanford Law School in California. Sponsored by the Yale, Harvard and Stanford law schools since 2001, the forum showcases papers selected on a blind basis by a jury of accomplished scholars.
Abramowicz’s article was one of two selected for presentation at the session on Law and the Humanities. The article examines George Eliot’s 1861 novel of adoption, “Silas Marner,” in the context of English adoption case law.
Abramowicz teaches Family Law, Contracts, and Law and Literature at Wayne Law, where she’s been a faculty member since 2007. She earned a doctorate in English literature from Columbia University and a law degree from Columbia Law School.
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Katharine (Kate) McCarthy has joined the firm of Giarmarco, Mullins, & Horton PC as an associate in the firm’s Municipal Litigation Group. McCarthy worked as a summer associate for the firm in the summer of 2012.
After graduating from law school, McCarthy gained civil and criminal experience working as a research attorney at the Michigan Court of Appeals.
McCarthy received her B.A. from The College of Wooster and received her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.
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Tom Pastore has been named general counsel of Guardian Industries Corp., responsible for all worldwide legal matters of the privately held, multinational company
headquartered in Auburn Hills. He was also named secretary of the corporation.
Pastore was most recently general counsel of Guardian’s Worldwide Flat Glass division.
Pastore joined Guardian’s legal department in 1996 and has held a number of positions including serving as assistant general counsel, associate general counsel, and assistant secretary before being appointed general counsel of Worldwide Flat Glass in 2011. He has been responsible for litigation, employment matters, international trade and many other issues, and has supervised attorneys in Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.
He began practicing law in the Washington, D.C. office of Dykema Gossett in 1988 and moved to the firm’s Detroit office in 1989 where he practiced primarily commercial litigation, with a focus on antitrust and trade regulation.
He received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.
Pastore succeeds David Jaffe, who retired as general counsel June 1.
Pastore and his wife are active in several Metropolitan Detroit community organizations including Gleaners Community Food Bank, Eton Academy, and Cranbrook Educational Community.
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Barris, Sott, Denn, & Driker PLLC (BSD&D) is pleased to announce that Eugene Driker has been awarded the Julian Abele Cook Jr.–Bernard A. Friedman FBA Civility Award for 2014 by the Federal Bar Association’s Eastern District of Michigan Chapter.
The annual award recognizes a civil practitioner who is an outstanding example of professional excellence and civility. The award is named for former Chief Judge Julian Abele Cook Jr., and former Chief Judge Bernard A. Friedman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Driker is a founding member of BSD&D and a lifelong resident of the City of Detroit. He specializes in complex business and antitrust litigation and in corporate and business counseling.
Driker was appointed as a special mediator in the City of Detroit bankruptcy by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Gerald E. Rosen, Eastern District of Michigan. He is also a member of the Wayne State University Board of Governors.
Driker received a Bachelor of Science degree from Wayne State University, graduated first in his class from Wayne State University Law School, and received a Master of Laws degree from The George Washington University Law School.
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Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is pleased to announce that Elizabeth C. Lamoste, an attorney in the firm’s Litigation Department, has been appointed to the Board of Visitors for Wayne State University Press, which publishes scholarly and general-interest works. The board advises the Press and focuses on fundraising, community outreach, institutional collaboration and volunteer development.
Lamoste focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation. She earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. from Columbia University.
In addition, Honigman is pleased to announce that Stanley H. Pitts, a partner in the firm’s Labor and Employment Department, has been recognized as a Man of Excellence for 2014 by the Michigan Chronicle. The award is designed to celebrate African American men in Southeast Michigan who inspire others through their vision and leadership, exceptional achievement and participation in community service.
Pitts focuses 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 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 is a member and previous chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Professional Ethics Committee and a member of its Attorney Discipline Board Hearing Panel. Pitts is also a member of the Wolverine Bar Association and the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association. In addition, he is a case evaluator for the Wayne County Mediation Tribunal Labor Panel. He is also active in the community and has been a member of the board of directors for the Black United Fund of Michigan, Inc. since 2009.
Pitts earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School and a B.S. from Wayne State.
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Gov. Rick Snyder recently announced the appointment of David Marmon and the reappointment of Stephen Lasher to the Michigan Tax Tribunal.
The seven-member tribunal is an administrative court that hears appeals on several categories of Michigan taxes, including local property tax issues as well as appeals on business and individual tax disputes.
Marmon is an attorney at Hoffert & Associates PC. He previously served as an adjunct professor at Wayne State University, had his own private practice, and was the deputy treasurer for the city of Warren. Marmon is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Oakland County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He received the Deloitte & Touche Award for the best paper in the area of taxation.
Marmon earned his bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Michigan, and a law degree from Wayne State University Law?School. Marmon represents attorneys and fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Paul McCord. He will serve the remainder of a four-year term expiring June 30, 2015.
Lasher is chair of the Michigan Tax Tribunal. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, and the Michigan Assessors Association. Lasher earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Wayne State University and a law degree from Detroit College of Law. He will continue to serve as chair, represent members at large, and serve a four-year term expiring June 30, 2018.
Appointments to the Michigan Tax Tribunal are subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
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When Scott Goodwin started his legal career in 1986, he had a simple goal – “to be a positive force for change and stand up for victim’s rights.”
Now, 27 years later, Goodwin leads the state’s largest group of plaintiff attorneys – the Michigan Association for Justice – in a similar mission. On July 1, Goodwin officially begins his one-year term as president of the MAJ. As he assumes office, Goodwin affirms the group’s aim, “We’re dedicated to procuring civil justice for plaintiffs and preserving citizen’s rights.”
Formerly known as the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association, the Lansing-based MAJ is an organization Goodwin proudly says “fights for equal access to the court system for all people, regardless of income or circumstance.”
Heading up the MAJ seems like a natural outcome for Goodwin who founded the Goodwin & Scieszka Law Center with Jim Scieszka “to give the little guy a fighting chance against big insurance companies and to hold drunk and negligent drivers accountable.”
The firm has held a free legal aid clinic every spring for 27 years. The carnival-like event helps hundreds of families, with two dozen top attorneys working pro bono for clients. With an emphasis on child safety, Goodwin & Scieszka’s annual “Law Day” outreach has donated and fitted 10,000 free bike safety helmets.
Lawyer’s Weekly named Goodwin as “Lawyer of the Year,” and “Best Lawyers in America” includes his firm in their most recent list. Other honors include “Michigan Super Lawyer” (2006-2013). He is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Advocates, and ranked in the Michigan Super Lawyers Top 100 list.
Goodwin graduated from Michigan State University in 1983 and Michigan State University College of Law (formerly Detroit College of Law) in 1986.
• • •
Lance A. Gable and Noah D. Hall have been named associate deans at Wayne State University Law School.
Gable, who has served as interim associate dean since June 2013, will serve as associate dean for academic affairs. Hall, a member of the law faculty since 2005, will serve as associate dean for student affairs. The positions are effective Monday, June 30.
Gable will work with faculty and staff to oversee the law school’s academic programs. Hall will work in collaboration with the law school’s Career Services office and Admissions and Student Affairs office on mentoring, job placement, networking, recruitment and scholarship initiatives.
Gable is an associate professor and internationally known expert on public health law and bioethics who has published numerous journal articles and served as co-editor and co-author of books. His research addresses the overlap among law, policy, ethics, health and science.
Prior to joining the Wayne Law faculty in 2006, Gable served as a senior fellow at the Centers for Law and the Public’s Health: A Collaborative at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities, affiliated with the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He continued his affiliation with the centers as a scholar from 2006-12. He previously was project director for the Emergency System for Advanced Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals Legal and Regulatory Issues
Project, administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration. He was also the Alfred P. Sloan Fellow in Bioterrorism Law and Policy at Georgetown University Law Center and practiced as a health care law attorney at a major international firm in Washington, D.C.
Gable is the principal investigator for the project Developing Ethical Guidelines for the Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources During Public Health Emergencies in Michigan. In addition, he is co-chair of WSU’s Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee. He has served as co-chair of WSU’s Clinical and Transnational Research Ethics Workgroup and received the 2010 WSU Academy of Scholars Junior Faculty Award for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
He earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science and biology from Johns Hopkins University, master of public health degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Hall is an associate professor with expertise in environmental and water law. His research focuses on issues of environmental governance, federalism, and transboundary pollution and resource management. He has published numerous journal articles and co-written books and book chapters.
Before joining the Wayne Law faculty, he taught at the University of Michigan Law School and was an attorney with the National Wildlife Federation, where he managed the Great Lakes Water Resources Program for the nation’s largest conservation organization. Hall also worked in private practice for several years, representing a variety of business and public-interest clients in litigated and regulatory matters. He has litigation experience and numerous published decisions in state and federal courts. He continues to represent a variety of clients in significant environmental policy disputes.
Hall is founder of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, a non-profit environmental organization that provides legal assistance to community organizations; environmental non-governmental organizations; and local, state and regional governments.
He earned a bachelor of science degree with a concentration in environmental policy and behavior from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment and law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
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Colombo & Colombo PC is pleased to announce the recent hiring of attorney Coriann Gastol as an associate of the firm. Licensed to practice law in both Michigan and Indiana, Gastol’s practice includes litigation, transactional law, mergers and acquisitions, real estate law, and estate planning. She was previously an associate at the firm of Sumner & Associates.
Gastol’s experience includes serving as an intern for U.S. Senator Carl Levin (Michigan), as a staff assistant for U.S. Senator Jim Talent (Missouri), an intern for the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office (Missouri), a judicial extern for Judge Kathleen Lang at the Laporte Superior Court #1 (Indiana), and a judicial extern for Administrative Law Judge Young Kim, EEOC in Chicago.
Gastol received a B.A. in International Multicultural Studies with a concentration in Political Science, and a minor in Spanish, from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, and her law degree from Valparaiso University School of Law in Valparaiso, Indiana. Gastol is proficient in Spanish.
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