Cardelli Lanfear PC welcomes the addition of Jennifer M. Paine to its litigation team.
Paine graduated from Albion College with a Bachelor of English and Mathematics and graduated from Michigan State University College of Law in 2008. While in law school, Paine clerked for a litigation firm in Lansing and student taught research, writing and advocacy, and she was also an editor for the MSU Journal of Business and Securities Law.
Paine has worked with litigation firms with offices in Lansing, Detroit, Grand Rapids, and St. Louis. She is admitted to practice law in the State of Michigan, the U.S. District Court, Eastern
District of Michigan, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, and she has been admitted pro hac vice in several states.
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Hall, Render, Killian, Heath, & Lyman PC has been named in U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers® 2015 “Best Law Firms” rankings.
The firm received metropolitan first-tier rankings in health care law in Detroit, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee, and metropolitan first-tier ranking in construction law in Louisville.
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Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that the firm’s litigation practices and its attorneys were recognized in the 2015 edition of Benchmark Litigation.
Benchmark Litigation recognized Dickinson Wright’s litigation practices in Michigan as “Highly Recommended.”
Also recognized in the Benchmark Litigation 2015 Edition are Dickinson Wright lawyers who were named either “Local Litigation Stars” or “Future Stars.” Below is a list of the localhonorees:
Lawrence Campbell – local litigation star
Kathleen Lang – local litigation star
Thomas McNeill – local litigation star
Edward Pappas – local litigation star
Michelle Alamo – future star
Geoffrey Fields – future star
In addition, Dickinson Wright is pleased to announce that The Bond Buyer selected the Karegnondi Water Authority’s multimillion dollar financing of a pipeline to Lake Huron as a 2014 Deal of the Year Finalist.
The Karegnondi Water Authority’s $220.5 million financing to fund a 63-mile pipeline to Lake Huron completed Michigan’s Flint and Genesee County’s breakaway from their dependence on the Detroit water system. Entering a market where local governments across Michigan have faced heightened penalties, the authority sold the bonds to more than 30 investors and achieved an all-in borrowing cost below projections. Dickinson Wright attorneys Terence M. Donnelly and Kester K. So served as underwriters’ counsel to J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Wells Fargo Securities and Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated on the deal.
The 2014 awards, which considered deals that closed between Oct. 1, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2014, drew nominations that represent the full diversity of the communities and public purposes that are served by the municipal finance market. One finalist was selected from each of the five regions with the Karegnondi Water Authority deal representing the Midwest Region.
The regional finalists are in the running for the National Deal of the Year Award, which will be announced on Dec. 4th at a ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.
In 2012, Dickinson Wright attorneys Terence M. Donnelly, Kester K. So, and Thomas V. Yates served as co-bond counsel to the Michigan Finance Authority’s multibillion dollar refinancing of the state’s federal unemployment insurance loan. The deal was named the “National Deal of the Year” by The Bond Buyer.
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For the fourth consecutive year, Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP was ranked among the top 25 large companies in the Detroit Free Press 2014 Top Workplaces in Michigan and the only law firm named in this category.
“We are very pleased to see that our team members have once again given our firm high ratings as a great place to work,” said Robert D. Kubic, Honigman’s chief operating officer. “We continue to build on what is a truly a remarkable culture steeped in our strong values and commitment to excellence. Honigman is, without a doubt, a great place to work and our collective dedication to the firm’s clients and each other reinforces those values every day.”
Honigman has been recognized nationally as one of the Best and Brightest Companies To Work For by the National Association for Business Resources and in Metropolitan Detroit and West Michigan as one of the 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For by the Michigan Business and Professional Association.
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Kreuza L. Gjezi has joined Southfield-based Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC as an associate in the firm’s Immigration and Litigation Practice Groups. Jaffe CEO Bill Sider made the announcement.
As a member of the Immigration Practice Group, Gjezi represents individuals, families and businesses worldwide in front of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration Customs & Enforcement, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of State and in federal court. Fluent in Albanian, she assists her clients in obtaining permanent residence through extraordinary ability visas, national interest waivers, multinational manager/executive visas and family unity. She also represents clients in obtaining non-immigrant visa/status such as H-1B, E-2, TN, L-1A, R-1 and F-1.
Gjezi earned her law degree in 2007 from Wayne State University Law School. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
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Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC was recognized among the “Cool Places to Work in Michigan” for 2014 by Crain’s Detroit Business.
The Crain’s Cool Places to Work recognition program honors employers that go the extra mile to make employees feel appreciated — as judged by the employees themselves. The program was open to Michigan businesses, nonprofits, and government entities. To participate, an organization must have at least 15 employees at a Michigan location.
Founded in 1869, Howard & Howard is a full-service law firm with a national and international practice that provides legal services to businesses and business owners. The firm has offices in Michigan (Ann Arbor and Royal Oak); Illinois (Chicago and Peoria); and Las Vegas.
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Potestivo & Associates PC is proud to announce that it has again been selected as one of the “Coolest Places to Work in Michigan” by Crain’s Detroit.
“We are excited to add yet another award to our growing list,” said President and Managing Attorney Brian A. Potestivo. “We pride ourselves on having a dynamic workplace that helps our employees to learn and grow. This award shows that we are excelling in these efforts.”
The firm was assessed based on factors such as effective communication, work-life balance, and other employee-related categories.
Earlier this year, Brian Potestivo was selected as a 2014 Super Lawyer and the firm was once again selected as one of the 101 Best and Brightest Places to Work.
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The law firm of Lipson, Neilson, Cole, Seltzer, & Garin PC is proud to announce that one of the firm’s founders, Jeffrey T. Neilson, has been reappointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to serve on Michigan’s Attorney Grievance Committee (AGC). This appointment is through October 1, 2017. He will also be serving as the Secretary of the Commission through October 31, 2015 Michigan’s Attorney Grievance Committee (AGC) is comprised of nine volunteer commissioners, the grievance administrator, and his staff. The commissioners are appointed for set terms by the Michigan Supreme Court.
The AGC is the investigative and prosecutorial arm of the Michigan Supreme Court for allegations of attorney misconduct. The AGC serves to maintain and promote the integrity of the bar and to protect the public, the courts, and the legal profession. The AGC has jurisdiction over all attorneys licensed to practice law by the State Bar of Michigan and attorneys otherwise permitted to practice law in the State of Michigan.
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Wayne State University Law School Professor Stephen Calkins is a member of Ireland’s new Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Ireland’s Competition Authority recently melded with its National Consumer Agency to form the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Calkins has been on leave from Wayne Law since 2011 while serving as a member of the former Competition Authority and director of its Mergers Division. The Competition Authority, now joined with the consumer agency, is the Irish body responsible for enforcing Irish and European competition law in Ireland.
“I’m now a member of the commission, and I’ll start spending significant time on consumer issues in addition to competition ones,” Calkins said. He also serves as an adjunct professor at University College Dublin, assigned to the UCD Sutherland Law School.
Before his appointment to the Irish agency, Calkins had been serving since 2008 as associate vice president for academic personnel at Wayne State, while also teaching a reduced load at Wayne Law. Earlier in his career Calkins served as general counsel of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which enforces U.S. competition and consumer protection laws. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University and a law degree from Harvard Law School.
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Dykema recently announced that it received a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2015 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBT workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Dykema joins the ranks of 366 major U.S. businesses which also earned top marks this year.
“We are honored and proud to have earned a perfect rating in the Corporate Equality Index,” said Peter Kellett, Dykema’s chairman and chief executive officer. “A truly inclusive environment comes as a result of each person within an organization helping to foster an atmosphere of equality, and I want to thank and congratulate everyone that has helped Dykema achieve this recognition.”
The 2015 CEI rated 971 businesses in the report, which evaluates LGBT-related policies and practices including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits,
transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs, and public engagement with the LGBT community. Dykema’s efforts in satisfying all of the CEI’s criteria results in a 100 percent ranking and the designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality.
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Computing Source, an all-in-one digital evidence and legal support firm, was selected as one of the 2014 Cool Places to Work in Michigan by Crain’s Detroit Business and Best Companies Group. Computing Source Managing Director and CEO Mark St. Peter made the announcement.
“Computing Source is dedicated not only to providing outstanding service to our clients, but also to cultivating a best-in-class career experience for our hard-working, valued, and may I say cool, team members,” said St. Peter. “We are always looking for new ways to incorporate fun activities, team-building and continued education into our work environment, and are honored to receive this recognition for our efforts.”
This announcement comes during a period of growth for Computing Source. The company recently moved to a new, nearly 40,000-square-foot headquarters in Madison Heights to accommodate its growing staff and service offerings, where it also houses one of the state’s largest data centers.
In addition, during the past two years, the company has hired more than 100 new team members, added new service offerings to become the single-source legal support solution for Midwest attorneys, and opened additional offices in Chicago, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, with plans underway for an Indianapolis office as well, to meet increasing client demand.
For additional information about Computing Source, visit www.computingsource.com.
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