Legal People

Steven J. Migliore, a partner in the Corporate Department of Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP, has been selected as a member of the 2015 Oakland County Executive’s Elite 40 under 40 class. The class was chosen by a panel of independent judges who reviewed the nearly 500 nominations and applications. The program, which began in 2012, honors young professionals and thought leaders who excel in their field, have demonstrated dynamic leadership and have made significant contributions to the quality of life in the region.

Migliore resides in Oakland County and serves as a legal advisor to several major companies located there. As an active member of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and president-elect of its NEXTGen Detroit
organization, Migliore is at the forefront of attracting, engaging and retaining the next generation of young Jewish people in this region.

Migliore focuses his practice on representing private equity and venture capital funds and their portfolio companies in mergers, acquisitions, financings, investments and restructurings. He also advises companies on corporate governance and general corporate matters.

He earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School and an MBA from Wayne State University. He received a B.A. from Michigan State University. 

In addition, Sarah E. Waidelich has joined the Intellectual Property Department’s IP Litigation Practice Group at Honigman. She is located in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office.

Waidelich focuses her practice on patent litigation matters. She is admitted to practice in New York, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

She earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.  She received a B.S. with a major in mechanical engineering and a minor in mathematics from Trine University.

Waidelich joins Honigman from Desmarais LLP in New York City.

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Miller Canfield is pleased to announce that Michelle Crockett, director of professional development and a principal in the Detroit office, has been named to Michigan Chronicle’s 2015 Women of Excellence list.

Crockett leads the firm’s hiring of all attorneys, recruitment, diversity & inclusion initiatives, mentoring programs, professional development and continuing education initiatives. She is also a lawyer specializing in defending
Fortune 500 companies and public-sector clients against a variety of employment-related claims.

She served as general counsel for the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan from August 2013 to November 2014. She’s active in the Metropolitan Detroit community as a board member and treasurer for Leadership Oakland, and as a board member and president-elect for Alternatives for Girls, a group that helps homeless and high-risk girls avoid violence, teen pregnancy and exploitation.

She received her law degree (2000) from Wayne State University Law School.

Miller Canfield is also pleased to announce that Peter Waldmeir, a litigation and dispute resolution principal in the Detroit office, has been named to the prestigious 2015 BTI Client Service All Star list. He is one of only 354 lawyers throughout the country to make the list.

The honor comes through BTI Consulting Group’s annual survey of more than 300 general and in-house counsel in more than 20 industries nationwide to determine market opportunities, organizational buying habits and the “hire-ability” of their outside counsel.

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Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that attorney Steven G. Howell has been named a “2015 Leader in the Law” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

Howell is a member in the firm’s Detroit office. He also serves as the Practice Department manager for the firm’s Banking & Finance, Creditors’ Rights, Municipal Finance and International Law Practices. He focuses his practice in the areas of bankruptcy & restructuring law, including creditor rights and bankruptcy litigation, and banking & finance law.

Howell serves as a special assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan in the City of Detroit’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy case, representing the State of Michigan. He has served as either counsel or co-counsel for clients in numerous Chapter 11 bankruptcies, Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings in Canada, and workouts. Howell has expertise in assisting clients dealing with financially-challenged entities in a variety of industries including automotive, manufacturing, banking, municipal, and commercial real estate.

Howell is a member of the Federal Bar Association—Eastern District of Michigan Chapter, the State Bar of Michigan, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the Turnaround Management Association. He received the Barbara J. Rom Excellence in Bankruptcy Award on November 20, 2014 from the Federal Bar Association for the Eastern District of Michigan. He is recognized as a leader in his field by Best Lawyers in America, including being named 2014 Detroit Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Lawyer of the Year; Chambers USA, including recognition as a Band 1 Leading Individual in Michigan in the bankruptcy field; Michigan Super Lawyers, and DBusiness Top Lawyers.

Howell received his B.G.S. from the University of Michigan and his law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

In addition, Dickinson Wright is pleased to announce that attorney Amy Sabbota Gottlieb recently was elected into membership of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel.

Sabbota Gottlieb is a member in the firm’s Troy office. She has a commercial and business litigation practice, advising and defending clients in the area of consumer finance litigation, including federal lending laws and regulations, such as, TILA, RESPA, FDCPA, FCRA and state consumer protection claims. She also counsels and represents clients on matters related to the application of consumer finance laws, foreclosure, mortgage fraud, contract law, lien priority disputes, tax liens and title insurance.

Besides being a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, Sabbota Gottlieb is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association, the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law.

The Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC) consists of approximately 1,400 invitation-only, peer-reviewed members worldwide. The FDCC is composed of recognized leaders in the legal community who have achieved professional distinction, is dedicated to promoting knowledge, fellowship, and professionalism of its members as they pursue the course of a balanced justice system and represent those in need of a defense in civil lawsuits.

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Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Claudia Rast is one of 30 attorneys named to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Leaders in the Law” Class of 2015. Honorees will be recognized at a luncheon and awards celebration on March 26.

Rast focuses her practice on blending law, business, and technology. She assists companies in their strategic choice and use of technology, counseling companies on issues related to business and technology, particularly in the areas of privacy, cybersecurity, data analytics, intellectual property licensing and registration, and the forensic preservation and analysis of electronically stored information.

At the same time, Rast is an experienced environmental lawyer, focusing on alternative energy and sustainability practices, including collaboration with her American Bar Association colleagues in support of the development of a global Rule of Law Index for environment and energy with the World Justice Project.

Nationally, Rast was appointed to serve on the American Bar Association’s Presidential Cybersecurity Legal Task Force, where task force members work to inform and educate the bar about the risks posed by criminals,
terrorists and nations that seek to steal personal and financial information, disrupt critical infrastructure, and wage cyberwar.

Rast is a frequent speaker on matters ranging from Cybersecurity, Privacy, Data Breach, eDiscovery, and Social Media. She has written numerous articles for a variety of trade publications.

She is a member of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, where she has been involved in the leadership of the Section since 1999, including chair of the Section in 2008-2009; Ann Arbor’s New Enterprise Forum Board of Directors (2008-present); the Michigan League of Conservation Voters Board of Directors (2008-2013); and, ICLE’s Technology Training Advisory Board (1998-present). In 2001, she was the only lawyer named as a Technology Industry Leader in Crain’s Detroit Business, and in 2003 the Ann Arbor Chapter of American Women in Computing named her as one of 20 “Top Michigan Women in Computing.”
Rast is a graduate of the University of Michigan (B.S., Natural Resources) and graduate of the University of Detroit School of Law.

In 2014, Rast successfully completed the four-week online program, “Tackling the Challenges of Big Data,” developed and taught by the faculty of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in collaboration with MIT Professional Education.

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Wayne State University Law School has been recognized by The National Jurist magazine as one of the best law schools in the nation for practical training.

The publication’s March print issue will feature the 86 schools on the list, which was announced this month. Schools named were chosen by criteria including the number of full-time students who take simulation courses, externships, clinics or who participate in interschool skills competitions.

Wayne Law always has put a strong emphasis on practical training, and as of 2013, all students are required to take a minimum of six credits that offer substantial instruction in professional skills beyond the traditional legal classroom work of research, writing and analysis. At least three of these required credits must be earned through a clinic or externship.

Wayne Law’s clinics – including the Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic, Business and Community Law Clinic, Criminal Appellate Practice Clinic, Disability Law Clinic, Legal Advocacy for People with Cancer Clinic, Patent Procurement Clinic and Transnational Environmental Law Clinic – offer students a chance to practice law as advocates under the supervision of experienced attorneys working for real clients. The clinics also afford students a
chance to benefit the metro Detroit community.

Externship programs – corporate counsel, criminal justice, judicial and public interest – develop Wayne Law students’ professional skills, values and judgment as they learn about professionalism, the practice of law and the legal system, while becoming reflective practitioners with the capacity for self-directed professional growth. The externship courses as part of these programs are split by specialty and taught by expert practitioners in the field.
Wayne Law also offers numerous co-curricular programs, including law journals; local and international fellowship programs; interschool skills competition programs; and experiential courses and seminars to enhance students’ practical training.

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At the recent annual business meeting of Plunkett Cooney, local partners Michael P. Ashcraft Jr., Mark S. Kopson, and Kenneth C. Newa were elected to the firm’s board of directors.

Re-elected to three-year terms were Ashcraft and Newa. Kopson, who serves as the firm’s Healthcare Industry Group Leader, was elected to the board for the first time.

Michael P. Ashcraft is a partner in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office who serves as the Plunkett Cooney’s Professional Liability Practice Group Leader and as secretary/treasurer of the board of directors.

Ashcraft is one of the state’s leading professional liability attorneys, concentrating his practice primarily on the defense of attorneys and accountants in malpractice claims. He also represents insurance brokers and agents, securities brokers, real estate brokers and agents, investment advisors, officers and directors and notaries public in professional liability cases in state and federal courts.

Admitted to state and federal courts in Michigan and Nebraska, Ashcraft graduated from Detroit College of Law in 1992. He received his undergraduate degree from University of Michigan in 1987. Ashcraft is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association’s Negligence Section, the State Bar of Michigan’s Professional Ethics Committee and the American Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Liability.

Kenneth C. Newa serves as Plunkett Cooney Insurance Coverage Practice Group co-leader. He focuses his practice principally upon the representation of insurance companies in a wide variety of insurance coverage disputes, including complex, high-exposure coverage litigation relating to environmental, asbestos, toxic tort and construction defect claims.

A partner in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, Newa is a member of the State Bar of Michigan (Environmental Law and Negligence sections); numerous federal courts; the DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar (Insurance Law Committee and Bad Faith and CGL Subcommittee); the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association; the Association of Defense Trial Counsel; and the American Bar Association (Tort and Insurance Practice Section).

Newa received his law degree from University of Detroit School of Law in 1989 and his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in 1986.

Mark S. Kopson represents healthcare providers and integrated delivery systems, payers and other managed care entities in Michigan and throughout the United States. He has experience and expertise in the areas of managed care negotiation, contracting and dispute resolution and many other facets of corporate healthcare law.

A graduate of the University of Detroit School of Law in 1985, Kopson is a member of the State Bar of Michigan (chair-elect of the Heath Care Law and Business Law sections).  He also chairs the Payors, Plans and Managed Care Practice Group of the American Health Lawyers Association and is a member of the Business Law, Health Law, and Law Practice Management sections of the American Bar Association.