Chambers USA 2015, a referral guide designed to objectively present the best practitioners in the main areas of corporate law, has selected Miller Canfield as a top law firm in all six practice areas ranked in Michigan. Nineteen of the firm's lawyers in Illinois and Michigan are also recognized as leaders in their respective fields.
The firm received the highest possible ranking Band 1 in Commercial Litigation. It was also recognized for Labor & Employment, Banking & Finance Law, Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, Real Estate and its Corporate/M&A work.
Three attorneys from Miller Canfield's Ann Arbor office were included on the list: Joseph M. Fazio, Real Estate; Jeffrey L. LaBine, Corporate/M&A; and Stephen G. Palms, Real Estate.
Fazio, Managing Director, Ann Arbor Resident Director, and deputy leader of the Real Estate Group, earned his undergrad degree from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School. His specific areas of expertise include complex commercial real estate acquisitions and developments, with extensive experience in ground leasing, entity formation, public/private development agreements, as well as conventional, securitized and tax-increment financing.
LaBine, a Corporate Deputy Group Leader, earned a B.B.A. from Detroit College of Business, and his J.D. from Wayne Law. He has experience in the corporate realm and as counsel to corporate clients, principally in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and commercial financing, private equity and debt offerings and general corporate law.
Palms, who earned both his undergrad and law degrees from the University of Michigan, represents developers, lenders, borrowers, governmental entities, landlords, tenants, contractors, sellers and purchasers in such areas as development, financing, construction, leasing, and sales and purchases of both improved and unimproved property. He has participated in transactions involving all types of real property, including office buildings, shopping centers, industrial and research parks, hotels, hospitals, schools, stadiums, single-family residential subdivisions, multi-family apartment projects and affordable housing projects. His big-ticket successes include a $300 million ballpark, an $80 million shopping center, a $35 million residential housing community, and two urban office buildings worth $66 million, to name just a few. He also has represented owners and underwriters in issuing tax-exempt bonds for affordable housing projects valued at $200 million.
Published: Mon, Jun 08, 2015
