Legal People

Cantor Colburn LLP announced that it has hired David A. Burns as counsel in its Detroit office. Burns was formerly in-house at Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corporation.

Burns concentrates his practice on domestic and international intellectual property (IP) procurement and prosecution, transactions, counseling, and strategy development toward the protection and enforcement of IP assets.  He has more than 16 years of firm and in-house counsel experience with an additional 15 years of professional engineering experience. 

As an attorney at Pratt & Whitney, Burns provided all aspects of IP legal support for a multi-billion dollar aftermarket business segment.  This experience included the management of an extensive international IP portfolio; providing the legal support for a licensing department; drafting and negotiating a range of transactions including joint developments and M&A due diligence; developing IP strategies and leveraging proprietary technologies in accordance with business objectives; and, conducting extensive IP clearance activities while working closely with engineering groups.  

Burns has a law degree from Michigan State University and a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering with a concentration in physics and mechanical disciplines from the University of Michigan.  He is admitted to the State Bar of Michigan and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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Gov. Rick Snyder recently announced initial appointments to the Middle Eastern American Affairs Commission.

Established by Executive Order 2015-6, the 15-member commission was created to act in an advisory capacity to the governor and the director of the Department of Civil Rights.
Among those appointed were:

• Mariam Bazzi, an assistant prosecuting attorney for Wayne County and a trustee on the Dearborn Board of Education. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Arab American Political Action Committee. Bazzi earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

• Michael Romaya, a partner at Varnum LLP. He serves on the board of directors and is the secretary of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce. Romaya is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Association for Corporate Growth – Detroit Chapter, and the Turnaround Management Association. Romaya earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan and both an MBA and law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy.

Both have been appointed to three year terms expiring April 19, 2018.

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Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that four attorneys from the firm have been named to Managing Intellectual Property’s IP Stars 2015. The attorneys named in this year’s edition are John S. Artz, Fred W. Hathaway, William H. Honaker, and Daniel D. Quick.

Artz is a Member in the firm’s Troy office. He has been lead counsel for many companies in intellectual property and commercial litigation matters.

He is co-chair of Dickinson Wright’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group and focuses on patent, trade secret, trademark and copyright litigation. He also actively counsels clients on patent and trademark prosecution and clearance matters.

Artz is a past president of the Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association and is currently a co-chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Federal Bar Association, Eastern District of Michigan.

Hathaway is a Member in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. His practice is focused on domestic and international trademark counseling, clearance and prosecution, trademark litigation before the TTAB, and trademark and domain name disputes and litigation.

He is a member of the American Intellectual Property Association, the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law Section, and the Adjunct Professor Special Interest Group of the International Trademark Association.

Honaker is the Practice Department Manager for the firm’s Intellectual Property, Patents & Patent Litigation, Trademarks, and Copyrights Practice Groups.

With more than 25 years of experience, he has knowledge and expertise in all aspects of patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright matters including litigation in a broad range of technologies/industries.

He evaluates patents, trademarks and copyrights on behalf of clients along with advising clients on the protection of inventions, trademarks and copyrightable subject matter.

Honaker is the former chairman of the State Bar of Michigan’s Intellectual Property Law Section and is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the International Trademark Association.

Quick is the Practice Department Manager for the firm’s Commercial Litigation, Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Sports & Entertainment Practice Groups.

He served as lead counsel for Universal Music Group and related entities and associated artists in a copyright litigation, commercial disputes and defamation actions in several states.

Quick has also served as lead counsel in a variety of other copyright, trade secret and patent litigation matters. 

He is co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Litigation Committee and is the co-chair of the Intellectual Property Subcommittee of the Commercial & Business Litigation Committee.

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Butzel Long attorney Ronald P. Strote is the only Michigan lawyer appointed to the American Arbitration Association’s (AAA) newly established Midwest Construction Master Mediator Panel.

The American Arbitration Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization with a long history and experience in the field of alternative dispute resolution, providing services to individuals and organizations who wish to resolve conflicts out of court.

Based in Butzel Long’s Bloomfield Hills office, Strote concentrates his practice in the areas of alternative dispute resolution, construction law and litigation, civil litigation and real estate law.

Strote has been recognized by DBusiness as a Top Lawyer in alternative dispute resolution, construction law and construction litigation and is listed in Best Lawyers in America (2008-2015 ).

He was recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2011 Detroit Construction Law Lawyer of the Year, 2013 Detroit Construction Litigation Lawyer of the Year and the 2014 Detroit Area Construction Law Lawyer of the Year.

Moreover, Strote is recognized as a Michigan Super Lawyer (2006-2014); named as one of the Top 100 Michigan Super Lawyers (2008-2014) and a Top 50 Business Super Lawyer in 2013 and 2014.

A member of the Leading Lawyers advisory board, Strote is recognized in the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Construction Law and Litigation and Real Estate Law.

Strote is a member of the Oakland and Macomb County Bar Associations; a mediator and arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association; and a certified mediator by the International Mediation Institute, The Hague, Netherlands.

He is a member of the alternative dispute resolution section of the State Bar of Michigan and a fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation.

Strote is a graduate of Northwestern University (law degree, 1972) and the University of Michigan (A.B. 1969). He is admitted to the State Bar of Michigan and is retired from the State Bar of Illinois.

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Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is pleased to announce that its Partner Steven J. Migliore’s installation as president of NEXTGen Detroit recently took place at the group’s annual meeting of its board of directors.

This organization, which is a part of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, attracts and engages the next generation of Jewish Detroiters through innovative programs and initiatives.

Migliore is also a member of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit board of governors and is an ex-officio member of its executive committee.

Migliore, a partner in Honigman’s Corporate Department, 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 clients on high yield debt offerings and warehouse financing matters as well as corporate governance and general corporate matters.

Migliore was selected as one of Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson’s “Elite 40 under 40” for 2015.

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.

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Secrest Wardle Executive Partner Margaret A. Scott has been named as chair of Michigan Arson Prevention Committee’s (MAPC) Government Resources Committee.

MAPC, formed in 1973, is a group comprised of representatives from a variety of industries, including fire and police services, business, insurance, and governmental entities.

Scott served as an Oakland County assistant prosecuting attorney from 1988 to 2008.  The majority of her career at the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office was spent as a special prosecutor where she was elevated to the office of chief of the Auto Theft Unit in 1996. 

As a felony trial prosecutor, Scott prosecuted crimes involving insurance fraud, identity theft, embezzlement, and arson of insured property.  During her time with the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office she successfully prosecuted nearly 100% of the cases assigned to the Auto Theft Unit. 

Scott obtained her B.A. from Michigan State University in Criminal Justice and Psychology.  She received her law degree from Wayne State University Law School, and was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 1988.  Scott is licensed in all Michigan courts.

For her dedication to the fight against auto theft and insurance fraud, Scott received the Bob Sattler Award by the North Central Regional Chapter/International Association of Auto Theft Investigators in 2007. 

She received an Award for Professional Excellence for services provided to the Michigan State Police characterized by outstanding performance of duty and a personal commitment to the excellence associated with the prosecution of a 1998 Western Wayne Auto Theft Unit Investigation.

Scott is a past recipient of the William V. Liddane Award by the Help Eliminate Auto Theft (H.E.A.T.) Organization in recognition of her advocacy in reducing auto-theft related crimes in Michigan.

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Varnum is pleased to announce that attorney Mallory A. Field has joined the firm as an associate in the firm’s corporate group. She will practice in the firm’s Detroit office.

Field has been in private practice for the past four years, focusing on general corporate transactions, financial matters, and mergers and acquisitions. She has served as the lead associate on a variety of M&A matters with values exceeding $100 million.

Field serves public and private corporate clients in business formations, general corporate matters, mergers and acquisitions, trademark applications, regulatory compliance, environmental matters, and other commercial transactions, including the sale and purchase of real estate.

Prior to beginning private practice, Field served as a legal clerk with the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., conducting research and writing major environmental statutes to assist the Federal Facilities Enforcement Office regarding issues in environmental law.

She also worked closely with attorneys and staff of the EPA on large cases involving the military, government agencies, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Field also provides counsel to financial institutions and is a published author with the American Bankruptcy Institute. She represented the Retired Detroit Police Members Association in the City of Detroit Chapter 9 Bankruptcy.

Field is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Law. She received her undergraduate degree in economics, management and literature from Albion College.

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Wayne State University Law School has appointed D’lorah L. Hughes as director of clinical education and Ashley E. Lowe as associate director of clinical education.

Hughes, who joined Wayne Law in July as associate director of clinical education and director of externships, succeeds David Moss, who will return to full-time teaching and continue to lead the law school’s Disability Law Clinic.

Lowe joined Wayne Law in January as program director for Advocates for Warriors, which brings alumni and students together to ensure Michigan’s military community in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties has access to legal services and support.

The appointments, which are effective this month, include Hughes becoming an associate (clinical) professor.

Hughes came to Wayne Law from the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville where she was an associate professor of law and director of criminal clinics.

In addition to teaching the Criminal Defense and Criminal Prosecution clinics, she created a special clinical project on Juvenile Mandatory Life without Parole which earned her a Special Merit Award from the Arkansas Bar Foundation and Arkansas Bar Association in 2014.

She holds leadership positions in the Clinical Legal Education Association and Association of American Law Schools Section on Balance in Legal Education. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in liberal studies from California State University, Long Beach, and law degree from Duke University School of Law.

Hughes served as a visiting professor in the Health Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law and as an assistant professor and First-Year Legal Analysis program coordinator at Whittier Law School.

She served as a judicial clerk under U.S. District Court Judge Janis Graham Jack, Southern District of Texas. Previously, she practiced law as a deputy public defender for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office in California and as a staff attorney at the AIDS Legal Assistance Project at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley.

Prior to coming to Wayne Law, Lowe taught at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. At Cooley, she developed and directed the Family Law Assistance Project, a partnership between the law school and Lakeshore Legal Aid that provides free legal services to low-income people in Oakland County. She also taught Family Law and Pretrial Skills and developed a number of other clinical programs, including the Estate Planning Clinic at the Auburn Hills campus.

Lowe earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, and law degree and master of business administration degree at Georgetown University.

She started her career in San Francisco, practicing commercial litigation at Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP and later at Dickinson Wright PLLC in Bloomfield Hills.

In 2000, Lowe left private practice and joined Oakland Livingston Legal Aid as a staff attorney and then as associate director. She later joined Women’s Survival Center as its director of legal services.

Lowe is active in the State Bar of Michigan, serving on its Pro Bono Initiative, State Planning Body, Domestic Violence Committee and 21st Century Practice Task Force.

She is also active in the Oakland County Bar Association Family Court and Veterans Committees.

Lowe has been honored by the Oakland County Bar Association with its Distinguished Service Award in large part for her work in establishing the legal services plan for Oakland County.

In addition, four former U.S. senators, a former Detroit mayor, as well as business, community, education and nonprofit leaders, will serve on a bipartisan, 18-member advisory board for the newly established Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School.

Launched in March, the Levin Center at Wayne Law honors Carl Levin, Michigan’s longest-serving U.S. senator who recently retired after completing 36 years in the
Senate. Levin serves as chair of the center and as the law school’s distinguished legislator in residence. Through academic programming, training, and scholarship, the center will seek to equip lawyers, legislators and leaders with an understanding of how effective oversight can lead to meaningful change in public policy and institutional behavior.

Chairing the board is Eugene Driker, Wayne Law class of 1961, a founding member at the Detroit law firm of Barris, Sott, Denn and Driker and a former member of the WSU Board of Governors.
Other members of the board are:

• Ismael Ahmed, senior advisor to the chancellor and associate provost for metropolitan impact at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, former director of the Michigan Department of Human Services and co-founder of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services.

• N. Peter Antone, founder and principal of the Antone, Casagrande, & Adwers PC immigration law firm.

• Dennis W. Archer, former mayor of Detroit, chairman and CEO of Dennis W. Archer PLLC and chairman emeritus of Dickinson Wright PLLC.

• Louis Brown, an attorney and director of Christ Medicus Foundation CURO, a national Catholic health care ministry.

• Former U.S. Sen. Dr. Tom A. Coburn, R-Okla., a physician.

• Former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., founder and CEO of The Daschle Group, A Public Policy Advisory of Baker Donelson, and board chair of the Center for American Progress.

• Cynthia Ford, who serves as a director of The McGregor Fund, Forgotten Harvest, Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation, DMC Legacy Board, The Belle Isle Conservancy and The Detroit Zoological Society.

• Eleanor Hill, a law partner with King & Spaulding LLP, former federal prosecutor and former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Defense.

• Paul Hillegonds, an attorney and CEO of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and former Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives.

• Daniel Levin, an attorney and chairman of The Habitat Co., a real estate development and management company.

• Cyril Moscow, a law partner with Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP and a former attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.

• Jim B. Nicholson, president and CEO of PVS Chemicals Inc.

• Aaron A. Payment, chairperson of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

• Former U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former governor of West Virginia.

• Former U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, senior fellow of the Bipartisan Policy Center and chairman and CEO of Olympia Snowe LLC.

• Gary Torgow, Wayne Law class of 1982, chairman and founder of Talmer Bancorp Inc. and founder of the Sterling Group, a Michigan-based real estate, development and investment company.

• Reginald M. Turner, member of the Clark Hill PLC law firm.

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The national law firm of Foley & Mansfield is pleased to announce that the firm has again been listed among the National Law Journals’ annual survey of the nation’s largest law firms – the NLJ 350. 

The firm ranked #234 in 2015 – up from #262 last year.

According to Kyle Mansfield, founding partner, the firm will continue to grow strategically in specific markets as client needs demand.

Foley & Mansfield, also named a 2015 “Go-To” Law Firm for Fortune 500 clients, provides a broad spectrum of services to clients throughout the country.