Legal People

­Barris, Sott, Denn, & Driker PLLC is pleased to announce that Benchmark Litigation has named Sharon M. Woods one of the top 250 women in litigation nationwide for 2015.  Only five women lawyers in Michigan were recognized.

Woods is the chairperson of BSDD’s litigation department and served as BSDD’s managing member for 24 years, after joining BSDD in 1972 as its first woman attorney.  She is known for handling “bet the company” business litigation and specializes in legal and accounting malpractice defense, construction law, employment law, business torts, and alternative dispute resolution. 

Woods was elected a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1989 and was elected to its national Board of Regents.  She was elected a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers in 2003. 

Woods earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and mathematics and a law degree, both from the University of Detroit. 

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Attorney Michael S. Leib announced the launch of LeibADR to provide metro Detroit law firms and the courts with mediation and arbitration services.

Leib, who retired from trial law in 2014, has almost 35 years of practice during which he tried cases in federal courts, including the bankruptcy court and state courts, and appeared before arbitration panels involving a wide range of complex commercial, insolvency, contract, real estate, probate, and employment matters.  Leib’s experience also includes roles as an arbitrator, case evaluator, and mediator.

Additionally, Leib is a member of the State Bar of Michigan Judicial Qualifications Committee. He also was the chairperson of the State Bar of Michigan Character and Fitness Committee.

Leib is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School.  He also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kalamazoo College and a Master of Music degree from the University of Montana.

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Victoria S. Lehman of Giarmarco, Mullins, & Horton PC has received an “AV” Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Lehman focuses her practice primarily on the defense of hospitals and health care providers in medical malpractice litigation. Lehman also regularly works with her clients on defending premises liability and general negligence claims, as well as a wide variety of risk management issues.

Lehman is licensed to practice law in Michigan as well as the U.S. District Courts of Eastern Michigan.  

Lehman received her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.  She also earned a B.A. from the University of Michigan in both Psychology and Spanish.  Lehman is proficient in Spanish.

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Secrest Wardle has been selected to appear on the list published in Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s annual supplemental magazine, Michigan’s Largest Law Firms for 2015. Secrest Wardle is listed as the 21st largest firm out of 84 firms identified in the publication’s annual survey. To be eligible, firms must have at least 15 lawyers. The ranking criteria took into account the number of Michigan-licensed lawyers working within the state as of January 1, 2015.

Secrest Wardle is a law firm specializing in defense litigation and counsel for insurance, municipal, and commercial clients headquartered in Troy with additional offices in Grand Rapids and Lansing.

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The Troy law firm of Dean & Fulkerson is pleased to announce that Derek S. Adolf has joined the firm as a shareholder. He was previously a partner at Adolf & Swoish in Farmington Hills.

Adolf’s practice focuses on business law, including complex business transactions (mergers, acquisitions and financings), real estate matters, entity organization, commercial contracts and general legal strategy. He also serves as external general counsel to several companies, coordinating all aspects of their legal affairs and working as an integral part of their leadership teams. Adolf’s client base ranges from manufacturing and other businesses operating in the automotive, remanufacturing, medical device and optics industries, to medical groups, publishers and high net worth individuals.

Adolf is a graduate of the University of Michigan, having earned a B.S.E. in Computer Engineering and an MBA in addition to his law degree.

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Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is pleased to announce that Robert M. Riley, an associate in the firm’s Litigation Department, was elected president by the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy’s recently formed board of directors.

The Detroit Center for Family Advocacy (CFA) is an evidence-based program that improves outcomes for children by safely reducing the need for them to enter or remain in foster care. CFA uses legal and social work advocacy to empower families to overcome the underlying problems they are facing that put the children in their care at risk for out of home placements.

Riley’s multi-disciplinary litigation experience includes complex commercial litigation, commercial transactions, shareholder disputes, appellate advocacy, and corporate restructuring. He has served as pro bono counsel for Legal Services of Michigan, Legal Services of South Central Michigan, the Michigan State Planning Body for Legal Services and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Riley earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School, an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.

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Mark G. Cooper, a partner at Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC, has been appointed to the Attorney Discipline Board of Michigan as a hearing panelist. Jaffe CEO William Sider made the announcement.

The Attorney Discipline Board (ADB) is the adjudicative arm of the Michigan Supreme Court and has the responsibility to supervise and discipline Michigan attorneys.

A member of Jaffe’s Litigation Practice Group, Cooper concentrates his practice on complex commercial matters with a focus on construction defect, development and contract issues, real estate litigation, business torts and contract disputes, intellectual property and trade secrets litigation, and all aspects of insurance coverage.

In addition to his position with the ADB, Cooper serves on the Board of Directors for the Meadowbrook Center for Learning and is a past chairperson of the Indemnity Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan.

Cooper earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri and is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Law.