Legal People ...

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder recently announced the appointment of Doug Bernstein to the City of Pontiac Receivership Transition Advisory Board.

The board was first named in August of 2013 after the city of Pontiac transitioned back to local control.

Bernstein is a director, shareholder, and practice group leader for Plunkett Cooney and has been practicing law for more than 32 years. He was also counsel to charitable foundations in the city of Detroit’s Grand Bargain.

Bernstein is co-founder and director of the Detroit Riverfront Events Inc., general counsel and director of the ABRA/H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Series, a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, a member of the Attorney Discipline Board, and a recent member of the Turnaround Management Association. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University and a law degree from the Detroit College of Law.

Bernstein represents members with relevant professional experience and fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Lou Schimmel.

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On Saturday, Dec. 12, Dickinson Wright attorney James P. Spica addressed the Great Lakes Regional Conference of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel (ACTEC) in Chicago as a member of the Conference’s CLE faculty. Spica’s topic was Michigan’s “trust-decanting” legislation, a subject on which he is qualified to speak as the principal author of the tripartite decanting regime enacted as 2012 Michigan Public Acts Nos. 483, 484, and 485. He also authored an article on the subject published by the American Bar Association (ABA): “Spilt to Last: Longevity Planning for Tax Advantaged Trusts under a New Statutory Decanting Regime in Michigan,” 48 Real Prop. Tr. & Est. L.J. 35 (2013).

Spica, an ACTEC Fellow, is a member of the ACTEC State Laws Committee. He is the ABA advisor to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws’ Drafting Committee on Divided Trusteeship and served on the ad hoc committee of the ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section that drafted the Section’s response to the Treasury Department’s request (IRS Notice 2011-101) for comments on the tax implications of trust decanting. He is a former member of the Council (governing body) of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan (2006-2015) and a current member of the Michigan Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) Probate and Estate Planning Advisory Board. He clerked for United States Tax Court Judge Richard C. Wilbur (1985) and taught taxation, trusts, and decedents’ estates as an assistant/associate professor of law at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (1989-2000, tenured 1996).

As a member in Dickinson Wright’s Troy office, Spica focuses his practice on estate and tax planning, trust banking, and trust litigation. In addition to drafting the 2012 Michigan trust-decanting legislation mentioned above, he was the principal author of the perpetuities reform proposal enacted as the Michigan Personal Property Trust Perpetuities Act of 2008. Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Michigan Super Lawyers, Leading Lawyers and DBuisiness’ Top Lawyers, he is a coauthor of the Michigan Estate Planning Handbook (2nd ed. 2006 & Supp.) and Trust Administration Under the Michigan Trust Code (2010 & Supp.), both published by ICLE. His most recent article is “Means to an End: Electively Forcing Vesting to Suit Tax Rules Against Perpetuities,” 40 ACTEC L.J. 347 (2014).

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Maddin, Hauser, Roth & Heller PC is pleased to announce the addition of attorneys Sarah J. Brutman, Karen E. Plaza, and Aaron M. Swedler to its growing team.
The announcement was made by firm President and CEO Steven D. Sallen.

Brutman, an associate and a member of the firm’s Defense and Insurance Coverage Practice Group, concentrates her practice on commercial insurance coverage and liability defense.   A graduate of Wayne State University Law School in 2004, Brutman earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Detroit Mercy in 1999.  

Brutman was named as a Super Lawyer – Rising Star for four consecutive years and was recognized by Hour Magazine as a Top Woman Lawyer in 2013 and 2014, and is a member of Claims & Litigation Management Alliance.

Plaza is an associate in the firm’s Consumer Finance Regulatory Compliance and Real Property Litigation Practice Group. She has litigation, research, and briefing experience in the areas of real property law, commercial litigation, consumer compliance regulations, creditor’s rights, and bankruptcy.  Plaza has successfully represented clients in matters involving claims arising under the Truth in Lending Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and related state law claims. Plaza’s experience also involves quiet title actions, contested foreclosures and evictions.

Plaza received her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2008, and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 2005. 
Swedler is Of Counsel and will help to expand the capabilities of the firm’s Healthcare Practice Group.   Swedler’s practice tackles a range of healthcare recovery problems, including fully insured and self-insured employee benefit plans and commercial health insurance, medical claims coding and administrative matters, auto accidents and no-fault insurance and commercial liability insurance, government-funded programs and HMO(s), TPA(s) and stop-loss sureties, and PPO(s) and provider or network agreements. 

Swedler received his law degree in 2006 from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, his Masters of Business Administration in 2006 from Cleveland State University, and his Bachelor of Science degree in business from Miami University (OH).

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Hall, Render, Killian, Heath, & Lyman is pleased to announce attorney Julie Markgraf has joined the firm’s Detroit office.

Markgraf counsels clients in numerous aspects of health care law. Her practice includes hospital and health system matters, hospital and physician arrangements and contracting, fraud and abuse, compliance and HIPAA.  She completed her undergraduate studies at Michigan State University in 1986 and received her law degree from the Wayne State University Law School in 1993.

Markgraf is admitted to practice in Michigan and is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association; Association of Corporate Counsel; State Bar of Michigan Health Law Section, where she is a member of the Legislative Committee; and Michigan Health & Hospital Association Legislative Policy Panel.