Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School Professor Laura Bartell is being honored with the Editors' Prize for best article published in the American Bankruptcy Law Journal in 2015.
She will accept the award at the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges annual meeting in October in San Francisco.
Bartell's article, "Motions to Withdraw the Reference An Empirical Study," examined all cases in 2013 in which motions to a federal district court to withdraw a bankruptcy proceeding from a bankruptcy court were made and decided under 28 U.S.C. Section 157(d). The article found that there are many more such motions made and granted than most practitioners and scholars would think, and that the success of such motions depends in large measure on whether it is opposed, whether a jury trial request has been made and where it is brought.
Bartell joined the Wayne Law faculty in 1996 after 17 years of private practice in New York. She has taught Advanced Topics in Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights, Effective Oral Communication for Lawyers, Property and Secured Transactions.
Throughout the past three years, Bartell has been interviewed and quoted extensively by local, national and international media as an expert on the Detroit bankruptcy.
She earned a bachelor of arts degree from Stanford University. After earning her law degree from Harvard Law School, she clerked for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Alvin B. Rubin, Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. Bartell then entered private practice in New York, where she became a partner in Shearman & Sterling, specializing in bank financing and bankruptcy work.
She is dean of faculty of the American Board of Certification, a national organization that certifies bankruptcy and consumer rights specialists, as well as a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She is on the executive committee of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and is a member of the American Law Institute and American Bankruptcy Institute.
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Collins, Einhorn, Farrell
Collins, Einhorn, Farrell PC is pleased to announce that attorney Jonathan B. Koch has joined the firm's Appellate Practice Group. Koch will concentrate his practice on appellate and trial level motion practice. Before joining the firm, Jonathan worked in the Michigan Supreme Court as a judicial clerk to Justice David F. Viviano. Koch has experience in a number of areas of Michigan law, including medical malpractice, legal malpractice, no-fault, municipal law, employment law, premises liability, and general civil litigation.
Koch received a Bachelor of Arts from Andrews University in 2012 and went on to obtain a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 2015.
Koch is a member of the Appellate Practice Section, the Litigation Practice Section, and the Negligence Practice Section of the State Bar of Michigan.
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Bodman PLC
Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that Charles M. Russman, a member in the firm's Troy office, has earned his Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) US certification from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
The IAPP provides a wealth of resources for professionals in a variety of industries to enhance their knowledge of privacy law, further their careers, and help their clients or workplaces protect their data. Of the several different levels of certification offered by the Association, the CIPP certification is most respected and well-known. The IAPP certification program, which was launched in 2004 as the first professional data privacy certification, focuses on the laws and regulations involved in data privacy work, depending on jurisdiction or discipline.
Russman is chair of Bodman's newly formed Data Privacy and Security practice group and a member of the firm's Workplace Law Group. In taking this extra step to be IAPP certified, Russman has ensured that his team will be better prepared and capable of dealing with the data privacy concerns of Bodman clients.
In his legal practice, Russman helps clients address privacy and security concerns including establishing and clarifying record retention policies, training employees about privacy and security policies to protect customer data, and addressing privacy breaches such as hacking or loss of customer data.
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Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, P.C.
Eric Novetsky, a partner with Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC, has been elected to the Turnaround Management Association's (TMA) Michigan board of directors. Jaffe CEO Bill Sider made the announcement.
TMA is the leading organization dedicated to turnaround management, corporate restructuring and distressed investing. Established in 1988, TMA has more than 9,000 members in 57 chapters worldwide, including 32 in North America. Members include turnaround practitioners, attorneys, accountants, advisors, liquidators, executive recruiters and consultants, as well as academic, government and judicial employees.
As a board member, Novetsky will participate in TMA's legal endeavors, advise and educate members on turnaround management, and participate in board deliberations. He is currently a partner in Jaffe's finance and insolvency & reorganization practice groups, where he specializes in the representation of lenders and borrowers in commercial loan transactions and litigation. He also represents creditors, creditors' committees and corporate debtors in bankruptcy proceedings, and property owners, managers and lessees before the Michigan Tax Tribunal and State Tax Commission in commercial property tax appeals.
In addition to his board member position with TMA, Novetsky is the founding member of the board of directors for TMA's NextGen group, and a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and Federal Bar Association. He is also recognized as a four-time Super Lawyers® Michigan Rising Star.
Novetsky earned his bachelor's degree from Michigan State University, his master's degree from the University of Michigan, Dearborn, and is graduate of Wayne State University Law School.
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Butzel Long
Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Phillip C. Korovesis has been elected vice president of the Leadership Oakland Board of Directors. Leadership Oakland is focused on business and community leadership development.
"Leadership Oakland offers participants an opportunity to gain key insights, meet business and government leaders and to positively impact our region." he said. "I look forward to serving Leadership Oakland in this important role during the 2016-2017 program year."
Based in Butzel Long's Detroit office, Korovesis is chair of Butzel Long's Trade Secret and Non-Compete Specialty Team, which focuses on trade secret, non-compete and business tort litigation.
Korovesis' practice is focused on commercial disputes, with trial, litigation and consultation expertise in non-compete/trade secret disputes, product liability defense and business and financial services industry disputes.
He has successfully tried cases in state and federal courts in various parts of the country and has successfully represented clients in state and federal appellate courts. He has successfully arbitrated cases before the American Arbitration Association and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Korovesis is a regular presenter on trade secret and non-compete issues to lawyers and other professionals. He is a former president of the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel (MDTC).
He is an active member of the Defense Research Institute's Commercial Litigation Committee. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Federal Bar Association.
Korovesis is a graduate of Wayne State University and Wayne Law. He also has been recognized by Michigan Super Lawyers (Business Litigation).
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Dickinson Wright PLLC
On Saturday, Aug. 6, Dickinson Wright Chairman Emeritus Dennis W. Archer accepted the ABA Medal, the highest honor given by the American Bar Association. He received the ABA Medal during the General Assembly of the 2016 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
"I am indeed, humbled and deeply honored," Archer said. "Whenever the ABA Medal has been awarded, I have felt that those who were awarded the medal were outstanding legal giants and worthy of receiving the highest award that the ABA can bestow upon a lawyer or judge. So when Paulette Brown let me know I would receive the award, I did all that I could to contain my emotions because it is such a unique and high honor."
The ABA Medal recognizes exceptionally distinguished service by a lawyer or lawyers to the cause of American jurisprudence and is given only in years when the ABA Board of Governors determines a nominee has provided exceptional and distinguished service to the law and the legal profession. Among previous recipients are legendary justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Felix Frankfurter, Thurgood Marshall, William J. Brennan, Jr., and Sandra Day O'Connor. Other recipients include Oliver Hill, Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski; human rights activist Father Robert Drinan; co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, William H. Gates Sr.; and attorneys David Boies and Theodore Olson.
Archer is chairman emeritus of Dickinson Wright PLLC. He served two four-year terms as mayor of the City of Detroit (1994-2001) and earned national and international respect for his success in changing Detroit's image and direction.
He is past president of the American Bar Association, breaking the color barrier as the first African-American ABA president in 2003, and has been active in several bar associations, eventually serving as president of the State Bar of Michigan, the Wolverine Bar Association and the National Bar Association.
In addition to his service to the legal profession, Archer serves on the Board of TopBuild (BLD), a publicly-traded company headquartered in Daytona Beach and has served on numerous charitable and civic boards, including the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan.
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Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP
Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP is pleased to announce that Lynn A. Gandhi, a co-leader of the firm's State and Local Tax Practice Group, has been named one of 30 "Women in the Law" for 2016 by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. She will be honored at a luncheon on September 15 at the Detroit Marriott in Troy.
Gandhi is a tax attorney with experience advising clients nationwide on multistate tax issues, assisting with audits and litigating state tax cases. Her practice includes unclaimed property and escheat audits and voluntary disclosures, due diligence support, risk review, and incentive assistance. She is well-versed in tax matters in the City of Detroit, as well as other cities throughout the state. She is a registered lobbyist and a C.P.A.
Gandhi served as an officer of the State Bar of Michigan's Taxation Section for five years and now serves as a past president. She has chaired the Michigan Chamber of Commerce's Tax Policy Committee since 2013 and currently serves on tax advisory committees for the Paul J. Hartman State Tax Forum at Vanderbilt School of Law, CH State Tax and Bloomberg BNA. Admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, she most recently worked pro bono to file an amicus brief on behalf of the Council of State Chambers to the United State Supreme Court. In addition, as a member of the state's Business Tax Advisory Group, she advises the Department of Treasury and the Treasurer in finding ways to improve processes and customer service.
In the December 2014 State Tax Notes, Gandhi was named as one of the "best in the profession." She also authors a State Tax Notes' monthly column, "Smitten with the Mitten," which discusses Michigan tax issues.
Gandhi earned law degrees from New York University Law School and Wayne State University Law School and a B.A. from Kalamazoo College.
In addition, Kimberly A. Yourchock, a partner in the Labor and Employment Department's Wage and Hour Practice Group at Honigman, was appointed president of the Barristers Section of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association. The Barristers Section, comprised of attorneys who have been practicing for less than 10 years, provides new lawyers with the opportunity to expand their leadership skills, become involved in community service projects, attend educational seminars and participate in networking activities.
Yourchock represents employers in state and federal courts and before various administrative agencies in labor and employment matters, including retaliation, harassment, discrimination, breach of contract, and wage and hour matters. She also advises employers regarding employment policies and procedures; best practices for internal investigations; human resources compliance; and employment contracts, including restrictive covenants.
Yourchock earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School. She received a B.A. in political science from Kalamazoo College.
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Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers
Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers' President and Founder Jesse Reiter was awarded the prestigious Dan Cullan Memorial Award from the American Association of Justice (AAJ) and Executive Board of the AAJ Birth Trauma Litigation Group (BTLG). The award was presented on July 23 at the Birth Trauma Litigation Group meeting at the annual AAJ convention, hosted this year in Los Angeles. The BTLG is comprised of lawyers who litigate on the behalf of infants and young children who have had brain injuries due to medical malpractice.
This national lifetime achievement award recognizes Reiter for his dedication and unceasing commitment to excellence in advocacy, as well as for his work for the Birth Trauma Litigation Group and the children it serves.
The award is bestowed on those who exemplify the qualities of Dr. Dan Cullan, an MD and JD who dedicated his career to advocating for children impacted by birth injuries. Cullan was a renowned physician and trial lawyer; he co-founded the American Association of Justice's Birth Trauma Litigation Group, was a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, was President of the American College of Legal Medicine, and served as a professor of Preventive Medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine.
Reiter has been practicing law since 1987; he devoted his career to helping children with birth injuries. His firm, Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers, is one of the few law firms in the nation that focus only on birth injury and birth trauma.
Reiter sits on the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice, and is an executive board member of the Michigan Association for Justice. He is also a former executive board member and chair of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group. Reiter has been consistently selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America by U.S. News and World Report, and is listed as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers Association. He has also won the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel's Respected Advocate Award.
Reiter earned his law degree from Chicago's DePaul University College of Law. He also holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan.
Published: Mon, Aug 15, 2016
