Legal People

Fred K. Herrmann, a partner with Kerr Russell in Detroit, has been sworn in as chair of the State Bar of Michigan (SBM) Representative Assembly for 2016-2017.

Herrmann was sworn in by 37th District Court Judge John M. Chmura on September 22 at the State Bar of Michigan Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids.

He will chair the 150-member Representative Assembly, which is the final policy-making body of the State Bar and was created in 1971 by the Michigan Supreme Court at the request of the SBM Board of Commissioners. Herrmann represents the Third Judicial Circuit in the Assembly.

At Kerr Russell, Herrmann leads a diverse litigation practice focused on class action defense, multidistrict litigation, antitrust, patent and other intellectual property litigation, attorney and other professional liability defense and contract disputes, as well as supply chain and other disputes implicating the Uniform Commercial Code.

He is also a member of the SBM Board of Commissioners and served on the SBM 21st Century Practice Task Force. Herrmann is a member of the Executive Board of the Federal Bar Association, Easter District of Michigan Chapter, and serves as the chapter’s program chair.

Herrmann graduated from the United States Naval Academy, and earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

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Legal Aid and Defender Association Inc. (LAD) has announced the winners of its 2015-2016  “Laddy” awards honoring members of the legal community for their pro bono service to LAD clients:

Pro Bono Attorney of the Year—Maynard L. Timm, retired, General Motors Company, and Teresa H. Sharp, Foley & Mansfield PLLP.

Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year—Dykema and Butzel Long.

Kelvin W. Scott Pro Bono Corporation of the Year—General Motors Co. and Michigan Association of Professional Court Reporters.

Pro Bono Spirit—Joseph A. Doerr, Doerr Law Firm; Kathleen G. Galen, Law Offices of Kathleen G. Galen; 36th District Court Judge B. Pennie Millender; Jonathan E. Osgood, Ford Motor Co.; and Kathleen Parakh, Parakh Law.

Frank D. Eaman Warrior of Justice—Margaret S. Raben, Gurewitz & Raben PLC.

Ed Pokorny Pioneer of Justice Award—Samuel J. Churikian and Richard M. Lynch, Third Judicial Circuit Court Office of the General Counsel.

Friend of LAD—50th District Court Chief Judge Cynthia Thomas Walker and Linda Caurdy Bess, William Beaumont.

LAD will also award Pangborn Pins for 100 hours or more of pro bono service to: Heather L. Bendure, Grosse Pointe Law Center PLLC; Laura Bradshaw Tucker, Gwinn Taurianinen PLLC; Kelly R. Houk, Dykema Gossett PLLC; Brittany D. Parling, Jones Day; Eric S. Polan, solo practitioner; Teresa H. Sharp, Foley & Mansfield PLLP; Maynard L. Timm, retired, General Motors; and Ellen Kaiwne Wu, Miller, Canfield, Paddock, & Stone PLC.
The awards were presented Thursday, Oct. 13, in the historic chief judge’s courtroom of the Theodore Levin United States Courthouse in Detroit.

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The Michigan Supreme Court recently announced that Corbin Davis is retiring after 43 years of service. Davis served for 40 years as clerk of the court and for the past three years as reporter of decisions. The reporter of decisions publishes Supreme Court and Court of Appeals decisions and court rules.

“Corbin’s dedication to the Supreme Court is truly legendary,” said Chief Justice Robert P. Young Jr. “At the Hall of Justice, we were in awe of the time when roads were impassable because of a massive snowstorm, and he actually walked to work. Thanks to Corbin, the clerk’s window opened on time. His 43 years of service to our Court is a career unlikely to be matched.  We all wish Corbin well as he tends to his garden instead of our opinions and orders.”

After stepping down as clerk of the Supreme Court, Davis received the Frank J. Kelley Distinguished Public Service Award from the State Bar of Michigan in 2014.  In nominating him, attorney John Jacobs wrote that Davis had “an indefatigable sense of dedication punctuated by his brilliance, honesty, integrity, and understated evenhandedness, all while retaining his inherent ‘niceness’ and demonstrating a puckish sense of humor so dry he would make the British appear to be rollicking comedians.”

Highlights of Davis’s service to the court include:

• 108 Michigan reports were published during his tenure.

• 113,944 orders were issued.  If laid end to end, that is 19 miles of orders.

• And 5,130 Supreme Court opinions were processed, written by 30 justices.

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Nemeth Law PC announced that Michael J. Bommarito has joined the firm as a senior attorney.  The announcement was made by Nemeth Law founding partner Patricia Nemeth.

Immediately prior to joining Nemeth Law, Bommarito was an attorney with an Oakland County firm where  he litigated cases  in state, federal and appellate courts and before the National Labor Relations Board, the Michigan Employment Relations Commission, the EEOC and other administrative agencies and tribunals. His legal experience, which involved several multi-million dollar cases, included healthcare class action lawsuits, ERISA collections, benefits, employment discrimination and unfair labor practices.

Bommarito also worked for the City of Detroit Labor Relations Division where he was involved with grievances, Act 312 arbitration and collective bargaining agreements for multiple unions in a variety of occupations.  He worked in a two attorney firm immediately out of law school, where the largest client was a major Michigan healthcare professional association. Bommarito has practiced in Michigan circuit courts, the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court, federal district courts (eastern and western districts) and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Bommarito earned a law degree from the Michigan State University College of Law and a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Wayne State University.

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Employment law attorney Clifford Hammond and business and commercial litigation attorney Jonathan Schwartz joined Foster Swift’s Southfield office.

Hammond is an employment and labor law attorney, in both counsel and litigation. His expertise focuses on the National Labor Relations Act, Michigan Employment Relations Commission, union avoidance and dispute resolution. Hammond is also co-chair of the Labor & Employment Committee for the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel and has been named to the Michigan Super Lawyers, “Rising Star” list as well as Michigan Lawyers Weekly, “Up & Coming” Class of 2010.

Schwartz is a member of the firm’s litigation practice group, focusing on representing businesses and individuals in a wide variety of complex litigation matters in state and federal courts. Schwartz was recently named a DBusiness Top Lawyer, one of the Oakland County Executive’s Elite 40 Under 40, and the recipient of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association’s “One to Watch” Award. Schwartz also serves on the boards of several professional, civic and community organizations, including the Jewish Bar Association of Michigan, NextGen Detroit and the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Foundation for Kids.

Foster Swift recently relocated to Southfield from Farmington Hills to a new state-of-the-art office located at One Northwestern Plaza.

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Michigan Super Lawyers magazine recently named several attorneys from Plunkett Cooney to its 2016 list of “Super Lawyers.”

For the tenth consecutive year, Mary Massaron, Plunkett Cooney’s Appellate Law Practice Group leader, has received special recognition by the magazine – inclusion among the state’s top 100 attorneys and top 50 women lawyers.

Below is a list of local Plunkett Cooney’s partners who have received the 2016 Michigan Super Lawyer designation:

Bloomfield Hills office members:
• Michael P. Ashcraft Jr. – Professional Liability: Defense.
• Douglas C. Bernstein – Bankruptcy.
• Charles W. Browning – Insurance Coverage.
• Henry B. Cooney – Civil Litigation Defense.
• Lawrence R. Donaldson – Alternative Dispute Resolution.
• Jeffrey C. Gerish – Appellate.
• Robert G. Kamenec – Appellate.
• Mark S. Kopson – Health Care.
• Stanley C. Moore III – Employment & Labor.
• Kenneth C. Newa – Insurance Coverage.
• Anthony J. Rusciano – Business Litigation.
• Scott H. Sirich – Construction Litigation.
• Thomas P. Vincent  – Professional Liability: Defense.
• Michael D. Weaver – Employment Litigation Defense

Detroit office members:
• Loretta M. Ames – Personal Injury Defense: General.
• D. Jennifer Andreou – Personal Injury Defense: Medical Malpractice.
• James R. Geroux – Workers’ Compensation.
• Stanley A. Prokop – Insurance Coverage.
• Mary Catherine Rentz – Insurance Coverage.
• Matthew J. Stanczyk – Personal Injury Defense: Products.

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Southfield-based multi-specialty law firm Maddin, Hauser, Roth, & Heller PC is pleased to announce the addition of associate attorney Matthew B. Theunick to its Consumer Finance Regulatory Compliance and Real Property Litigation practice group.

The announcement was made by the firm’s President and CEO, Steven D. Sallen.

Graduating from Oakland University in 1996 and from the Valparaiso University School of Law in 2001, Theunick has nearly 15 years of experience in litigation and mortgage banking. He specializes in appellate, real estate, and financial services litigation, along with regulatory compliance and risk management. Theunick’s experience includes having worked in the regulatory compliance department of a national depository institution.

He is admitted to practice by the State Bars of Michigan and Illinois and is also admitted to the Federal District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

An avid legal writer, Theunick has published numerous articles on trending real property law and compliance issues, including: “Kim v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA - Mortgage Transfers by Operation of Law,” published in the Michigan Real Property Review (Fall 2012/Winter 2013, Volume 39); “HOA Talk: Michigan - Condo Association Fees Upon Acquisition of Title,” published in the USFN (Spring 2014); “Facing the Fall-Out from the 10-Year Anniversary of the Commercial Lending Surge,” published in the Real Estate Journal (April 2014); “Regulation X: Borrower Requests for Loan Servicing File,” published in the USFN (December 2014); and “Revisiting the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007,” published in the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan (April 2013).

Theunick was recognized in 2013 as a Michigan Super Lawyers® Rising Star in Business Litigation and in 2014 as a Top Lawyer in Real Estate Law by DBusiness Magazine.

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Metro Detroit birth injury law firm Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers welcomes new associate attorney Ewa Pasik to the team. Ewa joins Reiter & Walsh PC from the Wayne County Circuit Court and brings with her a deep passion for helping individuals with birth injuries and disabilities. A graduate of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Pasik has set her sights on helping make the legal system more navigable for those with birth injuries.

“My brother was born with cerebral palsy. As time passed, my parents decided to move to the United States because there were more opportunities for him here. Navigating the U.S medical system and the bureaucracy of paperwork was very intimidating since we didn’t know the English language when we moved here. Seeing the struggles and successes of my own family gave me a unique perspective on the problems facing individuals with disabilities, especially those who lacked access to certain resources and support. I’d like to help these people get the support they need to live fulfilling lives.”

Pasik comes to Reiter & Walsh PC with a background in legal research and writing, having interned for four terms at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan with then-Chief Judge Gerald E. Rosen. She then worked as a contributing attorney editor for the Rutter Group and as a judicial research attorney with the Wayne County Circuit Court under Judge Michael F. Sapala and Judge Maria L. Oxholm.