Michigan Association of Justice Past President Jesse Reiter and Emily Thomas of Reiter & Walsh PC co-authored an article titled "Averting Preterm Birth: The Right Care Gives the Best Results" in the July 2016 American Association for Justice Birth Trauma Litigation Group Newsletter.
The article examines the use of cerclage and progesterone for the aversion of preterm delivery and the avoidance of injuries of prematurity; it also delves into management strategies for imminent preterm birth, including betamethasone and magnesium sulfate. The presence or absence of these strategies in an individual birth injury case is a key consideration in evaluating the case's potential success.
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In its annual review of the state's top young attorneys, Michigan Super Lawyers magazine has awarded 15 lawyers from Plunkett Cooney its "Rising Star" honor.
Below is a list of local Plunkett Cooney attorneys who have received the 2016 Michigan Super Lawyer Rising Star designation:
Bloomfield Hills Office
-Hilary A. Ballentine - Appellate.
- Abe Barlaskar - Personal Injury: Defense.
- Karen E. Beach - Appellate.
- Josephine A. DeLorenzo - Appellate.
- Jeffrey S. Hengeveld - Professional Liability: Defense.
- Marc P. Jerabek - Bankruptcy: Business.
- Chase M. Kubica - Personal Injury: Defense.
- Patrick C. Lannen - Banking.
- Megan P. McKnight - Business Litigation.
- Lauren B. McMillen - Insurance Coverage.
- Courtney L. Nichols - Employment & Labor.
- Frank Paolini - Estate & Trust Litigation.
- Patrick E. Winters - Insurance Coverage.
Detroit Office
- Paul J. Dwaihy - Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense.
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Butzel Long attorney Jennifer Dukarski will moderate a panel program on "Accelerating AV Policy" during a Driverless Cities Summit on Oct. 27 in San Mateo, Calif.
The discussion will focus on how a single framework of policy is necessary to effectively integrate cutting-edge mobility solutions. Panelists include: Frank Breust, vice president Government and External Affairs, BMW Group; Emily Castor, director of Transportation Policy, LYFT; and, April L. Sanborn, Driver Programs manager, Department of Motor Vehicles, Nevada.
Dukarski focuses her practice at the intersection of technology and communications with an emphasis on emerging and disruptive issues: digital media, cybersecurity, infotainment, vehicle safety and connected and autonomous cars.
In her practice, she has negotiated contracts for autonomous vehicle components, reviewed contracts involving wireless updates to in-vehicle technology, assisted companies in achieving successful Petitions for Inconsequential Noncompliance with NHTSA and has addressed multiple vehicle component recalls. Dukarski has become a national leader in legal issues facing emerging automotive technology and is the leader of Butzel Long's connected car working group. She also has spearheaded the reporting efforts for two national data breaches and focuses on the threat vectors facing automotive component design.
A self-titled "recovering engineer," Dukarski serves as counsel to the OESA's Product Development Council and has spoken on First Amendment issues ranging from newsgathering in the digital age to the impact of the FBI iPhone strategy. She has been a panelist at the North American International Auto Show for the last two years, covering a broad variety of legal concerns focused on the autonomous and connected car. She has appeared on several television programs, including Autoline and AutoBeat, and in many print interviews (including CIO Magazine, PC World, Bridge Magazine, Computer World and Automotive News) discussing automotive technology and its related legal issues.
Prior to joining Butzel, she gained automotive manufacturing and design experience as a result of high-level quality management and engineering positions. She has worked extensively on successful automotive product launches, managing vendors and Tier One manufacturing facilities. A Six Sigma Master Black Belt, she applies her experience to create innovative approaches to the protection of IP assets and disruptive technology.
Dukarski has experience with field recalls and was a representative to the University of Michigan's CIREN (Crash Injury Research & Engineering Network) and UMPIRE (University of Michigan Program for Injury Research and Education). Working as a design engineer, she received multiple Record of Invention Awards for contributions to patents and trade secrets.
She was recently named a "2016 Honoree for Michigan Women in the Law" by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. She also is among Michigan Super Lawyers "Rising Stars" and DBusiness "Top Lawyers." She is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She serves as a Working Group member with IEEE PAR 1912 (Privacy and Security Architecture for Consumer Wireless Devices) which is focused on setting standards for privacy and security protocols. She also coaches and mentors women engineers.
Recently, she was appointed to serve as the liaison to the American Bar Association's (ABA) Young Lawyers Committee on the Forum on Communications Law Governing Committee. Moreover, Dukarski is an adjunct professor in the Paralegal Program, Intellectual Property, at Baker College.
She is a graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. She's also a graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy College of Engineering and Science.
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At its 2016 Annual Meeting, the Michigan State Bar Foundation elected officers and trustees for 2016-2017 year:
Judge Alfred M. Butzbaugh of Saint Joseph was elected president. Judge Butzbaugh was Chief Judge of the Berrien County Trial Court. He served as Vice President and Chair of the Foundation's Legal Services Grants Committee which manages the Foundation's largest grant program. Butzbaugh was instrumental in the creation of the Access to Justice Campaign during his 1999-2000 presidency of the State Bar of Michigan and is a past recipient of the State Bar's highest honor, the Roberts P. Hudson Award.
Edward H. Pappas was elected vice-president. He is also the secretary of the Fellows of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. Pappas was a former member of the State Bar's Board of Commissioners and was president of the State Bar of Michigan from 2008-2009. Pappas was co-chair of the State Bar's Judicial Crossroad's Task Force. He is a past recipient of the State Bar's highest honor, the Roberts P. Hudson Award. He also served as past president and as a board member of the Oakland County Bar Association. Pappas is chairman and member of Dickinson Wright in Troy.
Lamont E. Buffington was elected treasurer. Buffington retired from the Detroit firm of Garan, Lucow, Miller PC. He chairs the Foundation's Finance and Audit Committee and is a member of its Legal Services Grants Committee. Buffington has held professional memberships in several state, national and international defense trial associations. He is a former commissioner of the State Bar of Michigan and has been a panelist for the Attorney Grievance Commission.
Stefani A. Carter was elected secretary. Carter, of Stefani A. Carter Law, is a member of the Foundation's Finance and Audit and Legal Services Grant Committees. Carter is also past president of the Washtenaw County Bar Association. She has also been an active member of the Washtenaw County Trial Lawyers Association, Vanzetti M. Hamilton Bar Association and the Litigation Advisory Board of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education.
Linda K. Rexer was elected foundation assistant secretary-treasurer. Rexer has been executive director of the Michigan State Bar Foundation since 1987. She is past president of the National Association of IOLTA Programs, past Trustee of the National Conference of Bar Foundations and has served on the ABA Commission on IOLTA. She recently received the State Bar's highest award, the Roberts P. Hudson Award, and was a founding member of the State Bar's Access to Justice Task Force and was Co-Chair of Michigan's Solutions on Self-Help Task Force.
Other trustees elected to three-year terms on the Board of Trustees include: Washtenaw County 15th District Court Judge Elizabeth Pollard Hines and Margaret J. Nichols of Margaret J. Nichols PLLC.
Other Foundation trustees include: Thomas W. Cranmer, Miller, Canfield, Paddock, & Stone; Peter H. Ellsworth, Dickinson Wright PLLC; Julie I. Fershtman, Foster, Swift, Collins, & Smith PC; Michael G. Harrison, retired, Foster, Swift, Collins, & Smith PC; Michigan Court of Appeals Judge William B. Murphy; H. Rhett Pinsky, Pinsky Smith, Fayette, & Kennedy LLP; Richard K. Rappleye, The Kresge Foundation; U.S. District Court Judge Victoria A. Roberts, Eastern District of Michigan; and Richard A. Soble, Soble Rowe Krichbaum LLP.
Ex-Officio Trustees include Michigan Supreme Court Chief Robert P. Young Jr.; Lawrence Patrick Nolan, State Bar of Michigan president; and Donald G. Rockwell, State Bar of Michigan president-elect. Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bridget M. McCormack is the Michigan Supreme Court liaison to the Foundation.
The Foundation, a tax-exempt charitable organization, was established by lawyers and judges in 1947 to fund worthy programs that advance the administration of justice, promote public understanding of the legal system or further the delivery of legal services to the poor. More information on the Foundation can be found at www.msbf.org.
Published: Mon, Oct 24, 2016
