Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC is pleased to announce that Marcus A. Smetka has joined the firm. He will practice out of the firm's Royal Oak office.
Smetka concentrates his practice in intellectual property with an emphasis on patent and trademark prosecution. In the area of patent prosecution, his focus is primarily in the electromechanical arts. He has experience preparing utility and design applications patent applications, as well as responding to Office Actions and preparing patentability opinions. He also has experience prosecuting trademark applications and advising clients on trademark filing strategies. He has assisted clients prosecuting patents related to automotive, agricultural implement, home appliance, and medical instrument technologies, as well as prosecuting trademarks in the sports equipment and apparel industry.
Smetka has experience working with clients that range from solo inventors to large corporations. His past legal experience includes working at an intellectual property boutique firm, as well as in-house for a growing corporation, to develop strategies for protecting intellectual property rights.
Smetka received his law degrees from the University of New Hampshire School of Law in 2013 and his B.S. from Saginaw Valley State University in 2009. He is licensed to practice in the States of Iowa and North Carolina and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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Varnum is pleased to announce that Jordan S. Dizik has joined the firm. An experienced associate attorney who practices family law and litigation, Dizik will be based in the firm's Detroit office.
Dizik represents clients in family law matters including child custody, divorce, paternity, prenuptial agreements and child/spousal support. He is an experienced litigator. He regularly handles matters in Genesee, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne county circuit courts and often represents high-profile clients including professional athletes and entertainers.
Dizik is a graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and Eastern Michigan University. He is recognized by Super Lawyers® as a Rising Star and was named "Best Divorce Lawyer" by Hour Magazine for the past several years. He joins Varnum from the law firm of Hauer & Snover, based in Bingham Farms.
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Collins, Einhorn, Farrell PC is pleased to announce that attorney Kyle M. Dysarz has joined the firm's Insurance Coverage practice group.
Dysarz provides clients with formal opinions on the coverages afforded by commercial general liability, business owners, homeowners, and umbrella insurance policies, and he assists with drafting reservations of rights and declinations as needed. He also litigates declaratory judgment actions in connection with claims of bodily injury, property damage, construction defects, personal and advertising injury, and toxic torts. In addition to his focus on insurance coverage, Dysarz also has experience as a defense litigator and has handled a variety of complex disputes, including wrongful death claims, construction defect claims, and bad faith insurance claims.
Dysarz received a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University in 2010, and a law degree from Michigan State University College of Law in 2013.
In addition, Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is pleased to announce that attorney MaryRachel Dysarz has joined the firm's General and Automotive Liability practice group. Ms. Dysarz focuses her practice on general liability and first- and third-party automotive defense. She provides clients with guidance through the litigation process, beginning from the discovery phase through trial.
Ms. Dysarz has vast experience preparing and successfully arguing motions for summary disposition on behalf of clients. In addition to her automotive liability background, Dysarz has also handled medical/dental professional liability, premise liability, and general negligence cases.
Ms. Dysarz received a Bachelor of Arts from Olivet Nazarene University in 2010 and went on to obtain a law degree from Michigan State University College of Law in 2013.
In an effort to use her law degree to serve our country and state, Ms. Dysarz is also a judge advocate general officer in the Michigan Army National Guard.
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Land use and business law firm Dalton & Tomich PLC announced the promotion of attorney Katharine Brink Harrison to senior associate. Harrison joined the Detroit-based firm in 2011.
Harrison focuses her practice on land use and zoning law. Her expertise has helped Dalton & Tomich cement its reputation as a national leader in litigation involving the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Harrison has partnered with churches, mosques and other religious institutions across the country. Most recently, she helped bring about a successful resolution for the American Islamic Cultural Center in its federal mosque land use case against the City of Sterling Heights.
Her other RLUIPA victories include: Academy of Our Lady of Peace Catholic High School v. City of San Diego, California; Lighthouse Rescue Mission v. Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and Church of Our Savior v. Jacksonville Beach, Florida. In addition to her RLUIPA practice, Harrison counsels religious and nonprofit organizations in legal matters such as incorporation, organizational structuring and obtaining federal tax-exempt status.
Harrison has been named a Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Star in the area of land use and zoning law. She is a member of the Detroit Bar Association's Barristers Board, Women Lawyers Association of Michigan-Wayne Region, and Federal Bar Association. Harrison also has participated in the Detroit Bar Association's Inn of Court program since 2013.
She is admitted to practice in the state of Michigan, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Harrison is a 2012 graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. She received her B.A. in psychology and Spanish from Albion College in 2008.
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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder recently announced the appointment of Mariam Bazzi to Wayne County Circuit Court.
Bazzi, of Dearborn, has been an assistant prosecuting attorney in Wayne County since 2006, and is currently the lead attorney of the Deed and Mortgage Fraud Task Force, specializing in complex mortgage and real property related fraud. She has handled complex criminal cases for Wayne County for the trial division and has been assigned to multiple district courts in Wayne County, handling felony and misdemeanor matters. She began her career at the Law Offices of Hamood, Runco & Fergestrom as a law clerk and was later hired at the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
As a trustee for the Dearborn Board of Education, Bazzi also currently serves as the vice president. She is a member of the Michigan Middle Eastern Affairs Commission, the Governor's Environmental Justice Task Force, the Dearborn/Dearborn Heights League of Women Voters, and the Arab American Political Action Committee. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and Wayne County's Government Bar Association. She was a participant of the Harvard Young American Leadership Program in 2016.
Bazzi earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 2001 and her law degree from Wayne State University Law School Law in 2005. She fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Daphne Curtis. Bazzi must seek election in November 2018 for the remainder of the term. She will need to again run in 2020 for a full term.
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Managing Partner Andrew B. Wachler announced that Jesse A. Markos has been made a partner at Wachler & Associates PC. Markos practices in all areas of health care law and devotes a substantial portion of his practice to representing health care providers with licensure, medical staff privileging and credentialing matters. He also regularly represents providers in transactional, corporate, and regulatory compliance matters and in the defense of Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross, and other third party payor audits.
Markos has been recognized as a Michigan Rising Star by Super Lawyers. He is admitted to practice in the State Bar of Michigan and before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He is also an active member of the Health Care Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan and the American Health Lawyers Association.
Markos graduated from Wayne State University Law School and Western Michigan University.
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Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that attorney Lynn Capp Sirich has joined the firm's Troy office as a member where she will lead the firm's Southeast Michigan family law practice.
With more than 25 years of experience in all areas of family and domestic relations law, Sirich skillfully guides her clients through the legal process, always mindful of the fact that she is dealing with emotional and stressful situations. Her range of services includes divorce, complex property settlement, business valuation issues; child and spousal support matters; prenuptial and postnuptial agreements; annulment and separation matters; custody, parenting time and grand parenting time issues; guardianships; step parent adoption; change of domicile, personal protection orders; Friend of the Court matters; enforcement and post judgment issues. When disputes end up in the courtroom, Sirich is a seasoned litigator. Sirich has also served as a guardian ad litem for children.
Sirich is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, the Oakland County Bar Association, the Wayne County Family Law Bar Association, the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, and the Michigan Inter-Professional Association. She is a Life Fellow and serves as secretary of the Board of Trustees for the Oakland County Bar Foundation. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Humble Design, a non-profit organization that helps families transitioning out of homeless shelters. Sirich is recognized as a leader in her field by DBusiness Top Lawyers.
Sirich received her B.A. from Michigan State University, James Madison College, and her law degree from the Detroit College of Law.
Published: Mon, May 08, 2017
