LEGAL PEOPLE

Oakland County Probate Court

Oakland County Probate Court Chief Judge Linda S. Hallmark was recently awarded the 2017 Distinguished Public Servant Award from the Oakland County Bar Association.  Hallmark is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School and Michigan State University Honors College.  

Hallmark was appointed to the Probate Court in 1997 and has served as presiding judge of the Circuit Court Family Division as well as chief probate judge.  She is a former chairperson of the State Bar of Michigan Family Law Section, the Oakland County Bar Association Family Law Committee, and was appointed by three Michigan governors to serve on the Governor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect.  

Hallmark is a presenter for the bi-annual Michigan Judicial Institute New Judge School.  She was a member of the State Bar Representative Assembly and the Attorney Grievance Commission.  Prior to her appointment to the bench, Hallmark served as an Oakland County Friend of the Court referee and practiced probate law with the firm of May and May in Detroit.  She has devoted her career to Family Law and Probate issues and is a frequent author and lecturer for ICLE, MJI, OCBA, and the State Bar of Michigan.  

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Warner, Norcross, & Judd LLP
Malachi Alston has joined the law firm of Warner, Norcross, & Judd LLP as senior counsel.

Alston concentrates his practice on private fund and investment adviser law, as well as business and corporate matters. He regularly advises investment advisers, commodity pool operators, commodity trading advisors and private equity sponsors on formation and compliance issues. He also counsels issuers on public reporting and filings as well as general corporate governance matters.

Alston will practice in the firm’s Southfield office.

Prior to joining Warner Norcross, Alston was senior counsel at Alston & Bird LLP in New York City.

Alston earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Michigan and his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

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Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, & Rivers
Robin Wagner has joined Royal Oak law firm Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, & Rivers. The announcement was made by firm co-founding partner Cary McGehee.

Prior to joining the firm, Wagner served in federal courts as law clerk for U.S. Disgtrict Court Judge Judith E. Levy, Eastern District of Michigan,  and U.S. Disgtrict Court Judge Michael H. Dolinger, Southern District of New York.

Before she became an attorney, Wagner served as associate dean, dean, and vice president at several universities. In those positions, she was responsible for curriculum development, directed foreign study programs in Asia and conducted strategic planning activities at the University of Chicago.

Wagner also developed educational programs at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History.

The Baltimore native graduated from DePaul University College of Law in 2014 with a certificate in public interest law.  She earned an undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University.  She is fluent in Mandarin.

In addition, Channing Robinson-Holmes has joined Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, & Rivers as associate attorney. The announcement was made by firm co-founding partner Cary McGehee.

As a law clerk with the firm, Robinson-Holmes worked on two of the firm’s large class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of thousands of Flint residents affected by the city’s water crisis and thousands of state residents falsely accused of fraud by the State of Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency.

She has also assisted in many of the firm’s other civil and employment rights cases involving workplace discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment and violations of the Family Medical Leave Act and Fair Labor Standards Act.

Prior to joining the firm, Robinson-Holmes was an intern at Sugar Law Center for Social & Economic Justice, Center for Civil Justice and the Goodman Kalahar law firm.

Robinson-Holmes earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, where she majored in English literature and European history.  She is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School. 
Robinson-Holmes is also a member of the National Lawyers Guild.

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Varnum LLP

Varnum is once again ranked in the latest edition of Chambers USA.

Varnum was ranked in the areas of Banking & Finance, Corporate/M&A, Labor & Employment and Real Estate. The firm was also recognized for Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation.

Chambers highlighted the following about Varnum in the 2017 edition:

• Banking and Finance—Varnum was one of seven firms ranked in Michigan)

• Corporate/M&A—Varnum was one of 11 firms ranked in Michigan)

• Labor & Employment—Varnum was one of 13 firms ranked in Michigan)

• Real Estate—Varnum was one of 11 firms ranked in Michigan.)

Chambers also recognized the following local Varnum attorneys in 2017:

• Richard Hooker’s (labor and employment).

• David McLeod (banking and corporate experience).

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Hewson & Van Hellemont PC

Hewson & Van Hellemont PC announces the firm’s expansion with the addition of eight attorneys from the firm of Raftery, Janeczek, & Hoelscher PC.

Established in 1991 with four attorneys, Hewson & Van Hellemont currently has three offices with more than 65 attorneys. The firm offers client support in Michigan and Florida.

Three individuals, Gregory Hoelscher, Lisa Janeczek, and Louis Stefanic, will join Hewson & Van Hellemont as partners bringing their expertise to support the firm’s commitment to clients and guiding principles to pay valid claims promptly and to aggressively defend fraudulent, inflated or contrived claims. Joining as shareholders are: Ross Brunetti, Mary Doll, Joshua Haller, Casey Krause, and Timothy M. O’Connor.

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Dickinson Wright PLLC

Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that the firm’s Labor and Employment and Corporate/M&A practices have been ranked by The Legal 500 United States 2017. In addition, five attorneys from Michigan received individual recognition in the guide.

The Legal 500 United States 2017 recognized the following Dickinson Wright practices:

• Labor and Employment – Labor and Employment Disputes (including Collective Actions): Defense.

• M&A/Corporate and Commercial – M&A: Middle-Market (sub-$500m).

The Legal 500 United States 2017 recognized the following Dickinson Wright attorneys in Michigan as Recommended Lawyers:

Labor and Employment – Labor and Employment Disputes (including Collective Actions): Defense

Timothy Howlett (Detroit)

Kathryn Wood (Troy)

M&A/Corporate and Commercial – M&A: Middle-Market (sub-$500m)

Richard Bolton (Detroit)

Mark High (Detroit)

Andrew MacLeod (Detroit)

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Bodman PLC

Chambers USA has rated Bodman PLC as one of Michigan’s top business law firms.

In the newly released 2017 edition, Chambers again placed Bodman in “band one” (the highest possible rating) for Banking & Finance. Bodman has been the sole Michigan law firm ranked in band one for Banking & Finance for more than a decade.

Chambers ranked Bodman among Michigan’s top law firms in Corporate/M&A, Commercial Litigation, Real Estate, and Labor & Employment, and recognized the firm for expertise in Employee Benefits work.

Chambers also ranks individual lawyers based on their legal knowledge and experience, effectiveness, and client service.  All previously listed Bodman attorneys maintained their rankings, with several moving up a band. Attorneys were ranked in six of the seven practice areas that Chambers evaluates in Michigan, including:

• Banking & Finance: Robert J. Diehl Jr., Scott P. Gyorke, Kathleen O’Callaghan Hickey, Joseph J. Kochanek, Ralph E. McDowell, Larry R. Shulman, Daniel C. Watson, and Wendy L. Zabriskie.

• Commercial Litigation: Dennis J. Levasseur, Joseph J. Shannon, and Thomas J. Tallerico.

• Corporate/M&A: Timothy R. Damschroder, Laurence B. Deitch, Carrie Leahy, and Mark W. Peters.

• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation: David B. Walters.

• Labor & Employment: John C. Cashen, Steven J. Fishman, and Karen L. Piper.

• Real Estate: Nicholas P. Scavone Jr. and Andrew Z. Spilkin.

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U.S. Commission  on Civil Rights Michigan Advisory Committee

Two members of the faculty at Wayne State University Law School and one alumnus have been appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Michigan Advisory Committee.

They are: Jocelyn Benson, director of the Levin Center at Wayne Law and former dean; Professor Kingsley R. Browne; and Roland Hwang, Wayne Law class of 1980 (J.D.) and class of 1984 (LL.M.).

According to a news release issued by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Advisory Committee members conduct reviews and produce reports and recommendations concerning local civil rights issues, including justice, voting, discrimination, housing, education and other important themes. Appointees serve four-year terms.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency charged with advising the president and Congress on civil rights matters and issuing an annual federal civil rights enforcement report.

Benson served as dean of Wayne Law from 2012 to 2016, and is currently director of the Levin Center at Wayne Law. She is CEO of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), a venture led by professional sports organizations and networks to improve race relations in America.

Benson is on the board of the Southern Poverty Law Center as well as iCivics, a national nonprofit organization founded by retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to improve civics education throughout the country.

Benson earned her law degree from Harvard Law School, a master’s of philosophy from Oxford University, and her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College.                 

Browne, professor of law, previously was a partner in the San Francisco-based law firm of Morrison & Foerster, where he specialized in labor and employment law. He also clerked for Colorado Supreme Court Justice Luis Rovira and then for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White.

Browne earned his law degree from the University of Denver, his master’s degree from the University of Colorado, and his bachelor’s degree from George Washington University.

Hwang practices immigration law, having retired from the Michigan Department of Attorney General after 27 years of service. In 1983, he co-founded American Citizens for Justice/Asian American Center for Justice, a civil rights organization. He has served as a hearing referee for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

Hwang earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan.

In addition, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Professor Khaled Beydoun has been appointed to serve on the Michigan State Advisory Committee for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Beydoun will join other citizen volunteers on the committee in assisting the Commission with its fact-finding, investigative, and information dissemination functions.

Beydoun was recently named as the recipient of the 2017 James T. Barnes, Sr. Memorial Faculty Scholar Award at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. This award recognizes a faculty member’s outstanding scholarship, teaching excellence, and public service.

A prolific scholar who works tirelessly to make his scholarship accessible to those adversely impacted by our country’s policies towards immigrant and Muslim communities, Beydoun has gained an international audience through frequent media commentary and his social media feeds.

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Plunkett Cooney

 Plunkett Cooney recently announced that attorney Mark S. Kopson, a director of the firm and chair of its Health Care Industry Group, has been elected to the American Health Lawyers Association’s (AHLA) Board of Directors for a three-year term commencing on July 1.

A member of the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, Kopson has been a member of the AHLA since 1987 and has served the organization in a number of roles, including as chair and as a vice chair of the Payers, Plans and Managed Care Practice group, as chair of the Managed Care Contracting Affinity Group, and as a member of the Board’s Mentoring Committee. In addition, Kopson is a regular speaker at AHLA programs and is a contributing author of several AHLA publications.

Kopson has practiced health care law for nearly 30 years with special emphasis on matters related to managed care. He represents plans, payers and providers in Michigan and throughout the United States. He has experience and expertise in the areas of clinically integrated networks of hospitals, physicians, ambulatory surgery centers and ancillary providers, managed care negotiation, contracting and dispute resolution, value-based reimbursement and revenue cycle, as well as regulatory compliance and agency investigation response.

In addition to his service to AHLA, Kopson has served as the chair and secretary of the State Bar of Michigan’s Health Care Law Section. He is also the recipient of numerous honors, including recognition among The Best Lawyers in America® for Health Care Law, 2014-2017 and designations as a Michigan Super Lawyer in Health Care by Michigan Super Lawyers, 2014-2016, a Leading Lawyer in Health Law by Leading Lawyers Magazine Michigan, 2015, and a Top Lawyer in Health Care Law by dbusiness Magazine, 2014-2015. Kopson has also received Martindale Hubbell’s highest peer review rating – AV® Preeminent™.

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Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP has bolstered its presence in Metro Detroit with the addition of Andrey Tomkiw to the firm. A partner in the Labor and Employment Department, Tomkiw will expand Dinsmore’s services in Troy.

Tomkiw counsels business owners on a range of issues including litigation avoidance, wage and hour, general corporate matters, and sophisticated employee relations. His litigation experience includes sophisticated employment defense litigation, non-compete enforcement, shareholder dispute litigation, and other complex employment matters. He has represented business owners in front of numerous state and federal agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Labor Relations Board, Unemployment Insurance Agency and the Department of Labor. Prior to joining Dinsmore, Tomkiw was the managing member of Tomkiw Mackewich PLC, a Royal Oak-based business boutique law firm.  

Tomkiw has been named a top attorney in the state of Michigan for eight consecutive years by Super Lawyers Magazine and holds an AVVO 10/10 Superb Rating. In addition to his professional achievements, Tomkiw is an active member of the Royal Oak business community, where he has served on a number of local boards and organizations, including two terms as president of the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce.
“I’m excited to join a firm as well-respected as Dinsmore,” said Tomkiw. “I spoke with several firms but Dinsmore was clearly the best fit. The addition of my practice to Dinsmore’s plan for growth gives our firm increased visibility and opportunities to better serve our clients.”  

Tomkiw earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in biology and chemistry and his law degree from Wayne State University Law School.