Attorney Brian K. Mitzel recently joined Plunkett Cooney as a member of the firm's Tort & Litigation Practice Group.
A member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office, Mitzel focuses his litigation practice primarily in the areas of premises liability, property and casualty, and general liability. Admitted to practice in Michigan, he is a member of the State Bar of Michigan.
Prior to joining Plunkett Cooney, Mitzel worked as a file clerk, an administrative clerk and a research clerk for the firm.
In 2016, Mitzel received his law degree from University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Wayne State University in 2013.
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The American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section will honor Southfield, Mich., lawyer Julie I. Fershtman with its Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award. The award recognizes exceptional work by an Animal Law Committee member who, through commitment and leadership, has advanced the humane treatment of animals through the law. It will be presented at the ABA Annual Meeting in New York City during a reception on Friday, Aug. 11, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
Fershtman is an equity shareholder with Foster, Swift, Collins, & Smith PC. Her practice is primarily focused on business litigation (plaintiff and defense), general insurance defense, insurance coverage, premises liability, sales disputes, sporting and recreational liability, contract disputes, fraud litigation and equine law.
She is a graduate of Emory College (1983) and Emory Law School (1986) and is a member of the American Bar Association, where she served as a vice-chair of the TIPS Animal Law Committee and a past member of the ABA House of Delegates. Fershtman has authored two books and contributed to four books published by the ABA. She has written more than 400 published articles, including five for the ABA Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section Law Journal.
Fershtman is a past president of the State Bar of Michigan and the fifth woman to be elected its president. She was named "2016 Woman of the Year" for the State of Michigan by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. In addition, Fershtman is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® 2013-17 for Business Litigation and Insurance Law. Michigan Lawyers Weekly named her a 2010 "Leader in the Law." Michigan Super Lawyers® listed her from 2008-16 and named her one of the "Top 25 Women Business Lawyers" in Michigan for 2013-16 and one of the "Top 50 Women Lawyers" in Michigan for 2013-16.
The ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section unites plaintiff, defense, insurance and corporate counsel to advance the civil justice system. TIPS is a national source of expertise in tort, trial and insurance practice and brings lawyers together to share information and speak out on issues of importance. The section has over 20,000 members and more than 30 general committees that focus on substantive and procedural matters in areas across the broad spectrum of civil law and practice. For more information about the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, visit the TIPS website, www.americanbar.org/tips.
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Ogletree Deakins is pleased to welcome Bill Pilchak and Dan Cohen as shareholders in the firm's Detroit (Metro) office. Both attorneys have more than three decades of labor and employment law experience and join Ogletree Deakins from Pilchak & Cohen, a boutique labor and employment law firm owned by the two attorneys.
A former senior trial attorney for the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, Pilchak has conducted dozens of jury trials in state and federal courts. He is a frequent lecturer and author on employment law topics, addressing such groups as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants, the Oakland County District Judges Association, and the Michigan Court Administrators Association. He was appointed to the American Bar Association's National Sexual Harassment Mock Trial Defense Team and the ABA Mock Trial Faculty for the National Institute for the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Pilchak has briefed Congressional staffers and members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on issues related to the ADA and the FMLA. He has addressed groups across North America on the psychiatric profile of plaintiffs in sexual harassment cases, including an address at the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association. Pilchak earned his law degree from the University of Detroit.
Cohen devotes a large part of his practice to assisting human resource professionals with the administration of workplace policies and procedures, with an emphasis on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), discrimination, harassment, and retaliation under Title VII and state law, wage and hour compliance, affirmative action, union negotiations and contract administration, arbitration, and union elections. Cohen
has experience litigating in state and federal court, before the National Labor Relations Board and Michigan Employment Relations Commission. He regularly defends class and collective actions, and enforces restrictive covenants. Cohen earned his law degree from George Washington University.
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Lisa Dwyer, co-founder of The Steingold & Dwyer Law Group, is celebrating twenty years practicing in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
"I feel I have done a really great job for my clients this past twenty years," said Dwyer, who focuses on criminal defense and entertainment law. "It's nice to reflect on and to think of my client successes. I look forward to serving my clients well into the future."
Dwyer began her career as a public defender in Wayne County and later opened her own practice in Detroit. She then moved her office to the City of Clawson, where she served as mayor for two terms from 2003-2007. Dwyer then returned to Detroit and teamed up with criminal defense attorney David Steingold.
Dwyer, a member of the Federal Bar Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Criminal Defense Association of Michigan, has defended more than 200 trials throughout her career. She has represented people in almost every county of Michigan, with nearly all of clients being found not guilty.
Dwyer is currently representing a client (defendant) in a high-profile Michigan medical marijuana case (Case No. 15-cr-20800 filed in the United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division) stemming from the manufacture of a destructive device, as a "prohibited person," to defend his marijuana plants. The defendant had a medical marijuana card due to migraines he suffered as a result of a closed head injury he received during a violent attack by gang members in his neighborhood. He was charged with the manufacture of a destructive device, possession of an unregistered destructive device, possession of a destructive device by a prohibited person, and possession of explosive materials by a prohibited person. Dwyer's client has countered these allegations as he was lawfully using his medicine pursuant to the State of Michigan's medical marijuana laws.
In addition to criminal defense, Dwyer, a member of the Americana Music Association, focuses on entertainment law. She represents musicians, songwriters, producers, labels and other industry players in agency contracts, recording contracts, negotiating a record deal, reviewing or drafting a recording contract, management contracts, performance contracts, copyright and trademark and royalties and residuals.
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Kienbaum, Opperwall, Hardy, & Pelton, a Birmingham based law firm, has been named by Chambers USA's Client Guide to America's Leading Lawyers for Business as Michigan's top labor and employment law practice.
The Birmingham firm is located at 280 North Old Woodward, Suite 400, and represents management clients in all aspects of labor and employment law.
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Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that Susan M. Kornfield, chair of the firm's Intellectual Property Practice Group, has received the 2017 State Bar of Michigan IP Section Excellence in Intellectual Property Award.
The award ceremony took place at the 43rd Annual Intellectual Property Law Institute held on Mackinac Island on Friday, July 21. Kornfield was nominated for the award by IP Law Section members and she was selected for the award by the IP Law Section Council. She is only the third recipient of the Excellence in Intellectual Property Award.
In her practice, Kornfield assists clients in intellectual property matters, including trademark registration and enforcement, technology development and licensing, copyrights, online commerce, economic espionage, and unfair competition. She is a certified mediator and handles a wide range of IP disputes. Kornfield is an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan Law School and a regular speaker at CLE conferences. She has contributed pro bono legal services for more than 30 years and is co-chair of Bodman's Pro Bono Committee.
Kornfield has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Michigan Super Lawyers, and DBusiness "Top Lawyers" as a preeminent IP practitioner. She is currently the Best Lawyers in America Trademark "Lawyer of the Year" for Ann Arbor. The internationally-recognized journal Managing Intellectual Property 2017 recently selected Kornfield as a "Trademark Star" and ranked Bodman as Michigan's leading law firm for Trademark matters.
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Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that attorney Katheryne L. Zelenock has been named a "Woman Worth Watching" by Profiles in Diversity Journal.
The 16th Annual Women Worth Watching leadership issue recognizes dynamic professional women who are using their talents and influence to change our workplaces and our world. Nominated by their employers or colleagues, these accomplished executives are from corporate organizations, world-class educational institutions, the armed forces, and nonprofit groups.
As chair of the Dickinson Wright's Women's Network, Zelenock has expanded the firm's efforts to support and advance women attorneys within the firm and the practice of law. Under her leadership, the Women's Network has instituted training and professional development coaching for its female attorneys to help them grow their book of business and to advance in the legal profession. The Women's Network also sponsors attendance by women attorneys at a variety of leadership and professional conferences and seminars, helps to promote women attorneys for professional recognition, and supports scholarships and charitable organizations that focus on the needs of women and children in the communities where we do business. Zelenock also recently led a collaborative project with the University of Michigan Ross School of Business to assess Dickinson Wright's progress toward diversity and inclusion objectives.
Zelenock is a member in the firm's Real Estate Group in the Troy office. In her practice, she leads a team that closes commercial and multifamily mortgage loans across the country on behalf of leading national lenders as well as smaller regional and local banks, including multifamily and manufactured housing community loans originated for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She is also experienced in matters related to troubled properties and owners, and the modification, restructuring and workout of financing arrangements, including related litigation and due diligence.
Zelenock is a member of the American Bar Association, the Mortgage Bankers' Association of America, Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, International Council of Shopping Centers, and the Oakland County Bar Association. She is an elected member of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and is recognized as a leader in her field by Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Michigan Super Lawyers, and Dbusiness magazine.
Zelenock received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School.
Published: Mon, Aug 07, 2017
