Legal People

Warner, Norcross, & Judd LLP has welcomed Asama L. Itseumah to the firm as a new attorney.

Itseumah joins the firm after completing a legal externship with U.S. Court of Appeals Judge  Ann Claire Williams, Seventh Circuit in Chicago. Itseumah will be based in the firm’s Southfield office.

He also interned with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Chicago and Mondelez International Inc., a Fortune 100 company based in Deerfield, Illinois. Itseumah also served as a clerk with Blake Horwitz Law Firm in Chicago.

Itseumah earned a bachelor of arts in psychology from Northern Illinois University in Dekalb and his law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where he was senior editor of the Loyola University Chicago International Law Review. He also volunteered with the New York Homeless Youth Project. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan.

In addition, Warner Norcross & Judd LLP has been ranked one of the “Best Law Firms” by Best Lawyers and U.S. News & World Report.
The firm’s offices in Southfield and Macomb County were recognized with a first-tier ranking in the legal areas of closely held companies and family businesses, commercial litigation, corporate, employee benefits, environmental, health care, regulatory enforcement litigation, non-profit and charities, bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law, and tax.

Warner Norcross also has 97 attorneys listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2018. Attorneys from each of the firm’s eight offices were featured in the 2018 listings, which were released earlier this year.

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Attorney Kaveh Kashef has joined Butzel Long as a shareholder practicing in Butzel Long’s Bloomfield Hills office. He specializes in complex litigation in the fields of automotive, shareholder disputes, employment, commercial, construction, riparian rights and real property law. He has prepared and succeeded in numerous trials, arbitrations and appeals in various states across the country.

In addition to handling litigation in a wide range of industries, Kashef represents traditional and nontraditional private equity groups and serves as a general business and legal advisor to his individual and corporate clients. 

“I joined Butzel Long because of its reputation in the legal and business community, the breadth and quality of services it provides its clients, and the positive corporate culture it has cultivated and promotes,” said Kashef.

Kashef has been a speaker in the field of condominium development and has authored several contracting-related articles. He is admitted to practice in the State of Michigan and the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and numerous courts across the country.

He is very active with the Oakland County Bar Association (OCBA). He is the former chair of the Continuing Legal Education committee and is the immediate past president and a trustee of the Oakland County Bar Foundation. In 2012, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the OCBA. In addition, Kashef is a Barrister of the American Inns of Court and is the former chair of the New Lawyers Section of the OCBA. Kashef was a member of the State Bar Association Civil Procedure and Courts Standing Committee from 2005-2012.

Kashef was named a “Rising Star” by Michigan Super Lawyers from 2008 through 2012, has been a “Super Lawyer” since 2013 and is listed as a “Top 100 Lawyer” in 2017. Kashef has been named a “2012 Top Lawyer” by DBusiness magazine and was selected for inclusion to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Up and Coming Lawyers” list in 2011. In 2012, Kashef made The Trial Lawyer’s Top 40 Under 40 for the State of Michigan.

Kashef was a law clerk to U.S. Magistrate Judge William A. Webb, Eastern District of North Carolina. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan (1995), and graduated from the Tulane University School of Law (2001) in New Orleans.

In addition, Butzel Long attorney Jennifer Dukarski was a featured guest on the November16 edition of PBS’ “Autoline This Week,” with host John McElroy. Dukarski participated in a panel discussion along with Michael Perugi, Acxiom and Sam Abuelsamid, Navigant Research. The topic for the show was “Data: The Unknown Commodity from Your Car.”

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.

Last year, she was 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.

At the same time, she is 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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Secrest Wardle proudly congratulates Kristine Horn and Tyler Knurek on passing the bar exam. Horn and Knurek have both accepted associate positions with the firm at its Troy location.

Secrest Wardle is a law firm specializing in defense litigation and counsel for insurance, municipal, and commercial clients headquartered in Troy, with additional offices in Grand Rapids and Lansing.