Thomas W. Cranmer, past president of the State Bar of Michigan (2005-2006) and current Miller Canfield trial lawyer who concentrates his practice in civil and criminal litigation, will be the featured speaker during Western Michigan University Cooley Law School's "Integrity in Our Community" speaker series on today at the law school's Auburn Hills campus.
Hosted by the law school and the Society for Personal and Professional Integrity, the speaker series offers students, staff and faculty an opportunity to hear legal professionals share their experiences on ethics, service or professionalism. Cranmer will begin remarks at noon. During the event, Cranmer will be recognized for his contribution to the integrity of the profession.
With more than 35 years of courtroom experience, Cranmer's practice focuses on white-collar criminal defense, complex commercial litigation, and "bet-the-company" litigation. Before joining Miller Canfield, Cranmer served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Oakland County and an assistant chief of the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Cranmer has experience as a leader and instructor of trial advocacy including teaching for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. In addition, he has lectured and written on a variety of civil litigation, criminal law, and evidence topics. He is a co-author of a Michigan treatise, "Civil Trials and Evidence and a contributing author to Federal Civil Procedure Before Trial/Sixth Circuit." He has served as an adjunct professor for WMU-Cooley teaching Evidence.
Cranmer has been listed in the Top 10 Attorneys in every edition of Michigan Super Lawyers and he has been the highest, second highest or third highest rated attorney out of more than 44,000 Michigan attorneys for the past 11 years. Additionally, he has been rated one of the Top 5 Business Attorneys in Michigan for the past five years.
Since 2004, he has been recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA. In 2015, he received the Excellence in Defense Award from the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel. He was also recognized by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as its Lawyer of the Year for 2014.
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Shelly Lee Griffin joins Secrest Wardle as an executive partner. Griffin practices out of the firm's Troy office and is a member of the General Negligence, Insurance Coverage, Premises Liability and Property, Fire and Casualty Practice Groups. She has more than 20 years of experience in civil litigation. Her areas of practice include first-party and third-party property-casualty insurance matters, coverage disputes and fraud and arson investigation with extensive trial experience. Griffin has also handled multi-party complex litigation, construction litigation, employment litigation and gas explosion cases.
In August 2017, Griffin presented on the topic of Deposition Strategies before the Insurance Alliance of Michigan (IAM). She has also been invited to participate as one of the speakers for the 2018 International Association of Special Investigation Units (IASIU) Seminar. The seminar brings together the world's leading SIU professionals at the forefront of detecting, investigating and deterring insurance fraud.
Griffin earned her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 1993 and a Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University in 1989. She is licensed to practice law in state and federal courts in Michigan and Illinois. She was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 1994. Griffin is a member of the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, International Association of Special Investigation Units, and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan.
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Foley & Mansfield recently announced that litigator John Gilliam has joined the firm's Detroit office.
Gilliam serves clients in a variety of commercial matters, including employment and labor, professional liability defense, and personal injury defense.
Licensed in Michigan and Kentucky, Gilliam is a graduate of Duke University where he obtained a bachelor's degree in economics. He earned his law degree from the University of Louisville.
Foley & Mansfield is a national defense firm with offices in 13 U.S. cities.
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Attorney Michael Pardi has joined Butzel Long as Of Counsel. Pardi has 15 years of experience working for Fortune 500 Companies in the areas of Government Procurement, Commercial Transactions, Automotive, Regulatory Matters, Intellectual Property, Real Estate, Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Governance, and Advertising and Consumer Law.
Formerly, Pardi was senior vice president and general counsel at Campbell-Ewald Advertising. He held the same role at Ricardo US. He also served on the Ricardo US Board of Directors from 2010 to 2017.
Pardi, practices in Butzel Long's Bloomfield Hills and Washington, D.C. offices.
He has experience drafting, negotiating and "closing" terms and conditions of agreements with major customers and suppliers. He has been responsible for all areas of federal government procurement and compliance including ITAR, EAR, U.S. Government Security Agreement (SSA), reps and certs, contract vehicles, and CAS compliance.
He also helps emerging companies navigate the requirements of federal and state contracting including small or disadvantaged business classifications. He drafts and negotiates licensing terms for software products and related services, as well as policies and procedures for export controls, management of classified facilities, and data protection. Pardi also manages large IP portfolios including patents, trademarks, and copyrighted software and negotiates agreements and terms for the protection of valuable intellectual property worldwide. As former in-house counsel with a major advertising and communication firm, Pardi has practical experience dealing with the issues consumer-focused clients face, particularly with regard to advertising and consumer law, entertainment law, privacy issues, and related litigation.
Pardi is a graduate of the University of Toledo, College of Law and the University of Michigan. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan Intellectual Property Law Section.
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Douglas C. Bernstein, a partner at Plunkett Cooney, was recently selected a "Leader in the Law" by Michigan Lawyers Weekly for 2018.
Bernstein will be featured, along with 29 other attorneys, in a special section of Michigan Lawyers Weekly. The Class of 2018 will also be honored at a luncheon on April 5 at the Detroit Marriott Troy.
In addition to his Leaders in the Law selection, Bernstein was the only Michigan attorney selected late last year to the 2018 class of Fellows of the American College of Bankruptcy, an organization focused on fostering excellence in bankruptcy and insolvency practice nationally.
A member of Plunkett Cooney's Bloomfield Hills office, Bernstein currently serves as the firm's Business Law Department leader. He concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial litigation, loan restructuring, commercial loan documentation, bankruptcy, banking-related litigation, and appeals.
Prior to joining Plunkett Cooney, Bernstein worked as an in-house attorney at Michigan National Corporation for more than 20 years. He subsequently joined the Standard Federal Bank Legal Department when the bank merged with Michigan National Corporation in 2001.
Bernstein earned his undergraduate degree in 1978 from Wayne State University and his law degree in 1982 from the Detroit College of Law. He has received several honors for his legal work, including an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell and selection as a Michigan Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine from 2008 to 2017 and a Best Lawyers in America® from 2014 to 2018.
Published: Mon, Mar 19, 2018
