Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that Jessica Busch has joined the firm's Troy office as Of Counsel.
Busch focuses her practice on healthcare, corporate, mergers & acquisitions, administrative & regulatory, and corporate governance. She advises corporate clients on matters related to corporate governance, commercial contracting, regulatory compliance, and licensing. She regularly counsels clients in highly regulated industries and is experienced in resolving compliance and licensing matters with state and federal regulatory agencies. Some of her industry experience includes representation of clients in the healthcare, consumer finance, and alcoholic beverage manufacturing industries.
Busch is a member of the State Bar of Michigan. She received her B.A. from Michigan State University and her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.
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Heather A. Abreu joins Secrest Wardle as a partner at the Firm's Troy office. Abreu possesses nearly 10 years of experience in civil litigation and has represented clients in a variety of first and third party auto negligence, commercial liability, and property matters. Prior to her career in law, she worked as an English teacher and PIP claim representative. Abreu is a member of the firm's Motor Vehicle Litigation, Premises Liability, Insurance Coverage, and General Negligence Practice Groups.
Abreu is admitted to practice law in the State of Michigan. She earned her law degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law school and earned a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Illinois.
Abreu is an active member of the Macomb County Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, and Michigan Defense Trial Counsel.
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Bodman PLC is pleased to announce Michelle L. Kolkmeyer has joined the firm as an associate attorney in the Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group in the Detroit office.
Kolkmeyer represents clients involved in commercial litigation matters. Before joining Bodman, she was in-house litigation counsel to Meridian Health Plan Inc. in Detroit. At Meridian, she served as defense counsel in numerous matters involving complex healthcare, pharmacy benefit management, and employment issues. She also prepared and reviewed corporate contracts and prepared employee policies, procedures, and handbooks.
As a law student, Kolkmeyer served as a law clerk with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office where she conducted legal research and prepared complaints, motions, briefs, case summaries, and witness lists. She served as a judicial intern to Oakland County 48th District Court Judge Diane Dickow D'Agostini in Bloomfield Hills where she conducted legal research and wrote case recommendations in both civil and criminal matters.
Kolkmeyer graduated from Wayne State University Law School.
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Foster, Swift, Collins, & Smith PC welcomes attorney Sarah J. Gabis to its Southfield office. She will practice as a member of the administrative and municipal practice group. She joins Foster Swift from her private practice in Troy.
Gabis assists municipalities in addressing a wide array of issues that they regularly face including zoning and land use enforcement, Freedom of Information Act (FOA) and Open Meeting Act (OMA) matters, intergovernmental agreements and sewer and water contractual issues and related litigation.
Gabis received her undergraduate and master's degrees from Michigan State University. A graduate of the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Gabis completed her law degree in 2004.
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Attorney Maria Fracassa Dwyer has been named Member In Charge of Clark Hill's Detroit office, effective January 1, 2019. The first woman to hold the position in Detroit, she assumes the role from Stephen Ormond, who is stepping down from the role after five years of service during a critical growth period in Clark Hill's history.
Dwyer is a member of Clark Hill's Labor & Employment Law practice group where she focuses on employment defense litigation and counseling. Dwyer also serves as the co-chair of the firm's Food, Beverage and Hospitality Industry Team. She joined Clark Hill in 2004.
In her role as office managing member, she will guide implementation of the firm's strategic plan in Detroit, oversee and maintain policies and procedures, manage operations and represent the Detroit office in the community.
She has set community engagement as a top priority. "In addition to effectively managing operations, I am committed to giving back to the community we serve. That includes working with Detroit-based businesses and organizations and identifying new ways to lend support and expertise," Dwyer said. "Clark Hill places diversity, inclusion and creating opportunities for professionals at every level as a firm-wide priority. In assuming the Member In Charge role, I will continue this legacy and work to enhance opportunities for my colleagues and ensure a cohesive working relationship within our office and across the firm."
An active member of the community, Dwyer currently serves as a board member on several non-profit boards, including the Dearborn Public Schools Education Foundation, Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce, Women Celebrating Life Downriver and is also an advisory board member for the Michigan Business and Professional Association Women and Leadership in the Workplace and the Michigan Food and Beverage Association. She is a graduate of Leadership Detroit Class XXXV and recently served on the State Bar of Michigan Diversity and Inclusion Committee for two terms.
Dwyer is a graduate of Michigan State University. She has been recognized as a Michigan Super Lawyer each year from 2013 to 2018, a Rising Star in 2012, named a top women attorney in Michigan in Hour Detroit Magazine since 2013 and a DBusiness Top Lawyer.
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The Michigan Supreme Court has re-appointed C. Thomas Ludden to a second consecutive three-year term on the Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions.
The committee is composed of attorneys and judges whose duty is to ensure that the Model Civil Jury Instructions are concise, understandable, conversational, unslanted, and not argumentative. The committee has authority to amend or repeal existing instructions and, when appropriate, adopt new instructions, although the instructions do not have the force and effect of a court rule. This appointment will expire on December 31, 2021.
Ludden is the head of the appellate practice group at Lipson Neilson PC He regularly argues before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Michigan Court of Appeals and has also appeared in the United States and Michigan Supreme Courts. He has been counsel of record in published decisions resolving issues related to due process, medical and legal malpractice, defamation, class action certification, judicial ethics, the priority of interests in real property, estate planning and the statute of limitations. Ludden also has trial experience in federal district courts.
