Legal People

Bodman PLC

Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that Frederick H. Hoops III has joined the firm.

Hoops is a member of Bodman’s High Net Worth Practice Group and is based in the firm’s Detroit office.  He has more than 25 years of experience counseling high net worth individuals on the development and administration of estate plans and on related issues such as tax planning, charitable giving, family business succession planning, and the resolution of trust and estate disputes.

He also represents charitable organizations and charitable trusts on various tax and compliance issues, donor advised fund issues, acceptance policies for charitable gifts, the creation of charitable gift annuity agreements, fiduciary issues for officers and directors, and in obtaining and maintaining tax-exempt status with the IRS.

Hoops has a background that includes many years in private practice and as an officer in the wealth planning departments of two large financial institutions. He is a member of the Financial and Estate Planning Council of Greater Detroit and a member of the State Bar of Michigan Taxation Section Council.  He is a frequent presenter on taxation and estate planning issues and is the co-author of two highly regarded treatises on estate planning and administration.

Hoops has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2008 and 2009 under Trusts and Estates and is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. He is a former adjunct professor of advanced estate planning at Western?Mocjogan University Cooley Law School and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and taught Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates (Subchapter J) at Walsh College School of Accountancy.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Macomb Symphony Orchestra.

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Plunkett Cooney

Plunkett Cooney continues the step by step expansion of its insurance coverage practice with the addition of attorney Drew L. Block.

A senior attorney in Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office, Block focuses his practice primarily in the area of insurance coverage, representing property and casualty insurance companies in coverage disputes involving bad faith claims, intellectual property, first-party property loss, construction accidents and sexual abuse and molestation claims. He also has experience handling litigation involving commercial and contract disputes, premises and product liability claims and medical malpractice claims.

Block is admitted to practice in state and federal courts in Michigan and Illinois and the state courts in Ohio. He is a member of the state bars of Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois as well as the DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar.

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University of Detroit Mercy School of Law

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Professor Kyle Langvardt is the recipient of the School’s 2019 James T. Barnes, Sr. Memorial Faculty Scholar Award. This award, named in honor of alumnus James T. Barnes Sr. of the class of 1940, recognizes a faculty member’s outstanding scholarship, teaching excellence and public service.

Langvardt, who joined the Detroit Mercy Law faculty in 2012, is a prolific scholar whose research explores cutting-edge constitutional issues regarding privacy, technology, and social media. His recent articles have placed in top law journals, including Regulating Habit-Forming Technology, forthcoming in Fordham Law Review; A New Deal for the Online Public Sphere, forthcoming in the George Mason Law Review; and Regulating Online Content Moderation, recently published in the Georgetown Law Journal. He also speaks about these topics at symposia across the country.

He teaches Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Contracts and Property. Of his teaching, one student who nominated him for the award wrote that Langvardt “finds ways to challenge us and makes us get out of our comfort zone. His teaching has helped me be a better law student because it has forced me to consider the practical implications of jurisprudence.”

Outside of the classroom, Langvardt serves as an advisor to the American Constitution Society (ACS) and has helped organize several panels with prominent speakers for the ACS and for co-sponsored events with other student organizations. He is also an active member of various faculty committees and known for supporting his colleagues’ success. A junior faculty member who nominated him for the award wrote that Langvardt “is an excellent colleague in terms of offering creative and constructive feedback on my own research, as well as advice on article placement and publication. His generosity and intellectual engagement are a tremendous asset to both the students of the law school and his fellow faculty.”

Langvardt earned his B.A. from Earlham College and his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School. He previously taught as a lecturer in Business Law and Ethics at Indiana University, Bloomington. He also practiced as an associate with Locke, Lord, Bissell, & Liddell in Chicago.