Harness Dickey is pleased to announce the appointment of Bill Coughlin to chief executive officer. In this newly established role, Coughlin will work with the firm's Executive Committee to oversee the firm's short and long-term strategic business planning, client development and firmwide operations, helping guide the firm to continued success in the new decade and its second century of business.
Coughlin, who began his legal career at Harness Dickey and spent 17 years at the firm before leaving in 1995 to put his talent to use at automotive corporations, will help ensure Harness Dickey's continued growth in a rapidly evolving legal services industry.
Coughlin led Chrysler's and then DaimlerChrysler's legal IP teams until 2000 and then joined Ford Motor Company as Assistant General Counsel and CEO of its intellectual property subsidiary, Ford Global Technologies LLC. His experience advising corporations at Harness Dickey and as a client of the firm, coupled with his deep management and business operations expertise, makes him a perfect fit for the role.
"It's exciting to return to the firm where I launched what has been a challenging, enjoyable and fulfilling career," said Coughlin. "I look forward to helping Harness Dickey build on its long legacy as one of the preeminent intellectual property firms representing companies and institutions of all sizes worldwide."
Harness Dickey will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2021.
Coughlin is a longtime leader in the Detroit region's business and technology communities, having begun his career as an electrical engineer developing batteries for electric vehicles before joining Harness Dickey. While at Ford, he was instrumental in unleashing the inventive talents of its engineers with unprecedented growth. Coughlin also helped bring Techstars to Detroit to build a vibrant startup community for mobility and beyond. In addition, he served as adjunct professor at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School for a decade, teaching trade secret law, e-commerce Law and IP Risk Management.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced the following appointment to the Judicial Tenure Commission:
Siham Awada Jaafar is the president and CEO of 3D Consulting and Communications. She is also the president of the Wayne County Dispute Resolution Center and the founder and producer of the Images and Perceptions Diversity Conference.
Awada Jaafar earned a bachelor's degree in public relations and communication from Wayne State University and a civil litigation mediation certificate from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
Awada Jaafar is appointed to represent a general public member appointed by the governor for a term commencing January 17, 2020 and expiring December 31, 2022. She succeeds Melissa Spickler whose term expired December 31, 2019.
This appointment is not subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
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Plunkett Cooney recently named five attorneys as its newest shareholders.
Abe Barlaskar, Sean M. Carty, Emily M. Coyle, Scott W. Malott, and Jeffrey M. Schroder were recently approved by the firm's Board of Directors as the firm's newest shareholders. The promotion from associate attorney is based on the recommendations of the firm's Shareholder Evaluation Committee and is effective January 1, 2020.
Barlaskar is a member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office who focuses his litigation practice on defending insurers and personal line carriers, rental car companies, trucking companies, and corporations and municipalities in negligence and general liability matters, No-Fault matters, insurance coverage disputes and extra-contractual claims. He also represents retail clients in litigation matters, including premises liability, food-borne illness cases, as well as other commercial disputes and criminal matters.
Admitted to the State Bar of Michigan and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Barlaskar has been named as a Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Star since 2015. He is a 2011 of Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and a 2005 graduate of the University of Michigan.
Carty is a member of the firm's Banking, Bankruptcy & Creditors' Rights Practice Group. He focuses his practice in the areas of commercial loan originations, commercial leasing and real estate transactions. Carty represents various financial institutions in asset-based, real estate and construction loan originations covering a variety of industries. He also represents landlords and tenants in large commercial leasing transactions.
A member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office, Carty graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 1991. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1988.
Coyle is a member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office who focuses her practice in the areas of loan workouts and foreclosures, commercial real estate, and loan documentation and sales. Coyle's practice also includes expertise with respect to investigating fraudulent or suspicious claims stemming from motor vehicle accidents.
Coyle graduated from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in 2010. She received her undergraduate degree from Juniata College in 2003.
Malott is a partner in the firm's Transportation Law Practice Group who focuses his practice on insurance-related claims involving no-fault law, motor vehicle negligence, premises liability and property liability, including theft and damage.
A member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office, Malott has been named a Michigan Rising Star in Civil Litigation Defense by Michigan Super Lawyers. He received his law degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in 2011. Malott received his undergraduate degree from the Haworth College of Business at Western Michigan University in 2004.
Schroder is a member of the firm's Bloomfield Hills office. He serves as co-leader of Plunkett Cooney's Cannabis Industry Group, and he is a member of the firm's Healthcare and Governmental Law practice groups.
A former assistant Michigan attorney general, Schroder focuses his practice in the areas of cannabis and liquor license applications and compliance, healthcare compliance and audit defense, fraud and embezzlement recovery, municipal law, and zoning/land use. His practice includes all aspects of state and local regulatory compliance, as well as related business issues, including license approvals, transactions, real estate and related litigation.
Admitted to practice in state and federal courts in Michigan, Schroder received his law degree from Wayne State University Law School in 2001 and his undergraduate degree from Albion College in 1997.
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Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that it received a score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2020 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. Dickinson Wright joins the ranks of more than 680 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year.
"We are deeply honored to participate in the 2020 Corporate Equality Index and to achieve a perfect 100 for the third year in a row," said Harlan Robins, Dickinson Wright's deputy CEO Finance & Diversity. "Our participation in the Corporate Equality Index reflects the firm's commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace environment for all of our employees through the firm's initiatives and policies. At Dickinson Wright, we understand that hiring and retaining a diverse workforce is a core component of the firm's values and it is instrumental to providing our clients with the best legal service."
The results of this year's CEI showcase how 1,059 U.S.-based companies are not only promoting LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies in the U.S., but helping advance the cause of LGBTQ inclusion in workplaces abroad. Dickinson Wright's efforts in satisfying all of the CEI's criteria earned a 100 percent ranking and the designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.
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With more than 20 years revolutionizing legal operations and pioneering the innovative law firm, Orlans Group Founder and Executive Chair Linda Orlans and CEO Alison Orlans have launched Revlegal.
Revlegal provides innovation, consultation and other lean law services, including state-of-the-art technology and proprietary systems-optimizing people, process, performance and profitability-to corporate legal departments and government entities.
"When we started 20+ years ago in our own flat fee firm, we saw that technology could play a huge role in fueling our unique abilities while creating a leaner legal operation," said Linda Orlans. "This increased our value proposition to clients and our own talent. We're excited to offer this to the broader market."
With the launch of Revlegal comes the introduction of the Optimization Engine. The Optimization Engine is a tool that Revlegal created to diagnose, calibrate, optimize, and ignite what Revlegal calls law accelerated.
"Our proprietary Optimization Engine turbo charges talent and process so that legal departments can maximize resources, culture, performance and profitability," said Alison Orlans. "Revlegal leads the way for law accelerated, helping companies overcome resource barriers, automating routine process and utilizing lean Six Sigma to create efficiencies. We provide attorneys an ability to operate at the highest level of their craft, the very reason they became attorneys in the first place."
Lean law is a hot topic with many studies identifying opportunities for improvement. Studies have noted that 63% of in-house legal work is routine and low-value tasks. Eighty-two percent of companies have indicated that they intend to reduce legal function costs over the next 24 months.
"Most attorneys went to law school to make a difference and to learn writing, speaking, negotiation, and other skills that will allow them to create effective arguments, negotiate deals, or to provide high level value to their clients in whichever area of law they choose to practice" said Zak Moen, Revlegal VP Legal Acceleration. "What we offer at Revlegal allows talent to perform those high value tasks and realize professional fulfillment. We allow companies to maximize their resources."
Revlegal launches with several clients in real estate, finance, automotive and municipalities. Revlegal has helped its clients accelerate law by achieving results such as realizing more than 20,000 hours of annualized labor, savings, improving quality by 90% and improvement in quality, and 1,000 lawsuits, prepared, perfected and filed monthly.
For additional information, visit revlegalservices.com.
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Jesse Reiter, president of ABC Law Centers (Reiter & Walsh PC), was recognized by the American Association for Justice (AAJ) with the Board of Governors Outstanding Achievement Award for 2019. Reiter has served on the board since 2015.
Published: Mon, Jan 27, 2020
