Foley, Baron, Metzger, & Juip PLLC is pleased to announce promotions of six attorneys to partners, effective April 1, 2020.
The new partners are:
Daniel Cortez
Cortez is a litigator with experience in claims brought under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), the Fair Housing Act, and the Fourteenth Amendment. His practice also includes the representation of healthcare organizations and professionals in medical malpractice and general liability actions. Cortez also has experience with cannabis law, contract disputes, commercial litigation, constitutional law, claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), and criminal matters.
Ben Fruchey
Fruchey has a M.S. in Geology and prior work experience includes offshore oil and gas exploration and environmental consulting. His litigation practice focuses on the defense of environmental, toxic tort, mass tort, class action and products liability litigation. He also assists clients with defending against environmental regulatory enforcement actions. Fruchey assists clients with various compliance issues (such as those surrounding COVID-19) and helps them develop plans to meet applicable state and federal guidelines.
Mitchell Jackson
Jackson has experience handling a variety of complex litigation cases, including medical malpractice, professional liability, general liability, third-party auto, and commercial litigation. He has experience handling trial and appellate matters in state and federal courts.
Anthony Pignotti
Pignotti devotes the majority of his practice to civil litigation, including the defense of health care professionals, corporations, and hospital systems in complex medical malpractice and birth trauma litigation. He has trial experience and has obtained verdicts of no cause for action on behalf of his clients in both federal and state courts.
Saulius Polteraitis
Polteraitis primary focus is representing hospitals and health professionals in the defense of complex medical malpractice and products liability claims. In addition, he represents clients in general negligence, employment and premises liability matters.
Sarah Tupica Berard
Berard's practice focuses on defending health care organizations and professionals in complex medical malpractice litigation. Berard has experience in all areas of medical malpractice, with a focus on cases involving emergency medicine, critical care, oncology, skin integrity and wound care, orthopedic and general surgery and claims against nursing and mid-level staff. Her experience includes alternative dispute resolution proceedings and all phases of litigation, including trial. In addition, she counsels and presents on the litigation process in Michigan, documentation best practices and deposition skills.
- - -
Collins, Einhorn, Farrell PC is proud to announce that Kari L. Melkonian has received the Oakland County Bar Association Distinguished Service Award. This award recognizes a member of the Oakland County Bar Association who provides exceptional voluntary services to benefit the organization.
Melkonian's passion for inspiring positive change is displayed through the magnitude of her involvement. Melkonian has been an active member of the Oakland County Bar Association for 12 years.
Currently, she sits on the OCBA Board of Directors and is an active member of the Circuit Court Committee and Inns of Court Committee. She volunteers as a discovery mediator and serves as a case evaluator in Oakland County Circuit Court.
Previously, Melkonian was a member of the Board of Directors Nominating Committee, New Lawyers Committee, and Mentor Program. As a board member, Melkonian has co-chaired the Circuit Court Bench-Bar Conference, Holiday Gala and serves on various board sub-committees. She regularly attends OCBA events, where she greets and makes new lawyers feel welcome.
Melkonian has also held chair and vice-chair positions on the Circuit Court and Criminal Law Committees. As chair of the Criminal Law Committee, Melkonian was responsible for organizing the Brown Bag Lecture Series for criminal defense attorneys. She served as chair of the Circuit Court Committee for two consecutive years; under Melkonian's leadership, the committee expanded and improved the discovery mediator program.
Melkonian is a sustaining member of the OCBA and a fellow of the Oakland County Bar Foundation. She has also written articles for LACHES and spoken on many topics at various OCBA CLE seminars.
The values of the Oakland County Bar Association are an ever-present element of Melkonian's service. Her commitment to improving the broader legal community is evident through her involvement in other bar and legal activities. Melkonian is a member of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, Claims Litigation Management, and the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel, where she currently serves as a Social Media Committee co-chair. Melkonian has also has made multiple appearances on "Practical Law."
Melkonian is passionate about her community and volunteers her time in many activities and charities, including various animal rescue organizations, and as a speaker to volunteers of a women's shelter regarding the Personal Protection Order process. Every year, Melkonian participates as a volunteer for the University of Detroit High School Mock Trial Team program and has volunteered as a judge in various high school, college, and law school mock trial competitions. Melkonian was also an adjunct faculty instructor at Baker College of Auburn Hills, where she taught research and writing, and family law courses to students in the paralegal program.
- - -
Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that Chambers & Partners, publisher of the world's leading guides to the legal profession, has ranked eight of the firm's practices in Michigan and 29 of the firm's Michigan attorneys in the 2020 Chambers USA Guide.
Below is a list of Dickinson Wright practices that are listed in Chambers USA 2020:
Michigan
Banking & Finance
Bankruptcy & Restructuring
Corporate/M&A
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Litigation: General Commercial
Real Estate
Below is a list of local Dickinson Wright attorneys who are listed in Chambers USA 2020:
• Banking and Finance
Craig W. Hammond, Troy
William P. Shield Jr., Detroit
Rachel Wolock, Detroit
• Banking and Finance: Bankruptcy
Steven G. Howell, Detroit
James A. Plemmons, Detroit
Theodore B. Sylwestrzak, Detroit
• Corporate/M&A
Richard M. Bolton, Detroit
Mark R. High, Detroit
Michael T. Raymond, Troy
• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Roberta P. Granadier, Troy
Eric W. Gregory, Troy
Cynthia A. Moore, Troy
• General Commercial Litigation
Thomas G. McNeill, Detroit
Edward H. Pappas, Troy
Daniel D. Quick, Troy
• Intellectual Property
William H. Honaker, Troy
• Labor & Employment
Timothy H. Howlett, Detroit
• Real Estate Law
James N. Candler Jr., Detroit
Stephen E. Dawson, Troy
Monica J. Labe, Troy
Katheryne L. Zelenock, Troy
- - -
Plunkett Cooney appellate attorney Mary Massaron recently authored a successful amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for Sixth Circuit, urging the grant of a writ of mandamus to correct three district court rulings not in conformance with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP).
Written earlier this year on behalf of the Lawyers for Civil Justice (LCJ) In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, the amicus brief asked the appellate court to issue a writ of mandamus to correct the lower court's rulings because they were inconsistent with the federal rules and, therefore, violated the fundamental principles required for a court operating under the rule of law.
In its mandamus opinion, the three-judge panel held that the "rule of law applies in multidistrict litigation under 28 U.S.C. Section 1407 just as it does in any individual case." The appellate court went on to state that its "decision to grant leave to amend was plainly incorrect as a matter of law ..." because the ruling was inconsistent with the FRCP."
The panel ordered that the counties' November 2019 amendments to their complaints, which added dispensing claims against the defendant pharmacies roughly 17 months after the deadline for such amendments, be stricken.
In addition, the appellate court opined that "[w]hat an MDL court may not do, however, is distort or disregard the rules of law applicable to each of those cases. The rules at issue here are the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which have the same force of law that any statute does."
According to Massaron, who is a partner and co-leader of the Class Action & Mass Tort Practice Group of Plunkett Cooney, this ruling should be helpful in other MDLs because the appellate court predicated its decision on the importance of the rule of law in MDLs as in all cases
Massaron is one of the firm's most accomplished appellate attorneys with over 400 appeals to her credit, approximately 50 of which are published decisions. She is a past president of DRI The Voice of the Defense Bar, and she has the distinction of being inducted into the prestigious American Academy of Appellate Attorneys. Massaron is a past chair of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Amicus Briefs, and she is perennially identified as a top appellate attorney in Michigan by Martindale-Hubbell, Best Lawyers in America and other leading peer review organizations.
