Legal People ...

Varnum is pleased to announce that Thomas E. Doyle has joined the firm’s corporate team. He will be based in the firm’s Birmingham office.

Doyle is an experienced transactional attorney who regularly manages the documentation and diligence process in a variety of middle-market business sales and acquisitions. He also represents both lenders and borrowers in a variety of financing transactions.

His experience also includes corporate contractual matters and confidentiality, employment and services agreements. In addition, he supports startup companies from their formation and corporate governance to transactional matters, such as venture capital financings.

Doyle has worked with publicly-traded companies and private clients in a variety of industries including automotive, health care, life sciences, technology, real estate, and the energy sector.

Doyle is a graduate of Boston College Law School and received his undergraduate degree from Boston College.

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The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) recently announced that Jen Nelson has been appointed chief operating officer for the organization. Nelson will lead MEDC organizational operations, including development and implementation of MEDC’s strategic plan as well as MEDC’s continuous improvement and organizational performance initiatives.

Nelson returns to MEDC from Business Leaders for Michigan where she has served as vice president of Public Policy and Economic Development for the past four years. In that role, Nelson has focused on issues around K-12 education, workforce development and economic development throughout Michigan. Nelson helped establish Launch Michigan, an unprecedented partnership of business, education, labor, philanthropy, civic leaders, and parents with a goal to create a high-quality, PreK-12 student-centered system–one that helps every student succeed in school, in their careers, and in life.

“I could not be more excited to return to the MEDC and utilize all that I’ve learned during my time at Business Leaders for Michigan to continue to advance Michigan’s statewide economic development strategy,” Nelson said. “A key part of this mission is collaboration, and I am committed to working diligently with anyone who wants to be part of growing prosperity in Michigan, while empowering the MEDC team to become the best organization of its kind in the nation.”

In addition to leading MEDC’s strategic plan initiatives, as chief operating officer, Nelson will spearhead organizational strategy and execution as well as key outreach
initiatives, working directly with the MEDC Executive Committee, the Michigan Strategic Fund Board, the Collaborative Development Council, the Michigan Economic Development Foundation, Business Leaders for Michigan, and other stakeholders statewide.

Nelson’s return to MEDC will build on 12 years of previous experience within the organization, serving in several leadership roles, including executive vice president and chief business development officer, chief operating officer, and legal counsel. Earlier in her career, Nelson practiced as an attorney in Dykema Gossett’s public finance corporate group.

Nelson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in speech communication from Northern Michigan University and a law degree from Michigan State University College of Law.

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Advia Credit Union recently announced that Detroit attorney Matthew High has been elected to its board of directors for a three-year term.

Along with his fellow members on the seven-person board, High will be responsible for overseeing Advia’s general business affairs and leadership, strategic planning and guiding the reporting of financial records to Advia members and financial regulators.

High is an associate at Wilson Elser in Detroit specializing in employment, commercial litigation, automobile liability, and general liability cases. He also brings legal expertise related to the financial industry; local and educational ties to both southwest and eastern Michigan, where Advia has branch locations; and previous credit union employment history.

High received his B.A. in political science from Western Michigan University in 2015. He went on to receive his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2018. In addition, he is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, as well as the Wolverine Bar Association and D. Augustus Straker Bar Association. In 2021, High received his Labor Relations Certificate from Wayne State University.

Advia Credit Union’s Board of Directors is made up of seven volunteers, each designated for a three-year term before re-election. Board members represent the voice of Advia’s member-owners to confirm that the not-for-profit financial cooperative’s operational practices align with its mission and overall financial well-being.

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Detroit-based land use and business law firm Dalton & Tomich announced that co-founding partner Zana Tomich has been appointed to the State Bar of Michigan’s
Character and Fitness Committee for the district encompassing Detroit.

As a member of this committee, Tomich will help support the State Bar’s work by investigating the character and fitness of candidates for admission to the bar, make recommendations on rule changes concerning admissions, and make recommendations on state bar interaction with Michigan law schools. She begins her two-year term on January 1, 2022.

Since co-founding Dalton & Tomich 11 years ago, Tomich has acted as outside general counsel to family-owned and mid-sized businesses—many of which are second-stage companies that have navigated the start-up phase successfully and need her experience to reach a new level of success.  Industries she serves include creative design houses, food-related businesses, real estate developers, community banks and credit unions, and e-commerce companies.

Tomich has earned several distinctions throughout her career. She was named a 2020 “Go-To” Lawyer for Business and an Up & Coming Lawyer by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. She has also been recognized as a Rising Star by Michigan Super Lawyers and a Top Woman Attorney in Michigan by HOUR Detroit.

A graduate of Leadership Detroit XXXII, Tomich serves on the Detroit Athletic Club’s Community Outreach Committee, as well as the Henry Ford Health System Hospice and SandCastles Program’s Council of Advisors. Sandcastles offers grief support for children and families.

Tomich earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.

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University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Visiting Assistant Professor Melissa Eckhause was recently awarded a Thomas Edison Innovation Law and Policy Fellowship for the 2022-2023 year. This fellowship, awarded by The Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy (C-IP2) at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, is a year-long non-resident fellowship program that brings together scholars from across the nation to develop rigorous scholarship on intellectual property (IP), creativity, and innovation law and policy.  

“I am honored to have received this award, and I look forward to working with senior intellectual property law scholars to develop my research,” said Eckhause.

Eckhause joined the Detroit Mercy Law faculty in 2020. Her research lies at the intersection of technology, intellectual property law, and art, and focuses on the rights of visual artists, musicians, and other creators in the digital age.  

As an Edison Fellow, Eckhause will seek to innovate how photographs are licensed, particularly for use on the internet. Her proposed paper will build upon her ongoing empirical research that studies the nature of cases involving the alleged copyright infringement of an image.

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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the appointment of Teri Lynn Dennings to the 16th Circuit Court of Macomb County.  

Dennings currently serves as an attorney for Consumers Energy Company. In this role, she oversees and advises on all legal aspects of employment and labor functions.

Dennings previously worked as a senior litigation attorney with Deldin Law PLLC, a labor and employment associate attorney with Miller Cohen PLC, and a labor and employment senior associate with Kitch, Drutchas, Wagner, Valitutti, & Sherbrook PC.   

Dennings earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School and Bachelor of Science in Political Science and African American Studies from Eastern Michigan University. She is a member of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, Black Women Lawyers Association, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and the Wayne State University Black Law Alumni Council.

“This appointment is an opportunity to live my dream of achieving a justice system that is fair and accessible to everybody,” said Dennings. “I am grateful to Governor Whitmer for choosing me for this very important role. I can’t wait to begin serving the residents of Macomb County.”  

This appointment was made to fill a partial term, which expires at twelve o’clock noon on January 1, 2023, after Judge Mark S. Switalski stepped down effective January 7, 2022. If Dennings wishes to serve the remainder of Judge Switalski’s term, expiring January 1, 2025, she would be required to run for reelection in November of 2022.

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Mary Ellen Gurewitz of Detroit has been appointed to the State Board of Canvassers by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Gurewitz is Of Counsel for Cummings & Cummings PLLC. She earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School and bachelor of arts from the University of Michigan.  

Gurewitz is appointed to represent Democrats for a term commencing December 21, 2021 and expiring January 31, 2023. She succeeds Julie Matuzak, who resigned effective December 15.

The Board of State Canvassers canvasses and certifies statewide elections, elections for legislative districts that cross county lines and all judicial offices except judge of the probate court. The Board also conducts recounts for state-level offices, canvasses nominating petitions filed with the Secretary of State and state-level ballot proposal petitions, assigns ballot designations and adopting ballot language for statewide ballot proposals, and approves electronic voting systems for use in the state. The Board of State Canvassers consists of four members—two members from each major political party—who are nominated by their state central committee.

This appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.