Legal People ...

Anthony J. Sukkar has joined Secrest Wardle’s Troy office as a partner. He has more than a decade of experience representing insurance carriers, companies and individuals in all facets of complex litigation, and he has been designated as a DBusiness Top Lawyer in Litigation-Insurance and a Super Lawyers Rising Star.

Sukkar practices is a member of the Commercial and Business Law, Construction, Environmental and Toxic Tort, Governmental Litigation, Intellectual Property/Advertising Injury, Motor Vehicle Litigation, and Trucking/Commercial Vehicle Litigation Practice Groups.

Sukkar previously served as a senior assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan, defending various state agencies in several high-profile lawsuits. He also has experience in the field of corporate compliance, having held the position of senior compliance counsel for a publicly traded company.

Sukkar earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School in 2007 and his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Michigan State University in 2004. He is admitted to practice law in the State of Michigan and in the United States District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan.

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Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that Michael Beals, Erick Hosner, paralegal Janet Norgrove, and paralegal and legal assistant Rose Fagan have joined the firm’s Troy office.

“We are excited to join Dickinson Wright PLLC and bring our business succession focus to the Firm,” says Beals. “Our practice will complement and build on the services the Firm provides across our national network, specifically our robust Trust and Estate and Corporate Practice Groups. We cater to high net worth entrepreneurs and families by providing the talent, strategies, and experience to protect and provide a smooth succession of wealth and business to the next generation of leaders.”

Beals is a member and Business Succession Practice Group chair in the firm’s Troy office. He is a corporate and trust lawyer who counsels privately owned enterprises and high net worth entrepreneurs. He is focused on moving business and wealth from one generation to the next.

Beals integrates corporate organization and business succession strategies with trust and estate planning. He combines his corporate, trust, and counseling skill set to develop tailored strategies designed to protect business and wealth from family and management disharmony, federal gift and estate tax liabilities, and creditor and marital claims of each generation.

Beals is a former adjunct professor of Business Planning at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. He is recognized as a leader in his field by Michigan Leading Lawyers and DBusiness Top Lawyers. He received his B.A. from Michigan State University and his law degree from the Detroit College of Law.

Hosner is a member in the firm’s Troy office. He regularly counsels businesses and business owners on the design and implementation of tax-efficient strategies that help achieve a variety of goals, including strategies for forming and structuring the business and its operations; implementing key employee incentives to attract, retain, and reward top talent; and planning for exiting the business. He assists clients on formation and structuring issues including advising on the tax implications of choice of entity, ownership structure, and restructuring in anticipation of ownership changes.

Hosner also helps business owners plan for and implement a variety of strategies, including sales to strategic or financial buyers, management buyouts, and transition of the business through gifting. He is chair of the 2023 Annual Tax Conference for the State Bar of Michigan’s Tax Section and is a member of the American Bar Association’s Tax Section. He serves as a Board Member and Awards Committee Chair for Detroit Regional Dollars for Scholars.

Hosner received his B.A. from Michigan State University and his law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

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Howard & Howard is proud to announce Mark W. Peyser has been named to Michigan Lawyer’s Weekly “Hall of Fame” Class of 2022. Peyser is one of twenty attorneys recognized who have been in practice for at least 30 years, and created notable, impactful careers, and remain valuable contributors to their surrounding community.

Peyser has devoted the last 16 years of his career to Howard & Howard’s Business and Corporate group, focusing his practices on commercial litigation, primarily in the financial, automotive, and construction and development industries. He frequently represents clients in matters of commercial and civil litigation, including police misconduct and product liability.  He has received numerous awards in recognition of his success, being named one of the Top 100 Attorneys in the State of Michigan on several occasions, and mostly recently named in DBusiness’s “Top Lawyers” Class of 2022, earning his spot for the fourth consecutive year.  Peyser has received the preeminent AV rating in both legal ability & ethical standards, as well as the prestigious Judicial Preeminent AV rating reflecting the confidential opinions of the members of the bar and the judiciary.  

Peyser holds memberships to a variety of organizations, including the Detroit Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, Eastern District of Michigan Chapter, Macomb County Bar Association, Oakland County Bar Association, and the State Bar of Michigan.

Additionally, Peyser spends time giving back to the community in a variety of ways, most notably as the co-founder of the Matty’s Friendsgiving, an annual event in memory of his late son Matt that raises funds for various charitable causes in the Detroit metropolitan area, including the Jamie Daniels Foundation.

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Foster Swift litigation attorney Ray H. Littleton has been unanimously elected to serve as president on the Board of Directors for the James E. Hunter Association.  

Named in honor of the former Detroit Lions football player and philanthropist, the mission of the James E. Hunter Association, a Southeast Michigan nonprofit, is to award scholarships to local high school students and to provide need-based educational grants for the local community through contributions and donations.

The vision of the association is to assist youth in obtaining educational excellence and cultivate them into responsible leaders for the community.

A former football player himself at Yale University, Littleton’s practice area consists of commercial and general litigation and health care law. He helps businesses and organizations address a wide-range of litigation matters and disputes, specializing in four key areas: Insurance, Health Care, Transportation and Warranty Claims.

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Clark Hill PLC has added attorneys Katie Ilijic to the firm’s Education practice in Michigan. She joins the firm as an associate in Detroit.

Ilijic graduated from DePaul University College of Law in 2015 and has represented both parents and school districts in Illinois and Michigan in education law, with a focus in special education law. Most recently, Ilijic served as in-house counsel for Chicago Public Schools, handling special education and other student-based matters, including student records, privacy, and discipline. Prior to attending law school, Ilijic taught high school social studies in Michigan.

Clark Hill is the only full-service law firm in Michigan with a dedicated Education Law Practice Group, with more than 30 attorneys regularly serving the needs of educational institutions. The group presently represents more than 100 public schools as either general counsel, special counsel, bond counsel, or special education counsel.

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Warner Norcross + Judd LLP has named Michael Brady executive partner of its Detroit and Bloomfield Hills offices.    

As executive partner, Brady will lead operations for more than 40 attorneys from across the firm’s 14 industry groups and 26 specialized practice groups, including its large Automotive Industry Group which works exclusively with suppliers in the supply chain space. Warner’s Detroit office, located at 2715 Woodward Ave. in The District Detroit, opened in April 2021 and is the second largest of the firm’s nine offices across Michigan.

Brady is a litigator who concentrates his practice on representing clients in complex business litigation, supply chain disputes and class action matters. He has experience in supply chain contract negotiations, pricing and warranty disputes, antitrust issues and conducting internal compliance investigations. He serves as co-chair of the firm’s Automotive Industry Group and chair of the Class Action Group. He is immediate past chair of the Litigation Practice Group.  

Active professionally and in the community, Brady serves as legal counsel to the Original Equipment Supplier Association’s Sales Executive Council. He is a longtime board member of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Michigan Chapter and a former chair of the board.

Brady is consistently recognized for his litigation work by Best Lawyers in America©, Michigan Super Lawyers and as a Top Lawyer by DBusiness. He is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association and State Bar of Michigan.

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Plunkett Cooney partner Dennis G. Cowan was recently named to the Michigan Lawyers Weekly (MiLW) “Hall of Fame” Class of 2022.

Cowan is one of 20 attorneys selected by MiLW as a top legal leader in Michigan who is over the age of 60 and who has built an exemplary career with numerous accomplishments and valuable contributions made to the community.

On April 8, MiLW will host its annual Hall of Fame awards ceremony at the Detroit Marriott Troy hotel. This year’s honorees will also be profiled in a special supplement that will be inserted into the April 18 issue of MiLW.

Cowan has the distinction of having previously served as president & CEO of Plunkett Cooney. He focuses his legal practice on real estate project development with a particular focus on obtaining governmental licensing and real estate development approvals at the local, county and state levels.

As part of his land use and corporate law practice, Cowan also represents clients in regulatory hearings before state administrative boards and in matters involving the Michigan Department of Attorney General. Additional areas of his expertise include banking law, business transactions and all aspects of corporate law.

A 1984 graduate of the Detroit College of Law, now known as the Michigan State University College of Law, Cowan has been involved in some of the state’s largest and most significant business deals, including a bid to build a Detroit casino, securing approvals for multi-million-dollar developments in suburban communities, and assisting with the financing package that helped make the city of Detroit’s “Grand Bargain” bankruptcy possible in 2014.

Cowan, who received his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts/Boston in 1978, is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association; the Real Property Law, Corporation and Business Law, and Public Corporations Law sections of the State Bar of Michigan; and the State and Local Government Section of the American Bar Association.

In addition to his nearly 40 years in practice, Cowan served 14 years as a member of the Royal Oak City Commission. After six years as a city commissioner, he was elected and served four consecutive two-year terms as Royal Oak mayor.