Oakland County Probate Court Chief Judge Linda Hallmark has been selected as recipient of the 2022 Community Hero Award by the Oakland Mediation Center.
"This award is in recognition of Judge Hallmark's amazing ongoing support of mediation and the Oakland Mediation Center in helping our community members resolve their matters," said Charity Burke, executive director of the Oakland Mediation Center. The award will be presented on August 11 at the annual Oakland Mediation Board of Trustees Social.
Hallmark has served on the Oakland County Probate bench since 1998. She was also a prior member of the Oakland County Circuit Court Family Division, and has been an author and presenter on both Family Law and Probate topics for the Oakland County Bar Association, Institute of Continuing Legal Education, and the State Bar of Michigan.
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Butzel has added attorney Scott J. Fishwick as a shareholder to one of the firm's largest practice areas the Litigation Department.
Fishwick, based in Butzel's Detroit office, represents public and private companies, their officers and directors, and other high-profile individuals in complex business and financial litigation. He has a broad practice in state and federal court focusing on complex contractual disputes, class action defense, business torts, internal investigations, securities litigation, real estate litigation, and arbitration. His representations span various sectors, including finance, manufacturing, technology, sports, and real estate.
Before joining Butzel, Fishwick served as a law clerk in Detroit to U.S. District Court Judge Victoria A. Roberts, Eastern District of Michigan. He also practiced for more than a decade at international law firms in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.
Fishwick maintains a national litigation practice. He is admitted to practice in California, the District of Columbia, Michigan, New York, and federal courts throughout the country.
He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School (2011) and earned a degree from Dartmouth College (A.B., 2007).
In addition, Butzel attorney and shareholder D. Scott Brinkmann has been listed as one of 19 attorneys named to Michigan Lawyers Weekly's "Go To Lawyers" for Real Estate and Condominium Law for 2022.
Brinkmann has transactional experience in real estate development and finance matters, including acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, incentives, zoning and tax issues.
In 2016, Brinkmann was recognized as one of DBusiness magazine's "30 in Their Thirties" for his legal work in the City of Detroit having played a pivotal role in several transformative development projects in the city.
Brinkmann is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School (2005) and Michigan State University (B.A., 1999).
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Lena Gonzalez, BSP Law associate and professional development & diversity director, has received the Detroit Bar Association's Barristers Community Impact Award for Outstanding Young Lawyers.
The Barristers Community Impact Award is presented to a young attorney whose integrity, competence, and accomplishments have significantly impacted the local community, or have had a demonstrable impact on the broader state or national landscape.
The Detroit Bar Association's Outstanding Young Lawyer Awards recognize the accomplishments of young attorneys who, despite being in the early stages of their career, have demonstrated great potential as future leaders of the legal community. Award recipients were honored at the Detroit Bar Association's Summer Breeze event on July 19.
In addition, BSP attorney Jessica Mills received the "Committee of the Year" award at the Wolverine Bar Association's Presidents' Dinner event on July 13.
The award recognizes her role as committee chair of the Walter H. Bentley, III Minority Bar Passage Program, a committee designed to improve bar passage rates of law school graduates sitting for the Michigan bar exam.
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Honigman LLP is pleased to announce J. Patrick Howe has joined its Real Estate Department as a partner in the firm's Bloomfield Hills office. Howe is an experienced attorney in all areas of real estate development, real estate transactions, and alcoholic beverage law. He represents a diverse group of clients, ranging from entrepreneurs to national publicly traded companies. He handles all aspects of real estate development, with an emphasis on zoning and entitlement matters. He routinely drafts and negotiates purchase agreements, lease agreements, and options for commercial, industrial, automotive, and retail properties in Michigan and throughout the United States.
In addition to his real estate practice, Howe is known as a go-to resource with respect to Michigan alcoholic beverage law and practice, and has worked with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission on a daily basis for nearly 20 years. His hospitality and alcoholic beverage clients include local and national wineries, breweries and distilleries, on-premise retailers, off-premise retailers, and third party facilitator services. He handles liquor license applications, violations, audits, special event permitting, and provides general counsel on the Michigan Liquor Control Code and Administrative Rules.
Prior to owning his own practice, JPHOWE PLLC, for the previous six years, Howe was a partner at Howard & Howard. He earned his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Master of Urban Planning from Wayne State University, and his B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Howe serves on the Executive Committee of the Urban Land Institute Michigan District Council, and is a member of the Administrative Law and Real Property Law Sections of the State Bar of Michigan.
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Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that attorney Fawzeih Daher has joined the firm as an associate in the Detroit office.
Daher is a member of Bodman's Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group. She represents a range of corporate clients in connection with resolving complex commercial and general business disputes. She has experience in appellate litigation and has appeared before the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Before joining Bodman, Daher practiced with another large Detroit-area law firm where she represented clients in a wide variety of civil defense matters, including professional malpractice, auto liability, premises liability, and general liability.
Daher is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School. She also earned an undergraduate degree from WSU. As a law student, she served as a legal intern with the City of Detroit Law Department, Municipal Section.
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Maddin Hauser Shareholder David Hart led the "Fraud Related to Title" workshop at the State Bar of Michigan's 2022 Real Property Law Section Summer Conference. Held in northern Michigan, the conference's theme was finding the balance. Balancing safety and cost is critical in a rapidly evolving real estate environment.
Attendees heard from industry experts covering topics including financing, insurance, zoning regulations, and home office impacts, among others. The conference also offered a variety of roundtable discussions about current condominium issues, vacation rentals, remote closings, and other current real estate matters.
Hart is a member of the firm's executive management committee and co-chair of the Financial Services and Real Property Litigation group. He concentrates his practice on title insurance, business disputes, mortgage and real estate litigation, construction disputes, and creditor's rights law, including bankruptcy. Licensed in Michigan and Ohio, Hart frequently presents on title insurance and real estate law topics.
