Dykema recently announced the addition of Drew D. Van de Grift to the firm's Government Policy and Practice Group. Van de Grift will work out of the firm's Lansing and Bloomfield Hills offices. Prior to joining Dykema, he worked for Wayne County in multiple roles during a five-year span-including as a principal attorney within the county's Office of Corporation Counsel and later as the county's budget director.
Earlier in his career, Van de Grift worked with the Michigan Department of Treasury for a number of years. During his time at Treasury, he worked on a state team to restructure 13 financially distressed Michigan municipalities.
In his practice, Van de Grift will help public clients find creative financial solutions, provide counsel for strategic restructuring, and offer representation in high-stakes litigation. His clients will benefit from his knowledge and understanding of state regulations concerning debt matters, millage levies, budgetary best practices, government operations, and strategic considerations for public retirement systems.
Van de Grift earned a law degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and a B.B.A. from the Walsh College of Accountancy and Business Administration.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced the re-appointment of Mary Ellen Gurewitz to the Board of State Canvassers.
Gurewitz spent many decades practicing union-side labor law in the private and public sectors as well as political and election law. She earned a law degree from Wayne State University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.
Gurewitz is appointed to represent Democrats for a term commencing February 1 and expiring January 31, 2027.
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 adopts 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.
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Butzel attorney and shareholder Mark Lezotte spoke to the University of Michigan Ross School of Business Alumni Club of Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan on January 18. Lezotte, an alumnus of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and University of Michigan Law School, discussed "Nonprofit Affiliations and Mergers."
Lezotte was recently profiled in the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC) e-newsletter. He is a MAC board member. MAC is a nonprofit public/private partnership dedicated to enhancing the economic vitality and quality of life in southeast Michigan, composed of leaders in business, labor, government and education who work cooperatively to address regional issues and serve as a catalyst for change. In addition to being a MAC board member Lezotte has served on its Health Care Task Force and Public Policy Task Force.
Based in Butzel's Detroit office, Lezotte is a co-chair of the firm's Health Care Industry Team. He has experience in corporate, healthcare, exempt organization, and tax matters, including corporate and nonprofit governance, hospital-physician ventures and other healthcare transactions, regulatory investigations, tax exemption matters, and a wide range of business and commercial transactions.
Lezotte has conducted presentations on topics involving health law, nonprofit organizations, and tax matters, including healthcare reform issues; board duties and responsibilities; hospital-physician transactions; HIPAA and patient privacy provisions; compliance programs; informed consent in patient care and in clinical research; advance directives and healthcare powers of attorney; charitable giving; and tax aspects of business acquisitions and dispositions.
Lezotte is a former council member of the State Bar of Michigan Business Law Section and former co-chair of the Nonprofit Corporations Committee, as well as former co-chair of the Health Law Committee of the local Federal Bar Association chapter.
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Dickinson Wright is pleased to announce that the firm received the Arch Towards Justice Award at the 9th Annual National Action Network Dream Keepers Brunch and VIP Reception. The Annual Dream Keepers Brunch is part of the NAN Michigan Chapter's Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration.
"We are honored to be this year's recipient of the Arch Towards Justice Award," says Aaron V. Burrell, member and co-chair of the firm's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. "For many years, Dickinson Wright has partnered with NAN Michigan and we look forward to continuing to support their efforts as they continue to create a more equal and just society in the State of Michigan."
Dickinson Wright is being honored for it support of the organization's efforts to provide basic needs and educational opportunities to underserved communities, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. National Action Network (NAN) is one of the leading civil rights organizations in the country with chapters throughout the U.S. Founded in 1991, NAN works to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, criminal record, economic status, gender, gender expression, or sexuality.
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Foley, Baron, Metzger, & Juip PLLC is pleased to announce the promotion of attorney Stephanie A. Karisny to associate principal and Nicole Joseph-Windecker to senior associate.
Karisny focuses her practice on defending hospitals and health care professionals in complex medical malpractice litigation. She has assisted in the representation of some of the largest, multi-site health systems in Michigan. She earned a bachelor's degree from Eastern Michigan University and a law degree from Wayne State University Law School (2012).
Joseph-Windecker is part of the medical-malpractice practice group and defends health care professionals and organizations. She is also experienced in insurance defense work including motor vehicle, property, and fire and casualty litigation. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (2018).
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Gregory Narsh, counsel in Troutman Pepper's Environmental + Natural Resources Practice Group and president-elect of the Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan (HBAM), has been recognized with a "Spirit of Detroit Award" by Coleman Young Jr. on behalf of the Detroit City Council for contributions to diversity efforts in Detroit.
Named after one of Detroit's most easily identifiable landmarks, the "Spirit of Detroit Award" is issued by the Detroit City Council "to a person, event, or organization deemed to have performed an outstanding achievement or service to the citizens of Detroit." Officers of the HBAM were presented with the award as an expression of gratitude by City Council its leadership, tireless efforts, and work done to help the Hispanic citizens of Detroit.
"I am honored by this recognition and thankful for the opportunity to serve Detroit's growing Hispanic population alongside my fellow HBAM officers," said Narsh.
In addition to serving as an officer of HBAM, Narsh also has volunteered his time with several other organizations assisting Southeast Michigan's large Hispanic population. In cooperation with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) and the University of Michigan Law School's Human Trafficking Clinic, he secured green cards for several individuals from Mexico, Honduras, and Liberia, Africa, all having been victims of domestic violence or human trafficking. At the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation (DHDC), he participated actively in the organization's Education Action Committee aimed at improving the quality and security of education for inner city students, especially for Spanish-speaking students and their parents.
At Troutman Pepper, Narsh advises chemical industry and other clients in a range of regulatory, compliance and administrative matters, as well as litigation involving federal agencies. His environmental practice covers all areas of state and federal environmental law, including air, water and waste issues for corporate and municipal clients. In addition to general compliance and enforcement matters, he has experience handling state and federal Superfund matters and the environmental aspects of business transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.
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Michael Eades has joined McDonald Hopkins LLC as an associate in the Litigation Department, adding his experience to the firm's national Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group.
Eades is accredited by the International Association of Privacy Professionals as a Certified Information Privacy Professional for the United States. His practice focuses on advising companies in a wide variety of industries on addressing data privacy and cybersecurity incidents.
Much of Eades' expertise in data privacy and cybersecurity stems from his time as an internal advisor, external regulator and litigator for the Office of Indiana Attorney General. His litigation and general business experience includes engaging in complex and innovative data privacy litigation while at the Office of Indiana Attorney General and several years of experience serving as in-house privacy counsel for a SaaS technology company.
Prior to those roles, Eades served as a professional contract attorney and consumer litigation attorney, with experience in complex antitrust litigation and consumer litigation cases.
Eades earned his law degree from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from in psychology and criminal justice from Indiana University.
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Warner Norcross + Judd LLP recently welcomed nine new attorneys to the firm, including two who are based in Metro Detroit. Alan F. Jurcak is based in the firm's Macomb office and Charles C. Kadado is based in the firm's Detroit office.
Jurcak received his law degree from Michigan State University College of Law. He earned bachelor's degrees from MSU in international relations and Mandarin. He completed a legal internship with HROne in Shanghai, China.
Kadado received his law degree from Wayne State University Law School. He earned a bachelor's degree from Wayne State University in broadcast journalism. He served as a special prosecutions intern with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office and a judicial intern to the U.S. District Court Judge Terrence G. Berg, Eastern District of Michigan.
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Brooks Kushman attorney Benjamin C. Stasa will lead a round-table discussion at the AUTM Annual Meeting 2023 hosted in-person on February 20 in Austin, Texas.
Stasa's session, titled "So, You're Licensing Skynet-Will Template Terms Suffice?," will cover the fundamentals of artificial intelligence/machine learning with reference to the Skynet technology of "Terminator" fame, explain why the same may give rise to certain issues if typical licensing provisions are used, and challenge participants to analyze hypothetical Skynet related licensing provisions to sharpen their skills at spotting and remedying issues. Presented as a live role-play experience, Stasa and his co-facilitators will portray the chief legal staff, and attendees will act as licensing managers, for Cyberdyne Systems (again of "Terminator" fame).
Stasa is a registered patent attorney and Ph.D. candidate in electrical and computer engineering. He represents clients in a broad range of industries on matters in the electrical, computer science and mechanical arts. Stasa's research interests include artificial intelligence, blockchain, communications, microelectronics, power transmission, quantum computing and signal processing. He is currently investigating the application of machine learning to wireless communications and deep learning to speech recognition.
AUTM is the non-profit leader in efforts to educate, promote and inspire professionals to support the development of academic research that changes the world and drives innovation forward. Its community is comprised of more than 3,000 members who work in more than 800 universities, research centers, hospitals, businesses and government organizations around the globe.
