LEGAL PEOPLE

Ottenwess Law is proud to announce that Partner Sarah Cherry has been included in the Super Lawyers Michigan 2023 Annual List of “Top Women Attorneys” in the “Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense” category.

Cherry’s practice focuses primarily on medical malpractice defense, professional liability, and executive employment matters. She has represented hospitals, physician groups, insurance companies, physicians, mid-level providers, and nurses in negligence claims. Aside from trial practice, she has first chair experience with Daubert hearings, evidentiary hearings, complex issues involving electronic medical records (“EMR”), and damage analysis. She has also represented parties in arbitration, including successfully representing a senior executive in an employment matter against a billion-dollar corporation.

In addition to being included on the Super Lawyers 2023 Annual List of “Top Women Attorneys,” Cherry has also received several other legal honors including Michigan Super Lawyers “Rising Stars” (2022), Michigan Lawyers Weekly Up & Coming Lawyers (2022), and Michigan Lawyers Weekly “Go To” Medical Malpractice Lawyer (2022).

Cherry was also recently a panelist at the Oakland County Bar Association’s “Raise the Bar 2023 Circuit-Probate Court Bench Bar Conference” on March 3.
Cherry was part of the the civil panel “How Do We Develop the Next Generation of Trial Lawyers?” along with Oakland County Circuit Court Judge  Jacob Cunningham, Emily Grace Thomas, Jenna Wright Greenman, Elyse Heid, and moderator Jamie Martone.

The panel addressed the lack of opportunities for young attorneys to obtain trial experience and provided a number of suggestions for firms and younger attorneys to make sure that the next generation of trial attorneys are ready.

Cherry discussed her experience being mentored by David M. Ottenwess and how others can use this model to train the next generation of attorneys.

•            •            •

Zausmer shareholder Danielle DePriest has been named to the Oakland County Executive’s Oakland Together 40 Under 40 Class of 2023.

DePriest handles a variety of litigation at Zausmer, including commercial and insurance disputes. In addition, she has experience representing governmental entities and in the areas of energy infrastructure and eminent domain. Her municipal litigation practice involves large-scale public infrastructure projects.

Alongside her legal work, DePriest is committed to being active in the community. She currently serves as the president of NEXTGen Detroit, the young adult division of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. She is also an Executive Board member for Jewish Family Service of Metropolitan Detroit, an organization whose programming provides safety net services to community members in need.

•            •            •

Bodman is pleased to announce that attorney Jacqueline W. August has been reappointed as president of the 2023-2024 Michigan Asian Pacific Bar Association (MAPABA) executive board.

Founded in 1985, the mission of the MAPABA is to promote improvements in the administration of justice, to advance relations between the legal profession and the public, to secure equality of Asian Pacific Americans in society, to advocate the interest of Asian Pacific Americans in the legal profession, and to promote equality and social justice for all people.

August represents business clients in connection with the drafting and negotiation of a broad range of commercial contracts, including vendor contracts for goods and services.

In addition to the MAPABA, August is also active with the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan and serves as the regional representative for the Women’s Bar Association, Oakland County Region of WLAM.

August earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School and her B.S. from Oakland University.

•            •            •

Dickinson Wright is pleased to announce that Scott A. Petz has been named to the Global Advisory Council 2023-2024 by the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM).

EDRM Global Advisory Council is composed of contributors, lawyers, judges, in-house counsel, and other legal professionals to help guide the organization’s ongoing projects and planning. EDRM creates global practical resources to improve e-discovery, privacy, security and information governance.

Petz is a member in the firm’s Troy office where he focuses his practice in the areas of commercial and business litigation, class and collective actions, labor litigation, consumer protection, and condemnation and land use. He regularly litigates high stakes and complex matters, and consults on non-litigation matters.

Petz received his B.A. from Kalamazoo College and his law degree from The John Marshall Law School.

•            •            •

Brooks Kushman is pleased to announce that Shareholder Isheeta Patel Laxmanan has been named a 2023 “Up & Coming Lawyer” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Patel Laxmanan and other honorees will be recognized at an awards luncheon on Friday, April 21, at the Detroit Marriott in Troy.

Patel Laxmanan was recognized as a 2023 “Up & Coming Lawyer” for her service to her clients, dedication to the legal community, and professional development to others within Brooks Kushman. Throughout her career, she has dedicated time to numerous diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts,
mentoring, leadership within the legal community, and community involvement. She is a former president of the South Asian Bar Association (SABA) of Michigan and currently serves on the Board of Directors for SABA Michigan,

Patel Laxmanan is also active in FATE Detroit and spends time with students in the FATE Program to increase their interaction with professionals and helping them gain an understanding of career development, leadership, and goal setting in education.

Patel Laxmanan has represented Brooks Kushman as a pathfinder with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, and actively participates in the alumni programming to further her leadership skills. She is an active member with the Corporate Counsel Women of Color and regularly attends their annual conference to learn from the industry’s top professionals and benchmark the firm’s DEI progress.

Patel Laxmanan is a registered patent attorney who has experience working with a range of clients that vary in size, from Fortune 100 companies to small start-ups. She focuses her practice on preparing and prosecuting domestic patent applications in the chemical engineering and materials arts. She also advises her clients on various IP-related strategies, such as whether they have freedom to operate and by assessing the validity of patents.

Brooks Kushman is also pleased to announce that CEO Sangeeta Shah contributed to a recent Anaqua article called, “Brooks Kushman PC – Embracing and Championing Change to Build a Successful IP Law Firm.”

In this article, Shah discusses some of the changes she has experienced, such as innovation and technical advances, client priorities, and business practices. She expands on how Brooks Kushman has established a reputation as a premier IP law firm and the complexities of managing a differentiating a mid-size IP law firm.

“It was such a pleasure being interviewed by Anaqua about the changing IP landscape, especially for mid-size law firms,” Shah said. “Our main priority is our clients; we continue to create new ways to establish and maintain meaningful relationships with our clients.”

As CEO of Brooks Kushman, Shah is responsible for leading the firm’s Executive Committee. In addition to serving as the CEO, Shah maintains an active docket as an IP practitioner with more than 20 years of experience in managing patent portfolios, PTAB matters, patent litigation and opinions. Shah works closely with several Fortune 500 clients for whom she provides strategic counseling and guidance on global intellectual property portfolios. Her patent expertise has resulted in national recognition from Managing IP, Best Lawyers, IAM, AIPLA and the PTAB Bar Association.

Prior to becoming CEO, Shah served as the firm’s chief diversity officer. In that position, she developed and implemented a range of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within and outside of the firm through outreach programs and partnerships. Under her leadership, the firm was recognized in 2018 and 2019 by ChIPs and Diversity Lab as a national Honor Roll Firm for its dedication to advancing diversity and inclusion. Shah also hosts the Breaking Mindsets Podcast where she interviews leaders who defy expectations and have accomplished great change in their field.

•            •            •

Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds Lisa Brown has been appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan Electronic Recording Commission, a statewide board which sets standards and procedures for the electronic recording of real estate documents.  

“I’m grateful to Governor Whitmer as well as my colleagues at the Michigan Association of Registers of Deeds for this opportunity to work on ways to make Register of Deeds offices more efficient,” said Brown. “In our office, e-recording of documents steadily increased in recent years and then significantly accelerated during the pandemic. Last year, e-recordings made up over eighty percent of filings in Oakland County and is now the primary way title companies, mortgage companies, and other high-volume users interact with our office.”    

The Michigan Electronic Recording Commission consists of eight members, including county registers of deeds, state officials, and industry professionals. Brown’s appointment is through the end of 2024 and is an uncompensated position.  

The commission was created in 2010 with the adoption of the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act which, among other things, authorized the e-recording of real estate documents, such as deeds and mortgages. The commission is charged with aligning e-recording practices within the state with nationwide standards.