Legal People

Secrest Wardle

Secrest Wardle is proud to announce that Executive Partner Justin A. Grimske has been selected as one of “Michigan’s Go To Lawyers” for negligence law by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

Grimske has been with Secrest Wardle since 2012 and is a member of the Amusement and Leisure, Construction, General Negligence, Motor Vehicle Litigation, Premises Liability, and Trucking/Commercial Vehicle Litigation Practice Groups. Grimske also serves as chair of the firm’s Amusement and Leisure Practice Group.

Grimske has been selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2019 to the present and has been selected as a Best Lawyers Ones to Watch from 2021 to the present.

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City of Detroit Department of Appeals and Hearings

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan recently announced the appointment of Julianne Pastula as the city’s director of administrative hearings. She replaces previous DAH Director Miriam Blanks-Smart who retired earlier this year.

Pastula, who was formerly chief legal counsel of operations and chief of the FOIA Division of the city’s Law Department, has worked for the City of Detroit for eighteen years. While at the Law Department, Pastula drafted legislation to support the city’s blight remediation efforts, including amendments to city code related to graffiti and property maintenance. Pastula also has knowledge of city operations, the Detroit city code and state law, civil/criminal infractions, and blight enforcement.

In her new role, Pastula, will help uphold the city’s quality of life efforts through management of blight violations and appeals of administrative decisions.
When property owners are issued blight violations by city inspectors, tickets are processed by the Department of Appeals and Hearings. The DAH serves as a “blight court,” providing property owners due process, including the right to appeal a ticket if they already have addressed the issue or believe the ticket was improperly written. If the property owner is determined to have resolved the issue or to be not responsible for the issue, the DAH has authority to cancel the ticket.

The DAH has the authority to determine compliance with the City Code and uphold fines and penalties for non-compliance. The DAH also takes affirmative steps to collect on unpaid blight ticket fines and late fees, up to and including working through a collections agency to garnish wages and placing liens on properties.

“I am honored to serve the residents of the city as the next director of the Department of Appeals and Hearings (DAH),” said Pastula. “As the city’s independent Administrative Hearings and Enforcement Bureau, the DAH has a direct impact on many quality-of-life issues in the city. I look forward to this opportunity to build on the strong foundation of DAH and continue its important work delivering services in a timely, efficient, and fair manner.”

Previously, Pastula also has served the city as general counsel to the Board of Ethics, liaison to the Detroit City Council, and as a senior assistant corporation counsel. Pastula has also served the State of Michigan from 2021 to early 2022 as general counsel for the inaugural Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, which was the first citizen-led legislative seat redistricting in Michigan.

Bodman PLC

Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that the firm has been awarded Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certification Plus status, the highest level of designation in the Mansfield program, after completing a rigorous 12-month certification process in collaboration with Diversity Lab.

Last year, Bodman joined as a participating law firm in the Mansfield Certification program. Mansfield has a goal to increase diversity in leadership through a data-driven method that embeds accountability, transparency, and knowledge sharing into law firm talent attraction, retention, and promotion practices.

“The ultimate goals of Mansfield are aligned with our values as a firm,” said Bodman Chair Carrie Leahy. “We strive to maintain a welcoming and inclusive environment that makes people want to work and do business with us. Being awarded Certification Plus in our first year participating is a great honor.”

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Hansen IP Law

Hansen IP Law is pleased to announce that Principal Steve Hansen was named a Michigan “Super Lawyer” in intellectual property for 2023.
“This year marks my 25th year of practicing law, and I am grateful to my peers for this recognition and to the clients who have contributed to my and the firm’s success,” said Hansen.  

Hansen is experienced in all aspects of patent prosecution, counseling, transactions, and litigation. He also prepares and prosecutes trademark applications and advises clients on trademark selection and usage. He is a former partner of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges in Los Angeles, California and Rader, Fishman, & Grauer in Bloomfield Hills.

During his career, Hansen has handled IP matters relating to a wide array of technologies, including biosensors, biopsy devices, neurosurgical devices, vibration damping and suppression, computer memory, protein chemistry, polymer chemistry, rapid prototyping, lubricants, alkylene oxide processes, nanotechnology, conductive inks, bicycle components, anticholesterol drugs, insecticides, nurtraceuticals, transdermal drug delivery, spinal implants, and medical diagnostic tests.

Hansen received a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan (1988) and a law degree from Harvard Law School (1998). Before attending law school, Hansen was employed as a chemical process engineer and process control engineer by Amoco Oil Co.

Hansen is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (1995) and is a member of the state bars of Michigan and California. In addition, he is admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Central and Northern Districts of California and the Eastern District of Michigan.

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Michigan Appellate Defender Commission

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced the following appointments to the Michigan Appellate Defender Commission:

Judith Gracey is the managing attorney at The Gracey Law Firm, a firm she has operated for more than 30 years. She is a former member of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission and has served on the Michigan Appellate Defender Commission since 2007. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Brown University and her law degree from the University of Cincinnati. She is reappointed to represent the State Bar of Michigan for a term commencing October 11, 2023, and expiring May 24, 2027.

Brandy Robinson is a managing attorney of criminal practice for the Neighborhood Defender Service of Detroit. She is a former vice chair of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission, a past chair of the State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section, and a past member of the State Bar of Michigan Board of Commissioners. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and African American Studies and law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. She is appointed to represent the State Bar of Michigan for a term commencing October 11, 2023, and expiring May 24, 2027. She succeeds Douglas Mains, whose term has expired.

Janet Welch is the principal of Impetus Law Consulting. Previously, she had an extensive career in state government, including time as general counsel for the Michigan Supreme Court, and worked as the executive director of the State Bar of Michigan for 15 years. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Albion College and her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. She currently serves as a co-chair on the Regulatory and Practice Reform Committee for the Michigan Justice for All Commission, as a delegate of the American Bar Association House of Delegates, and as a board member for the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society. She is appointed to represent the Supreme Court of Michigan for a term commencing October 11, 2023, and expiring May 24, 2027. She succeeds Thomas McNeill, whose term has expired.

Conor Dugan is a partner at SouthBank Legal. Previously, he was senior counsel at Warner Norcross + Judd LLP, counsel at Varnum LLP, counsel at Bancroft PLLC, and an appellate attorney in the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Government from Dartmouth College and his law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School. He is appointed to represent the Supreme Court of Michigan for a term commencing October 11, 2023, and expiring May 24, 2027. He succeeds Thomas Cranmer, whose term has expired.

The Michigan Appellate Defender Commission is responsible for the development of a system of indigent appellate defense services which shall include services provided by the office of the state appellate defender and locally appointed private counsel. The commission will be responsible for the development of minimum standards to which all indigent criminal defense appellate services shall conform and will compile and keep current a statewide roster of attorneys eligible for and willing to accept appointment by an appropriate court to serve as criminal appellate defense counsel for indigents.

These appointments are not subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.

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Miller Canfield

Miller Canfield is pleased to announce that William “Billy” Hancock has joined the firm’s Intellectual Property practice in Detroit.

Hancock has experience in counseling clients on patentability, non-infringement, and validity, as well as providing litigation support relating to patent infringement and unfair competition and trade secret matters for clients in the medical, automotive, and manufacturing industries.

Having earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University, Hancock previously worked as a powertrain engineer at Roush Industries before attending Wayne State University Law School.

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Plunkett Cooney

Plunkett Cooney partner Michael D. Weaver was recently named to the 2023 Class of Go To Lawyers for Negligence Law as determined by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

A partner in Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office, Weaver is one of the firm’s most accomplished trial attorneys with approximately 65 cases tried to verdict. He represents an array of commercial clients directly and through their insurance providers, and his litigation practice includes such areas of product liability, general liability, insurance law, employment law, Title IX claims, premises liability, motor vehicle liability and civil rights.

Weaver earned his undergraduate degree in 1986 from Arizona State University and his law degree in 1990 from Michigan State University College of Law. He has been named among the Best Lawyers in America® for commercial, labor and employment and product liability litigation defense. Michigan Super Lawyers has honored Weaver for his employment litigation defense expertise, and he has received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer review rating-AV Preeminent™.

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Brooks Kushman P.C.

Brooks Kushman attorneys Robyn Lederman, Molly Crandall, Hope Shovein, Jennifer Ziegler, Erica Klazmer, and Fatima Kassem have been chosen to serve two-year terms on International Trademark Association (INTA) committees.

Their committees are:

• Robyn Lederman – Anticounterfeiting Committee

In this role, Lederman will work with a group of her peers and INTA leaders to focus on understanding and evaluating anticounterfeiting procedures worldwide. She will begin work with the committee in 2024 to review treaties, laws, and regulations related to anticounterfeiting enforcement practices.
The aim is to understand, educate, and advocate for strong brand protection policies to support brand owners and protect consumers against infringement.

• Molly Crandall – Public Information Committee

In this role, Crandall will create digital content to inform the general public about trademarks and brands. Committee work includes researching, writing, editing, and updating online resources as well as exploring new ways of presenting information to target public audiences, which include educational institutions, entrepreneurs, marketing experts, policy makers, designers, and the media.

• Hope Shovein – Unreal Campaign Committee (second term)

In this role, Shovein will be advancing INTA’s consumer awareness initiative designed to educate young consumers (ages 14-23) about the importance of trademarks and brands and the dangers of counterfeit products. Committee members plan and participate in presentations to students – either virtually or at schools and public events.

• Jennifer Ziegler – Brands for a Better Society Committee

In this role, Ziegler will be researching and analyzing brand involvement in advancing corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles in business and brand development and protection. The committee raises awareness of strategies for brands to get involved in pro bono and CSR initiatives, best practices, and the benefits to brand value of such a commitment. It oversees the operation and promotion of INTA’s Pro Bono Clearinghouse.

• Erica Klazmer – Famous and Well-Known Marks Committee

In this role, Klazmer will develop and advocate INTA’s policy on the balanced protection of famous and well-known marks. The committee monitors and analyzes developments in treaties, cases, legislation, and regulation in various jurisdictions, and proposes policy recommendations to the Board. Committee work includes writing reports and submissions, and advocacy in conjunction with relevant committees and staff.

• Fatima Kassem – Academic Committee

In this role, Kassem will support law students and professors through the development of member benefits and services and programs designed to meet their specific needs and advance their careers. Committee work includes developing and reviewing content and course materials, identifying speakers and moderators for educational events, and initiating and implementing programming – all for the academic community.