LEGAL PEOPLE

Oakland County 52nd District Court

Judge Travis Reeds will serve as the chief judge of the Oakland County 52nd District Court, which has four divisions covering 34 communities, beginning Jan. 1. Voters first elected him as judge of 52-1 District Court in Novi in 2014.

“This appointment by the Michigan Supreme Court to lead all four divisions of the 52nd District Court is both an honor and a welcome challenge,” Reeds said. “Not only is it an opportunity to ensure the successful administration of the court, but also to serve the residents in our communities by making the court accessible and a beacon of hope and justice.”

Reeds, who will become vice president of the Michigan District Judges Association (MDJA) on the same day he becomes chief judge, has contributed to revisions to the Michigan Judicial Institute’s Contempt of Court Benchbook and serves on the Court Rules and Criminal Forms Committees for the MDJA. He also participates in all 52nd District Court treatment courts, including the Mental Health Court, Sobriety Court, Drug Court, and Veterans Treatment Court.

Prior to his election to the 52-1 District Court, Reeds practiced law with his father for about 17 years at the law firm of Reeds & Reeds in Walled Lake, handling a variety of cases from real estate and probate to family and criminal law.

Reeds has lectured on various legal topics for the Oakland County Bar Association and has lectured and written for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education. He is a former member of the Oakland County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and was a member of the ICLE Criminal Law Advisory Board. He has contributed to the ICLE as a Champion of Justice, including work as the co-editor and co-author of Michigan Criminal Procedure and Michigan Drunk Driving Law and Practice. He is also on the advisory board and contributor to the Michigan Model Criminal Jury Instructions, Second Edition. In 2013 and 2014, he was named a Michigan Super Lawyer and was selected as one of the Top 100 National Trial Lawyers.

Reeds graduated from Wayne State University Law School in 1997. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central Michigan University.

Fifty-Second District Court serves the communities of Addison Township, Auburn Hills, Brandon Township, Clarkston, Clawson, Commerce Township, Groveland Township, Highland Township, Holly, Holly Township, Independence Township, Lake Angelus, Lake Orion, Leonard, Lyon Township, Milford, Milford Township, Novi, Novi Township, Oakland Township, Orion Township, Ortonville, Oxford, Oxford Township, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Rose Township, South Lyon, Springfield Township, Troy, Walled Lake, White Lake Township, Wixom, and Wolverine Lake.

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JAMS

JAMS is proud to announce that Denise Langford Morris, retired Oakland County Circuit Court judge, has been nominated for and inducted into the Michigan Women Forward’s Hall of Fame Class of 2023.

The Hall of Fame was established in 1983 by Michigan Women Forward (MWF) to tell the stories of women’s contributions to Michigan’s history and to inspire future generations. Induction into the Hall of Fame is intended to reflect and celebrate a lifetime of dedicated service within the state. MWF is a community development organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunity, empowering the next generation and celebrating and honoring the accomplishments of Michigan women.

Langford Morris, joined JAMS in Detroit in 2022 after serving on the Oakland County bench for 30 years. She was the first African American and the first female dean of the Oakland County bench since its inception in 1848. During her tenure on the bench, she presided over thousands of civil, business, family and criminal cases, including jury and bench trials. She managed every aspect of the cases assigned to her from filing to post judgment in an AAA-bond-rated county of over 1.2 million people.
Langford Morris retired as the first African American chief judge pro tempore to serve on the court.

Prior to her time on the bench, Langford Morris served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Civil Division. Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards and wide recognition, including the Oakland County Democratic Party Wings of Justice Award (2023), National Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award (2021) and National Bar Association’s Living Legend Award, Region VI (2021).

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Moss & Colella PC

David M. Moss, a founding partner of personal injury and civil rights law firm Moss & Colella PC, has been named to the inaugural Michigan’s Go To Lawyers Power List by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Chosen by a committee from four Go To Lawyer practice areas, Moss was included in the category of negligence law. In October, Moss was recognized as part of the publication’s larger list of Go To Lawyers in Negligence Law; only seven of the 24 honored made it on the new “Power List.”

With 100% of his practice devoted to litigation, Moss has spent his nearly 40-year legal career in personal injury law representing victims and their families in a variety of injury cases against insurance companies, national corporations, hospitals, municipalities, and individual defendants.  He has successfully argued at the appellate level, both before the Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court.  Moss is sought after by both plaintiff and defense attorneys seeking to retain outside counsel to advocate their cases.

The Go To Lawyer honors are two of many accolades Moss has recently received. He was named to The Best Lawyers in America® list in August 2023—his second appearance on the list—in the practice area of Personal Injury Litigation–Plaintiffs, and has been recognized as a Michigan Super Lawyer and DBusiness Top Lawyer for multiple years. He was also named to the Michigan Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame Class of 2023 earlier this year.

In November 2023, Moss & Colella PC made its inaugural debut with a Tier 1 ranking at the metropolitan level in the Personal Injury Litigation–Plaintiffs category by Best Lawyers® in the 14th edition of the United States Best Law Firms®.

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Plunkett Cooney

Attorney Jake W. Hendricks recently joined Plunkett Cooney as a member of its Torts & Litigation and Government Law practice groups.  

A member of the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, Hendricks concentrates his litigation practice in the areas of premises liability, general negligence, retail liability and municipal liability.

Hendricks represents employers and retail clients in slip, trip and fall claims, breach of contract disputes and labor and employment law matters, including negligent hiring, retention, training and supervision issues.

As a member of the governmental law practice, he represents municipalities in both state and federal courts. His experience includes handling 4th Amendment search and seizure claims and excessive force matters under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.

A 2023 graduate of Michigan State University College of Law, Hendricks is member of the State Bar of Michigan. He earned his undergraduate degree from Central Michigan University in 2020.

In addition, an online court review service has named a federal appellate court case won by Plunkett Cooney as its 2023 Most Memorable Moment in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Plunkett Cooney appellate attorneys Mary Massaron and Henry Saad handled the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) case which is highlighted by Law360 in its 2023 Circuit-By-Circuit Guide.

Massaron is a partner in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office. Saad is a retired chief judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals who now serves as special counsel at Plunkett Cooney.

Massaron is a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the American Law Institute. She is also a past chair of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs, a five-member committee that oversees preparation of ABA briefs for filing in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Plunkett Cooney is also pleased to announce that its longtime director of Marketing and Business Development, John E. Cornwell, was recently named to the Class of 2023 “Unsung Heroes” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.  Cornwell, along with 25 other law firm employees, was selected for consistently going above and beyond the call of duty, often behind the scenes.

Cornwell has been a member of Plunkett Cooney for more than 26 years. A 1990 graduate of Wayne State University, he began his career as a reporter for The Citizen Newspaper in Hamtramck. He went on to serve nearly five years as the city’s deputy mayor. In 1997, he began his over two-and-a-half-decade career with Plunkett Cooney, serving first as the firm’s communications specialist and eventually being promoted to marketing and business development director.   

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Foley & Lardner LLP

Foley & Lardner LLP is pleased to announce that Marcus Sprow has been named managing partner of its Detroit office. Sprow, a member of Foley’s Mechanical & Electromechanical Technologies Practice and Energy and Manufacturing Sectors, also serves as vice-chair of the firm’s national Intellectual Property Department.

Sprow succeeds partner Philip Phillips, who has held the position in Detroit since 2017 and was elected to Foley’s Management Committee earlier this year.

As office managing partner, Sprow will focus on strategically growing the Detroit office, further enhancing Foley’s presence in the local market, and continuing to steward community involvement.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to lead the next chapter of the Detroit office and continue to build upon the remarkable culture of client and community service that Phil and those before him helped build,” said Sprow. “I’m also eager to grow the Detroit office consistent with the firm’s sector-led strategic plan and to expand Foley’s reputation as the go-to trusted advisor to the city’s automotive and manufacturing industries.”

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Jones Day

The global law firm Jones Day has announced that 51 lawyers will be admitted to the firm’s partnership effective January 1, 2024, including the following two lawyers in Detroit:

Richard M. Brodsky, Business & Tort Litigation

Aaron S. Markel, Labor & Employment

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Bodman PLC

Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that Nashara A. L. Peart joined the firm as a senior associate in the Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group, based in the firm’s Detroit office. She is licensed to practice in both Michigan and the Province of Ontario, Canada.

Peart helps clients resolve complex business disputes and represents them in state and federal courts and in a broad range of alternative dispute resolution forums. She has experience in litigation matters involving commercial and public real estate disputes, probate disputes, and general commercial disputes.

Before joining Bodman, Peart served as an associate at a global law firm where she represented clients on multi-million dollar real estate and land use litigation matters, including arbitrations, and successfully represented a client in the Michigan Court of Appeals regarding a dispute over property boundaries.

She is an active pro bono litigator. In 2022, Peart was awarded the Detroit Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer Pro Bono Award which is given to the young attorney who has made extraordinary accomplishments through their participation in pro bono activities.

Peart received law degrees from the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Law and the University of Windsor Faculty of Law. She received her undergraduate degree from McMaster University.

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Taft

Taft Detroit attorney Shirley Kaigler has been elected as a member of the Detroit Institute of Arts Board of Directors, effective January 2024. The Detroit Institute of Arts, located in Midtown Detroit, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States.

Kaigler is a partner in the Private Client practice group. She concentrates her practice in the areas of probate and trust administration, estate, tax, retirement and business succession planning, elder law, and health care proxy and special needs issues.
She has experience principally in the area of gift, estate, and tax planning for all estate sizes. Her clients are business owners, professionals in solo and group practices, corporate executives, educators, retirees, and individuals with special needs.

Kaigler has fostered positive working relationships with major financial institutions in order to coordinate and implement her clients’ tax, estate, and financial plans and is dedicated to ensuring that her clients’ wishes and wealth are safely preserved.

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Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti & Sherbrook

Michael Watza recently participated in a webinar for the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) titled “The Courts, The Hill and The FCC – A Year in Review and Setting the Stage for 2024.” The panel of national experts reviewed regulatory and legislative actions of this past year and provided a look ahead on what is to come in 2024.

Watza heads the governmental litigation and affairs practice at the Kitch firm. His areas of concentration include litigated, legislative and administrative solutions on behalf of municipal, non-profit and private sector clients in the areas of Telecommunications, Energy, Complex Litigation, Insurance, Governance and Gaming.

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Maddin, Hauser, Roth, & Heller PC

With its 100th anniversary just one year away, Maddin Hauser has announced its impending move to One Oakland Towne Square in Southfield. Once the build-out and relocation are complete in the summer of 2024, the law firm will occupy an entire floor in the well-known and centrally located Class-A commercial property. The move affirms Maddin Hauser’s commitment to its future by creating a contemporary and modern office space that paves the way for continued growth while preserving the firm’s largely in-office culture.

In the past year, the 44-attorney firm implemented The Maddin Hauser Way, 28 guiding principles which embody the firm’s culture.

“I am thrilled that we found the perfect space for our new office just before we celebrate our 100th anniversary in 2025,” says Maddin Hauser President and CEO Steven D. Sallen. “Preserving our distinctive work culture is of utmost importance to firm leadership. We see tremendous value in remaining a mid-size full-service business law firm in the region, and this move is critical for positioning Maddin Hauser as the law firm of choice for many local, regional, and even national business clients.”

While many law firms have reduced their post-pandemic office footprints to accommodate rising remote workforces, Maddin Hauser has chosen to move in the opposite direction with newly remodeled space. One Oakland Towne Square offers enhanced amenities to the firm’s people in a modern, customized environment. They have occupied their current office space since 1986.