Miller Johnson recently announced that Fadwa Hammoud,
chief deputy attorney general of the State of Michigan and former
solicitor general of Michigan, has been named managing member of the
firm’s Detroit office. Hammoud will help lead key lines of service for
Miller Johnson, including crisis management, dispute resolution,
intellectual property, health care, corporate, mergers and acquisitions,
real estate, and education law. Hammoud immediately joins the firm’s
leadership team and will report directly to David Buday, managing member
of Miller Johnson.
Hammoud was appointed chief deputy in 2022 by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and now joins a Miller Johnson team that is among the fastest-growing law firms in the state, boasting double-digit growth in employees and revenue gains over the past 24 months and maintaining its mission of giving back to the communities it serves and serving clients to help them achieve their goals.
“This is an incredible opportunity for me personally and professionally, as I aim to increase the impact I am able to have in the communities I have served throughout my career through the kind of direct access the world of private practice provides,” said Hammoud. “Miller Johnson is the firm of choice for me based on its reputation of excellence and of giving back to the communities it serves. It is a team that cares deeply about the people and organizations that
they serve, and I look forward to help leading our efforts in Detroit as Miller Johnson strengthens its position as Michigan’s law firm.”
Hammoud will play a role in advising the firm’s strategic direction in addition to serving as a primary conduit to legislative and judicial personnel at the state and federal levels.
As chief deputy attorney general, Hammoud oversaw the department’s three Bureaus, including eighteen civil divisions and four criminal divisions, and the offices of Human Resources, Fiscal Management, Legislative Affairs and Public Information and Education. In her role, she oversaw more than five hundred employees and managed the department’s more than $100 million annual budget.
As Michigan’s 12th solicitor general, Hammoud made history as the youngest to ever hold the position and the first ever Arab-American Muslim solicitor general in the United States. She also became the first Arab American Muslim woman to argue before the United States Supreme Court, winning the case of Brown v. Davenport in 2022.
Before her service at the Capital, Hammoud was lead attorney for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, establishing the Business Protection Unit and advocating on behalf of the county’s various ethnic and immigrant communities. In 2021, Hammoud was appointed to the Commission on Middle Eastern American Affairs, where she served on the Legislative Committee for the Hispanic/Latino, Asian Pacific American and Middle Eastern American Affairs Commissions.
Hammoud is a member of several organizations, including the League of Women Voters, American Association of University Women, and the Women Lawyers Association. She has previously served on the Board of Trustees at Henry Ford College, as a trustee and treasurer of the Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education, and as a board member of the Government Bar Association, the Dearborn Education Foundation, and the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Additionally, she is the former vice president of the Arab American Political Action Committee.
In 2023, she was selected as a “Influential Women of Law” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly, and in 2017, she received the Rising Star Award from the Arab American Chamber of Commerce.
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Butzel attorney Daniel R.W. Rustmann will be a featured presenter during the American Conference Institute: Legal, Regulatory Compliance Forum for the Automotive Industry on Thursday, March 7, in Chicago. The presentation is titled, “Strategies for Overcoming Legal Risks Associated with Supply Chain Bottlenecks.” The session will explore recent developments in supplier injunction, force majeure and related commercial litigation, to name a few.
For more than three decades, Rustmann, co-chair of Butzel’s Global Automotive Practice, has devoted his practice to helping clients solve complex business disputes, primarily in the automotive industry. He has represented clients in numerous substantive areas, including product liability defense, Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) warranty, and product defect/recall litigation, class action litigation, and other commercial contract litigation and arbitration. He frequently serves as an arbitrator, mediator, and court-appointed special master in resolution of automotive industry and other commercial disputes and is a regular speaker and commentator on automotive industry legal issues.
Rustmann has represented numerous Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers in a variety of matters, including in prosecuting and defending emergency injunction proceedings, making and responding to price increase demands, stop shipment threats, force majeure and other supply chain disruptions, dealing with distressed suppliers, supplier de-sourcing, tooling, machinery and equipment recovery and warranty disputes, and other miscellaneous breach of contract and warranty cost recovery disputes. He also represents clients in product liability litigation and in defense of consumer class action litigation.
In addition, Butzel attorneys and shareholders Jennifer E. Consiglio and Laura E. Johnson have been named to Crain’s Notable Women in Law.
Consiglio practices in the firm’s Business Law Department. She counsels clients across diverse industries in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and private equity transactions, private placements, secured and unsecured financing transactions, corporate governance, securities regulation, and various general business law matters. She has experience in planning, negotiating and implementing various types of complex business transactions, and guiding clients through the entire business life cycle.
Consiglio is a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee (past co-chair) and Recruiting Committee. She is the former chair of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, and a Fellow of The American Bar Foundation.
Johnson practices in the area of business and corporate law. She is chair of the firm’s corporate and real estate groups and focuses on mergers and acquisitions, nonprofit organizations, corporate governance, entity formation and general corporate and business law. She advises clients in venture capital and private equity transactions.
Johnson is a member of the firm’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, Recruiting Committee and Pro Bono Committee (past co-chair). She is a council member of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, and a member of its Planning Committee.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced that Suzanna Shkreli was selected to serve as commissioner at the Michigan Bureau of State Lottery.
Shkreli previously served as the director of Juvenile Justice Reform at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In that role, Shkreli focused on addressing the systemic and persistent issues with the juvenile justice system and implementation of recommendations made by the Juvenile Justice Task Force. Through her efforts, nearly 100 additional placements were secured over the past year for juvenile justice youth and the State of Michigan is set to receive $850,000 in federal grant funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice Detention and Prevention (OJJDP) to help Michigan move forward in reform efforts. She also currently serves as a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect where she chairs the training subcommittee on child fatality protocol development.
Prior to joining MDHHS, Shkreli served as Michigan’s Children’s Ombudsman and worked as deputy legal counsel in the Executive Office of the Governor. Before joining state government, she served as an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office. Shkreli is a graduate of Oakland University and Cooley Law School.
“It is a tremendous honor to continue the longstanding work of the Michigan Lottery,” said Shkreli. “I look forward to working closely with local vendors and retailers who are vital to the success of the program. Under Governor Whitmer’s leadership, Michigan Lottery continues to deliver record results for our children’s education across the state – with more than $1.3 billion from the Lottery going to schools last year. I’m thankful to Governor Whitmer for the opportunity to serve in this new role and I look forward to working with the entire Lottery team to continue this success.”
This appointment is subject to advice and consent of the Senate.
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Deborah Brouwer, managing partner of management-side labor and employment law firm Nemeth Bonnette Brouwer PC, has been named to the Michigan Lawyers Weekly Class of 2024 Hall of Fame.
In addition to serving as the firm’s managing partner, Brouwer has a management-side labor and employment law practice, working with employers to establish productive and harmonious workplace environments. She provides counseling, training, and litigation services to a wide range of public and private sector and nonprofit clients and has experience with claims of race, age, disability, gender and religious discrimination and harassment, as well as claims brought under the FMLA and FLSA. She has appeared before state and federal administrative agencies and courts in multiple states and is also a skilled workplace investigator.
The Hall of Fame recognition is one of several honors Brouwer has received in her legal career, including Michigan Super Lawyer, Best Lawyers, DBusiness Top Lawyers, Crain’s Detroit Business Notable Leaders in Employment and Labor Law, and Crain’s Detroit Business Notable Women in the Law.
Brouwer is a past president of the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel; member, State Bar of Michigan, ABA, DRI and Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society. She is secretary (and former chair) of the Board of Directors of Assured Family Services, which provides mental health services in juvenile justice/child welfare systems; and chair of the Board of Trustees, Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation, which serves Michigan’s aging population through culture, arts and social services.
Active in the National Association of Woman-Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), Brouwer was one of a relatively few women litigators when she began her law career. She is proud to carry on Nemeth Bonnette Brouwer’s tradition of being women-owned and women led since its founding in 1992.
Brouwer earned a law degree from the Wayne State University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree, both from the University of Michigan.
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Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that Gabrielle M. DeLeon and Aaron C. Roberson Jr. joined the firm as associate attorneys, both based in the firm’s Detroit office.
DeLeon is a member of Bodman’s Banking Practice Group. She represents banks, financial institutions and corporate clients in secured and unsecured lending transactions, including single-lender and syndicated credit facilities.
Before joining Bodman, DeLeon served as a financial services associate at a AMLaw 200 law firm based in North Carolina. In this role, she drafted and negotiated primary transaction documents including credit agreements, security and pledge agreements and legal opinions for secured and unsecured lending transactions, as well as coordinating closing and managing post-closing obligations.
DeLeon received her law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School and her undergraduate degree from Marist College. As a law student, DeLeon served as an extern to U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Jeffrey S. Frensley, Middle District of Tennessee.
Roberson is a member of Bodman’s Business Practice Group. He represents business clients in connection with complex transactions and general corporate matters.
Roberson has experience assisting clients with corporate formation, structuring, and governance matters including drafting certain corporate documents for Delaware and Michigan entities. He also has experience drafting HOA loan documents for certain loan transactions between lenders and condominium associations.
Before joining Bodman, Roberson was an associate at a Michigan-based business law firm where he was a member of deal teams handling complex M&A transactions and related matters.
Roberson received his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and his undergraduate degree from the College of Wooster. As a law student, he served as a law clerk for the U.S. District Court Judge Victoria A. Roberts, Eastern District of Michigan.
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Plunkett Cooney partner D. Jennifer Andreou was recently named by Crain’s Detroit Business among the publication’s 2024 Notable Women in Law.
Andreou serves as the managing partner of Plunkett Cooney’s Detroit office and is a member of the Medical Litigation Practice Group. She is a trial attorney who focuses on the defense of physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living and long-term care facilities in claims alleging medical malpractice and negligence. Her other areas of expertise include the representation of health care professionals in state investigations and licensing matters, as well as the representation of health care professionals and medical institutions in claims alleging sexual assaults.
Andreou has also been honored by Best Lawyers in America for Medical Malpractice Law since 2015, and she was named medical malpractice defense “Lawyer of the Year” in Detroit by Best Lawyers in 2022. Her other honors include being named a Michigan Super Lawyer since 2009 and a Leading Lawyer since 2015. In 2021, Michigan Lawyers Weekly named Andreou to its 2021 class of “Go To” Medical Malpractice Lawyers.
Andreou is a member of the several professional organizations, including the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel and the American Board of Trial Advocates. She received her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 1985 and her undergraduate degree from Wayne State University in 1982.
In addition, former Plunkett Cooney President and Chief Executive officer (CEO) Thomas P. Vincent was recently named by Michigan Lawyers Weekly (MiLW)
to the publication’s 2024 Hall of Fame Class. Vincent is one of 30 attorneys selected by MiLW as a top legal leader in Michigan who has been practicing for 30 years or more.
Under Vincent’s leadership from 2017 to 2023, Plunkett Cooney grew to include five new practice groups and went on to win numerous national and international honors, including the coveted Mansfield Rule Certification which honors law firms for their commitments to improving diversity, equity and inclusion.
A partner in the firm’s Labor & Employment, Torts & Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution practice groups, Vincent has leveraged his more than 40 years of litigation experience to serve as an independent meditator and arbitrator with the goals of quickly, fairly and cost-effectively resolving disputes for litigants. His ADR practice spans a range of matters involving civil rights, class actions, commercial liability, education law, employment liability, governmental law, medical litigation, motor vehicle and trucking liability, pharmaceutical liability, premises liability, product liability and professional liability. He has also completed the ICLE 40-hour General Civil Mediation Training Program.
Vincent earned his undergraduate degree in 1977 from Wayne State University and his law degree in 1981 from the Michigan State University College of Law. He has received several honors for his legal work, including earning designations as a Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation since 2013 and as a Michigan Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine for multiple years. He has also received an AV Preeminent™ rating by Martindale-Hubbell and he has been named a Leading Lawyer in Commercial Litigation by Leading Lawyers Magazine Michigan since 2015.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced the appointment of Hassan F. Abdallah to the Michigan Board of Medicine.
Abdallah is the head of Healthcare Compliance at MCRA, a leading global CRO & advisory healthcare firm. Abdallah currently serves as the chairman of the Dearborn Charter Commission and was formerly the interim chief compliance officer at Health Alliance Plan (HAP) of Michigan and is a co-founder of the Safe Substance Abuse Coalition. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wayne State University and his law degree from Cooley Law School.
Abdallah is appointed to represent the general public for a term commencing February 27, 2024, and expiring December 31, 2027. He succeeds Teresa Robinson whose term has expired.
The Michigan Board of Medicine works with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to oversee the practice of medical doctors in the state.
This appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
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Crain’s Detroit Business recently recognized Holli Targan, attorney and partner at Taft, as a Notable Woman in Law.
As the founder and co-chair of Taft’s Paytech and Payment Systems practice group, Targan specializes in credit and debit card processing, financial technology and payment systems law, and represents clients ranging from major credit card brands, debit and ATM companies, payment processors, financial institutions and fintech companies involved in this unique space. She also advises companies and private equity investors in the payments industry internationally on strategic direction and merger and acquisition transactions.
Throughout her career, Targan has operated in the paytech industry not only from a legal perspective but also on a leadership level. In 2004, she founded Paytech Women — a nationwide network of more than 7,000 professionals supporting women in the paytech industry. She has served as its president and currently sits on the Board. In addition, she has also served as the president of the Electronic Transactions Association and sat on the organization’s Board of Directors for more than 13 years.
Targan earned her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Community Studies from Michigan State University’s James Madison College and her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.
Taft is also pleased to announce that James Kresta, partner in the Detroit office, has been selected to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s Up & Coming Lawyers class of 2024.
Kresta counsels and represents clients in business disputes concerning countless issues, such as breach of contract, real property, shareholder oppression, construction, automotive suppliers, and even the First Amendment. His litigation practice includes every aspect of dispute resolution including contract review, negotiations, pleadings, discovery, substantive motions, trials, and appeals.
In addition, Taft Detroit partner Rick Zussman has been selected to Michigan Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Zussman specializes in commercial real estate, finance, and business planning. He has more than 35 years of experience representing developers, owners, operators, and investors in all asset classes, including senior housing, multi-family projects, manufactured housing, office, retail, industrial, mixed-use, and hotels.
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Foley, Baron, Metzger, & Juip PLLC is proud to share that Senior Associate Silvia Alexandria Mansoor has been chosen as a recipient of the Michigan Lawyers Weekly 2024 Up & Coming Lawyers award.
Mansoor’s practice focuses on defending health care professionals and organizations in complex medical malpractice claims and business dispute claims. She is also involved in the legal community, including serving as the current State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section chair-elect and a current member of the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice’s Outreach to Young Lawyers Standing Committee as well as having been the former chair of the Oakland County Bar Association New Lawyers Committee.
In addition, FBMJ is pleased to announce that Partner Brian Whitelaw has been chosen as an honoree for the Michigan Lawyers Weekly 2024 Hall of Fame awards program.
Whitelaw has devoted more than thirty-five years to defending health care professionals throughout the State of Michigan. He is preferred defense counsel for many of the insurance companies serving Michigan doctors and has conducted over seventy-five jury trials with a ninety-five percent win rate.
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Michigan Lawyers Weekly has named Troutman Pepper’s Nickolas Guttman and Robert Hertzberg to its 2024 Class of “Up & Coming Lawyers” and “Hall of Fame,” respectively.
At Troutman Pepper, Guttman’s practice focuses on transactions within the real estate, renewable and legacy energy, and commercial industries, in addition to a focus on general corporate law. He regularly represents energy providers and developers, property owners, real estate developers, landlords, and tenants in the acquisition, sale, development, financing, and leasing of commercial real estate properties and energy projects. He is also a graduate of Class XLII of Leadership Detroit hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber.
With more than 40 years of practicing in the bankruptcy and restructuring field, Hertzberg represented secured lenders, debtors, debtors in-possession, trustees, creditors, and creditors’ committees and handled complex litigation matters in bankruptcy and federal district courts. He is a past president of INSOL International, the leading international organization of bankruptcy professionals, and is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy. Additionally, Hertzberg has lectured throughout Europe, Africa, Middle East, the Americas, and the Far East on bankruptcy and restructuring issues.
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Cummings, McClorey, Davis, & Acho PLC is happy to congratulate Carol Smith on her selection to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s Class of 2024 Up & Coming Lawyers.
Smith is an attorney in the Livonia office where she focuses her practice on insurance defense matters. She has litigation and trial experience representing clients in third-party auto claims, as well as first-party no-fault and uninsured motorist claims. Additionally, she advises clients on numerous areas of law, including insurance coverage, general liability, personal injury protection (PIP) and bodily injury claims.
She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Oakland County Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, and Michigan Defense Trial Counsel. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oakland University and a law degree from Cooley Law School. She has been named a Rising Star- Top Rated PI General Defense Attorney by Michigan Super Lawyers since 2022.
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Michigan Lawyers Weekly has named Beverly Hall Burns in its Hall of Fame Class of 2024
Burns is a member of Miller Canfield’s Employment and Labor Group. She developed particular expertise in the area of representing employers in the public education sector, particularly through her significant work with school districts during critical periods of change and development. She helped many public school district clients during the teacher strikes in the 1970s and 1980s, and has assisted districts in working with their unions, including teachers, bus drivers, clerical and paraprofessionals.
Burns was also instrumental in helping clients navigate issues involving special education in the years following the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, and later the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, which clarified the duties of school districts to provide special education services.
Burns’ legal expertise has been recognized repeatedly, with honors that include being named the 2014 Detroit Education Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America and her consistent inclusion in Michigan Super Lawyers since 2006.
Burns’ civic and community engagement has focused on supporting both early childhood and senior citizen initiatives. She served as chair of the Executive Committee of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, to which she was appointed by former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, and she has held leadership positions in organizations such as Hope Starts Here, the Michigan Humane Society, and the Michigan Women’s Foundation, among others.
Burns currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation to serve Detroit’s aging population. The list of her past and current civic and community leadership experiences also includes:
• Michigan Humane Society, Board of Directors and chair
• Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce Nominating Committee
• Grosse Pointe Public Schools Superintendent’s Advisory Board
• Grosse Pointe Historical Society
• Michigan Metro Girl Scout Council Board of Directors
• Michigan State University College of Arts and Letters Alumni Association Board of Directors
• Michigan State University National Alumni Association Board of Directors
• Michigan Women’s Foundation Board of Trustees and chair
• Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute Professional Advisory Committee
• Detroit Economic Club Board of Directors
• Detroit Athletic Club Board of Directors
• The Greening of Detroit Board of Directors
• Eleanor League co-founder
• Grosse Pointe War Memorial Board of Directors, chair
• American Heart Association Executive Leadership Team member
Michigan Lawyers Weekly has also named Erika Giroux in its Up & Coming Lawyers Class of 2024, which recognizes lawyers who have excelled in the profession and are standouts among their peers in their first 10 years of practice.
A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Giroux is a member of Miller Canfield’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group. Soon after joining the firm, Giroux became part of the team that worked on the high-profile Hamama v. Adducci case, which involved a national class action for more than 1,400 Iraqi nationals who faced immediate deportation without the opportunity to appear before an immigration judge.
Giroux’s involvement in complex litigation extends to Title IX matters, election law disputes, and significant municipal cases, including her role on a team representing Detroit Water and Sewerage, a nearly decade-long litigation matter culminating in a positive outcome for the City.
Giroux has consistently been named to the State Bar of Michigan Pro Bono Honor Roll since its inception in 2019. In 2023, she was the winner of the Detroit Bar Association Barristers Section Pro Bono Award.
In addition, Crain’s Detroit Business has named Amy Johnston in its Notable Women in Law edition.
Johnston co-leads Miller Canfield’s nationally recognized Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group. She is widely acknowledged as one of Michigan’s top litigators and has earned a highly coveted ranking for Commercial Litigation in Chambers USA, among other awards. Her clients include small businesses as well as global and Fortune 100 companies in the energy, automotive, financial, manufacturing and real estate industries.
In addition to her leadership role as co-leader of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group, Johnston was elected to the firm’s Board of Managing Directors and in February 2021 was elected to serve as chair, a position she occupied until she stepped down in 2022.
Johnston serves as co-chair of the Federal Bar Association Committee for Law Day, which organizes activities and initiatives for the annual nationwide day of public legal education recognized in early May. She serves on the Michigan Supreme Court Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions. Additionally, Johnston is a fellow in the Oakland County Bar Foundation, the Michigan State Bar Foundation, and the American Bar Foundation.
Johnston has been recognized by several organizations, including Chambers USA; Hour Detroit Top Lawyers: Women Leaders; Best Lawyers in America; Michigan Super Lawyers; Michigan Lawyers Weekly: Women in the Law and Leaders in the Law; and DBusiness Top Lawyers.
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Dykema recently announced the addition of Jay Logel as a senior counsel in the firm’s Product Liability Practice Group and Automotive and Transportation Industry Group resident in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office. Logel joins Dykema after more than three decades holding several in-house legal roles with Ford Motor Company.
For the past decade, Logel served as managing counsel, Litigation & Regulatory for Ford, a role in which he managed a team of legal professionals handling global class action, discovery, employment, environmental, HR/Labor, product liability, and safety matters. He also advised on emerging technologies including EVs and autonomous driving. Some of Logel’s other roles with Ford included handling crisis management of multi-faceted government investigation, litigation, and media challenges across global markets, creating and leading teams of legal professionals and business colleagues during public crises to investigate and resolve environmental, safety, and quality issues, and initiating development of corporate policies to guide effective decision-making.
In his practice, Logel counsels businesses to meet product safety compliance and litigation challenges and provides timely, sound, and actionable legal advice that mitigates risks and manages costs. He also has experience building relationships with regulatory agencies to help clients receive fair hearings and have open discussions of issues affecting their business and developing effective company processes and compliance programs that balance competing priorities and allow companies to meet their regulatory obligations.
Logel earned a law degree and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Iowa.
Dykema also recently announced that Sean Darke was selected by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as a “Go To Lawyer” for Employment Law.
Darke is an employment and labor litigator who helps clients navigate everyday employment issues that impact workplace productivity, morale, and resources. He provides counsel to his clients early on to avoid risk on the front end by reviewing and drafting employment contracts, instituting arbitration provisions and procedures, anticipating potential claims, and providing practical guidance to avoid liability.
Darke earned a law degree from Michigan State University College of Law and the University of Dublin College of Law through Duquesne University of Law. He earned his B.A. with a focus in Business Economics from State University of New York, Potsdam.
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Kitch is pleased to announce that Jenna Wright Greenman has been named one of the Notable Women in Law of 2024 by Crain’s Detroit Business. Greenman, as a principal of the Kitch Firm, is a defense trial attorney with a track record of defense verdicts on behalf of hospitals and medical care providers against claims of professional negligence, including catastrophic brain damage cases, neurology, and neurosurgery, among others. She is a leader of the Detroit office’s birth trauma and medical malpractice defense practice groups.
Wright Greenman is also actively involved in the community. She is the past-president of the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit and, on its behalf, continues to organize and host a popular charity run on Belle Isle, benefiting the families of children who are hospitalized.
Wright Greenman is also an educator, engaged by numerous insurance carriers and institutions, such as the Detroit Medical Center, to develop plans for better patient care, safety, and medical-legal issues. She is also a frequent presenter for many professional organizations.
Wright Greenman was named “2023 Lawyer of the Year – Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants” by Best Lawyers®. Additionally, in 2021, she was nominated and voted into the American Board of Trial Advocates, an association of the premier trial lawyers in the country. She has previously been honored as one of Michigan Lawyers Weekly Women in the Law.
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Giarmarco, Mullins, & Horton PC is pleased to announce that Katherine E. Ross has joined the firm’s esteemed Education Law group. Ross brings experience in litigating matters in both state and federal cases involving general tort liability, first-party auto, third-party auto, premises liability, property damage, and employment discrimination. She also has appellate experience.
Ross earned her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and her B.A. from Albion College. She was named a Michigan Rising Star (Super Lawyers) in 2023, and a Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2024.
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Brooks Kushman is pleased to announce that Shareholder Rachel Smith was selected for this year’s class of Notable Women in Law by Crain’s Detroit Business.
Smith’s practice extends to licensing negotiation, open-source software and copyright issues, and pre-litigation due diligence and investigations. Her clients extend across an array of industries including consumer electronics and appliances, software and artificial intelligence, finance, medical devices, and automotive, to name a few.
Throughout her career, Smith has participated in numerous diversity and inclusion efforts with the goal of bettering the community and coaching others.
Externally, she has played a role in expanding the firms’ support of the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s (AIPLA) Women in IP Law Annual Global Networking Event, which connects women in IP from around the world. She also served in a leadership role to partner with the Girl Scouts of Michigan
– initiating the first event at the Detroit Patent Office to launch the IP Patch in Michigan, helping over 500 Girl Scouts earn the patch.
Smith has been an active member of the Leadership Counsel for Legal Diversity (LCLD) since 2020 and has attended events across the country to learn and network to promote diversity in the legal profession. She is an active member of the Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association (MIPLA) and a past president.
In addition, Brooks Kushman Executive Committee member Robyn Lederman has been named a 2024 Hall of Fame Honoree by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
With more than 25 years of experience practicing in the area of trademark law, Lederman specializes in global branding strategy, trademark and domain name counseling, clearance, protection, and enforcement for start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. She works with company legal, marketing, and business development groups to devise cost-effective strategies to achieve marketing goals. She works with her clients on issues involving anti-counterfeiting, copyright, domain name recovery, IP due diligence, licensing, trade dress and unfair competition.
Along with managing U.S. trademark portfolios for her clients, Lederman has experience in obtaining trademark protection for her clients worldwide. Prior to Brooks Kushman, she worked for more than seven years at a law firm in Israel as a trademark attorney and maintains her professional relationships in what has become known as “the start-up nation” by visiting clients and colleagues each year to keep them apprised of IP developments in the U.S.
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Maddin Hauser is pleased to announce that Michigan Lawyers Weekly selected shareholder Corinne S. Rockoff for its 2024 class of “Up & Coming” attorneys. Rockoff is a shareholder and member of Maddin Hauser’s Financial Services and Real Property Litigation Group.
Additionally, Rockoff has played roles in developing firm policies that consider and incorporate the needs and priorities of women, parents, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. In her practice, which involves high-dollar deals and high-stakes litigation, she takes pride in opportunities to represent women, clients who speak English as a second language, and others who have been marginalized, stereotyped, or condescended to, giving them a respectful ear and a voice.
Outside the firm, Rockoff is co-chair of the Board of Directors for the Ruth Ellis Center in Highland Park. She contributes her time, energy, and legal talents to making services available to LGBTQ+ young people who face multidimensional difficulties.
Hammoud was appointed chief deputy in 2022 by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and now joins a Miller Johnson team that is among the fastest-growing law firms in the state, boasting double-digit growth in employees and revenue gains over the past 24 months and maintaining its mission of giving back to the communities it serves and serving clients to help them achieve their goals.
“This is an incredible opportunity for me personally and professionally, as I aim to increase the impact I am able to have in the communities I have served throughout my career through the kind of direct access the world of private practice provides,” said Hammoud. “Miller Johnson is the firm of choice for me based on its reputation of excellence and of giving back to the communities it serves. It is a team that cares deeply about the people and organizations that
they serve, and I look forward to help leading our efforts in Detroit as Miller Johnson strengthens its position as Michigan’s law firm.”
Hammoud will play a role in advising the firm’s strategic direction in addition to serving as a primary conduit to legislative and judicial personnel at the state and federal levels.
As chief deputy attorney general, Hammoud oversaw the department’s three Bureaus, including eighteen civil divisions and four criminal divisions, and the offices of Human Resources, Fiscal Management, Legislative Affairs and Public Information and Education. In her role, she oversaw more than five hundred employees and managed the department’s more than $100 million annual budget.
As Michigan’s 12th solicitor general, Hammoud made history as the youngest to ever hold the position and the first ever Arab-American Muslim solicitor general in the United States. She also became the first Arab American Muslim woman to argue before the United States Supreme Court, winning the case of Brown v. Davenport in 2022.
Before her service at the Capital, Hammoud was lead attorney for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, establishing the Business Protection Unit and advocating on behalf of the county’s various ethnic and immigrant communities. In 2021, Hammoud was appointed to the Commission on Middle Eastern American Affairs, where she served on the Legislative Committee for the Hispanic/Latino, Asian Pacific American and Middle Eastern American Affairs Commissions.
Hammoud is a member of several organizations, including the League of Women Voters, American Association of University Women, and the Women Lawyers Association. She has previously served on the Board of Trustees at Henry Ford College, as a trustee and treasurer of the Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education, and as a board member of the Government Bar Association, the Dearborn Education Foundation, and the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Additionally, she is the former vice president of the Arab American Political Action Committee.
In 2023, she was selected as a “Influential Women of Law” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly, and in 2017, she received the Rising Star Award from the Arab American Chamber of Commerce.
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Butzel attorney Daniel R.W. Rustmann will be a featured presenter during the American Conference Institute: Legal, Regulatory Compliance Forum for the Automotive Industry on Thursday, March 7, in Chicago. The presentation is titled, “Strategies for Overcoming Legal Risks Associated with Supply Chain Bottlenecks.” The session will explore recent developments in supplier injunction, force majeure and related commercial litigation, to name a few.
For more than three decades, Rustmann, co-chair of Butzel’s Global Automotive Practice, has devoted his practice to helping clients solve complex business disputes, primarily in the automotive industry. He has represented clients in numerous substantive areas, including product liability defense, Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) warranty, and product defect/recall litigation, class action litigation, and other commercial contract litigation and arbitration. He frequently serves as an arbitrator, mediator, and court-appointed special master in resolution of automotive industry and other commercial disputes and is a regular speaker and commentator on automotive industry legal issues.
Rustmann has represented numerous Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers in a variety of matters, including in prosecuting and defending emergency injunction proceedings, making and responding to price increase demands, stop shipment threats, force majeure and other supply chain disruptions, dealing with distressed suppliers, supplier de-sourcing, tooling, machinery and equipment recovery and warranty disputes, and other miscellaneous breach of contract and warranty cost recovery disputes. He also represents clients in product liability litigation and in defense of consumer class action litigation.
In addition, Butzel attorneys and shareholders Jennifer E. Consiglio and Laura E. Johnson have been named to Crain’s Notable Women in Law.
Consiglio practices in the firm’s Business Law Department. She counsels clients across diverse industries in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and private equity transactions, private placements, secured and unsecured financing transactions, corporate governance, securities regulation, and various general business law matters. She has experience in planning, negotiating and implementing various types of complex business transactions, and guiding clients through the entire business life cycle.
Consiglio is a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee (past co-chair) and Recruiting Committee. She is the former chair of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, and a Fellow of The American Bar Foundation.
Johnson practices in the area of business and corporate law. She is chair of the firm’s corporate and real estate groups and focuses on mergers and acquisitions, nonprofit organizations, corporate governance, entity formation and general corporate and business law. She advises clients in venture capital and private equity transactions.
Johnson is a member of the firm’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, Recruiting Committee and Pro Bono Committee (past co-chair). She is a council member of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, and a member of its Planning Committee.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced that Suzanna Shkreli was selected to serve as commissioner at the Michigan Bureau of State Lottery.
Shkreli previously served as the director of Juvenile Justice Reform at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In that role, Shkreli focused on addressing the systemic and persistent issues with the juvenile justice system and implementation of recommendations made by the Juvenile Justice Task Force. Through her efforts, nearly 100 additional placements were secured over the past year for juvenile justice youth and the State of Michigan is set to receive $850,000 in federal grant funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice Detention and Prevention (OJJDP) to help Michigan move forward in reform efforts. She also currently serves as a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect where she chairs the training subcommittee on child fatality protocol development.
Prior to joining MDHHS, Shkreli served as Michigan’s Children’s Ombudsman and worked as deputy legal counsel in the Executive Office of the Governor. Before joining state government, she served as an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office. Shkreli is a graduate of Oakland University and Cooley Law School.
“It is a tremendous honor to continue the longstanding work of the Michigan Lottery,” said Shkreli. “I look forward to working closely with local vendors and retailers who are vital to the success of the program. Under Governor Whitmer’s leadership, Michigan Lottery continues to deliver record results for our children’s education across the state – with more than $1.3 billion from the Lottery going to schools last year. I’m thankful to Governor Whitmer for the opportunity to serve in this new role and I look forward to working with the entire Lottery team to continue this success.”
This appointment is subject to advice and consent of the Senate.
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Deborah Brouwer, managing partner of management-side labor and employment law firm Nemeth Bonnette Brouwer PC, has been named to the Michigan Lawyers Weekly Class of 2024 Hall of Fame.
In addition to serving as the firm’s managing partner, Brouwer has a management-side labor and employment law practice, working with employers to establish productive and harmonious workplace environments. She provides counseling, training, and litigation services to a wide range of public and private sector and nonprofit clients and has experience with claims of race, age, disability, gender and religious discrimination and harassment, as well as claims brought under the FMLA and FLSA. She has appeared before state and federal administrative agencies and courts in multiple states and is also a skilled workplace investigator.
The Hall of Fame recognition is one of several honors Brouwer has received in her legal career, including Michigan Super Lawyer, Best Lawyers, DBusiness Top Lawyers, Crain’s Detroit Business Notable Leaders in Employment and Labor Law, and Crain’s Detroit Business Notable Women in the Law.
Brouwer is a past president of the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel; member, State Bar of Michigan, ABA, DRI and Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society. She is secretary (and former chair) of the Board of Directors of Assured Family Services, which provides mental health services in juvenile justice/child welfare systems; and chair of the Board of Trustees, Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation, which serves Michigan’s aging population through culture, arts and social services.
Active in the National Association of Woman-Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), Brouwer was one of a relatively few women litigators when she began her law career. She is proud to carry on Nemeth Bonnette Brouwer’s tradition of being women-owned and women led since its founding in 1992.
Brouwer earned a law degree from the Wayne State University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree, both from the University of Michigan.
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Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that Gabrielle M. DeLeon and Aaron C. Roberson Jr. joined the firm as associate attorneys, both based in the firm’s Detroit office.
DeLeon is a member of Bodman’s Banking Practice Group. She represents banks, financial institutions and corporate clients in secured and unsecured lending transactions, including single-lender and syndicated credit facilities.
Before joining Bodman, DeLeon served as a financial services associate at a AMLaw 200 law firm based in North Carolina. In this role, she drafted and negotiated primary transaction documents including credit agreements, security and pledge agreements and legal opinions for secured and unsecured lending transactions, as well as coordinating closing and managing post-closing obligations.
DeLeon received her law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School and her undergraduate degree from Marist College. As a law student, DeLeon served as an extern to U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Jeffrey S. Frensley, Middle District of Tennessee.
Roberson is a member of Bodman’s Business Practice Group. He represents business clients in connection with complex transactions and general corporate matters.
Roberson has experience assisting clients with corporate formation, structuring, and governance matters including drafting certain corporate documents for Delaware and Michigan entities. He also has experience drafting HOA loan documents for certain loan transactions between lenders and condominium associations.
Before joining Bodman, Roberson was an associate at a Michigan-based business law firm where he was a member of deal teams handling complex M&A transactions and related matters.
Roberson received his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and his undergraduate degree from the College of Wooster. As a law student, he served as a law clerk for the U.S. District Court Judge Victoria A. Roberts, Eastern District of Michigan.
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Plunkett Cooney partner D. Jennifer Andreou was recently named by Crain’s Detroit Business among the publication’s 2024 Notable Women in Law.
Andreou serves as the managing partner of Plunkett Cooney’s Detroit office and is a member of the Medical Litigation Practice Group. She is a trial attorney who focuses on the defense of physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living and long-term care facilities in claims alleging medical malpractice and negligence. Her other areas of expertise include the representation of health care professionals in state investigations and licensing matters, as well as the representation of health care professionals and medical institutions in claims alleging sexual assaults.
Andreou has also been honored by Best Lawyers in America for Medical Malpractice Law since 2015, and she was named medical malpractice defense “Lawyer of the Year” in Detroit by Best Lawyers in 2022. Her other honors include being named a Michigan Super Lawyer since 2009 and a Leading Lawyer since 2015. In 2021, Michigan Lawyers Weekly named Andreou to its 2021 class of “Go To” Medical Malpractice Lawyers.
Andreou is a member of the several professional organizations, including the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel and the American Board of Trial Advocates. She received her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 1985 and her undergraduate degree from Wayne State University in 1982.
In addition, former Plunkett Cooney President and Chief Executive officer (CEO) Thomas P. Vincent was recently named by Michigan Lawyers Weekly (MiLW)
to the publication’s 2024 Hall of Fame Class. Vincent is one of 30 attorneys selected by MiLW as a top legal leader in Michigan who has been practicing for 30 years or more.
Under Vincent’s leadership from 2017 to 2023, Plunkett Cooney grew to include five new practice groups and went on to win numerous national and international honors, including the coveted Mansfield Rule Certification which honors law firms for their commitments to improving diversity, equity and inclusion.
A partner in the firm’s Labor & Employment, Torts & Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution practice groups, Vincent has leveraged his more than 40 years of litigation experience to serve as an independent meditator and arbitrator with the goals of quickly, fairly and cost-effectively resolving disputes for litigants. His ADR practice spans a range of matters involving civil rights, class actions, commercial liability, education law, employment liability, governmental law, medical litigation, motor vehicle and trucking liability, pharmaceutical liability, premises liability, product liability and professional liability. He has also completed the ICLE 40-hour General Civil Mediation Training Program.
Vincent earned his undergraduate degree in 1977 from Wayne State University and his law degree in 1981 from the Michigan State University College of Law. He has received several honors for his legal work, including earning designations as a Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation since 2013 and as a Michigan Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine for multiple years. He has also received an AV Preeminent™ rating by Martindale-Hubbell and he has been named a Leading Lawyer in Commercial Litigation by Leading Lawyers Magazine Michigan since 2015.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced the appointment of Hassan F. Abdallah to the Michigan Board of Medicine.
Abdallah is the head of Healthcare Compliance at MCRA, a leading global CRO & advisory healthcare firm. Abdallah currently serves as the chairman of the Dearborn Charter Commission and was formerly the interim chief compliance officer at Health Alliance Plan (HAP) of Michigan and is a co-founder of the Safe Substance Abuse Coalition. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wayne State University and his law degree from Cooley Law School.
Abdallah is appointed to represent the general public for a term commencing February 27, 2024, and expiring December 31, 2027. He succeeds Teresa Robinson whose term has expired.
The Michigan Board of Medicine works with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to oversee the practice of medical doctors in the state.
This appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
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Crain’s Detroit Business recently recognized Holli Targan, attorney and partner at Taft, as a Notable Woman in Law.
As the founder and co-chair of Taft’s Paytech and Payment Systems practice group, Targan specializes in credit and debit card processing, financial technology and payment systems law, and represents clients ranging from major credit card brands, debit and ATM companies, payment processors, financial institutions and fintech companies involved in this unique space. She also advises companies and private equity investors in the payments industry internationally on strategic direction and merger and acquisition transactions.
Throughout her career, Targan has operated in the paytech industry not only from a legal perspective but also on a leadership level. In 2004, she founded Paytech Women — a nationwide network of more than 7,000 professionals supporting women in the paytech industry. She has served as its president and currently sits on the Board. In addition, she has also served as the president of the Electronic Transactions Association and sat on the organization’s Board of Directors for more than 13 years.
Targan earned her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Community Studies from Michigan State University’s James Madison College and her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.
Taft is also pleased to announce that James Kresta, partner in the Detroit office, has been selected to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s Up & Coming Lawyers class of 2024.
Kresta counsels and represents clients in business disputes concerning countless issues, such as breach of contract, real property, shareholder oppression, construction, automotive suppliers, and even the First Amendment. His litigation practice includes every aspect of dispute resolution including contract review, negotiations, pleadings, discovery, substantive motions, trials, and appeals.
In addition, Taft Detroit partner Rick Zussman has been selected to Michigan Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Zussman specializes in commercial real estate, finance, and business planning. He has more than 35 years of experience representing developers, owners, operators, and investors in all asset classes, including senior housing, multi-family projects, manufactured housing, office, retail, industrial, mixed-use, and hotels.
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Foley, Baron, Metzger, & Juip PLLC is proud to share that Senior Associate Silvia Alexandria Mansoor has been chosen as a recipient of the Michigan Lawyers Weekly 2024 Up & Coming Lawyers award.
Mansoor’s practice focuses on defending health care professionals and organizations in complex medical malpractice claims and business dispute claims. She is also involved in the legal community, including serving as the current State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section chair-elect and a current member of the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice’s Outreach to Young Lawyers Standing Committee as well as having been the former chair of the Oakland County Bar Association New Lawyers Committee.
In addition, FBMJ is pleased to announce that Partner Brian Whitelaw has been chosen as an honoree for the Michigan Lawyers Weekly 2024 Hall of Fame awards program.
Whitelaw has devoted more than thirty-five years to defending health care professionals throughout the State of Michigan. He is preferred defense counsel for many of the insurance companies serving Michigan doctors and has conducted over seventy-five jury trials with a ninety-five percent win rate.
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Michigan Lawyers Weekly has named Troutman Pepper’s Nickolas Guttman and Robert Hertzberg to its 2024 Class of “Up & Coming Lawyers” and “Hall of Fame,” respectively.
At Troutman Pepper, Guttman’s practice focuses on transactions within the real estate, renewable and legacy energy, and commercial industries, in addition to a focus on general corporate law. He regularly represents energy providers and developers, property owners, real estate developers, landlords, and tenants in the acquisition, sale, development, financing, and leasing of commercial real estate properties and energy projects. He is also a graduate of Class XLII of Leadership Detroit hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber.
With more than 40 years of practicing in the bankruptcy and restructuring field, Hertzberg represented secured lenders, debtors, debtors in-possession, trustees, creditors, and creditors’ committees and handled complex litigation matters in bankruptcy and federal district courts. He is a past president of INSOL International, the leading international organization of bankruptcy professionals, and is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy. Additionally, Hertzberg has lectured throughout Europe, Africa, Middle East, the Americas, and the Far East on bankruptcy and restructuring issues.
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Cummings, McClorey, Davis, & Acho PLC is happy to congratulate Carol Smith on her selection to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s Class of 2024 Up & Coming Lawyers.
Smith is an attorney in the Livonia office where she focuses her practice on insurance defense matters. She has litigation and trial experience representing clients in third-party auto claims, as well as first-party no-fault and uninsured motorist claims. Additionally, she advises clients on numerous areas of law, including insurance coverage, general liability, personal injury protection (PIP) and bodily injury claims.
She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Oakland County Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, and Michigan Defense Trial Counsel. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oakland University and a law degree from Cooley Law School. She has been named a Rising Star- Top Rated PI General Defense Attorney by Michigan Super Lawyers since 2022.
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Michigan Lawyers Weekly has named Beverly Hall Burns in its Hall of Fame Class of 2024
Burns is a member of Miller Canfield’s Employment and Labor Group. She developed particular expertise in the area of representing employers in the public education sector, particularly through her significant work with school districts during critical periods of change and development. She helped many public school district clients during the teacher strikes in the 1970s and 1980s, and has assisted districts in working with their unions, including teachers, bus drivers, clerical and paraprofessionals.
Burns was also instrumental in helping clients navigate issues involving special education in the years following the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, and later the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, which clarified the duties of school districts to provide special education services.
Burns’ legal expertise has been recognized repeatedly, with honors that include being named the 2014 Detroit Education Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America and her consistent inclusion in Michigan Super Lawyers since 2006.
Burns’ civic and community engagement has focused on supporting both early childhood and senior citizen initiatives. She served as chair of the Executive Committee of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, to which she was appointed by former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, and she has held leadership positions in organizations such as Hope Starts Here, the Michigan Humane Society, and the Michigan Women’s Foundation, among others.
Burns currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation to serve Detroit’s aging population. The list of her past and current civic and community leadership experiences also includes:
• Michigan Humane Society, Board of Directors and chair
• Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce Nominating Committee
• Grosse Pointe Public Schools Superintendent’s Advisory Board
• Grosse Pointe Historical Society
• Michigan Metro Girl Scout Council Board of Directors
• Michigan State University College of Arts and Letters Alumni Association Board of Directors
• Michigan State University National Alumni Association Board of Directors
• Michigan Women’s Foundation Board of Trustees and chair
• Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute Professional Advisory Committee
• Detroit Economic Club Board of Directors
• Detroit Athletic Club Board of Directors
• The Greening of Detroit Board of Directors
• Eleanor League co-founder
• Grosse Pointe War Memorial Board of Directors, chair
• American Heart Association Executive Leadership Team member
Michigan Lawyers Weekly has also named Erika Giroux in its Up & Coming Lawyers Class of 2024, which recognizes lawyers who have excelled in the profession and are standouts among their peers in their first 10 years of practice.
A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Giroux is a member of Miller Canfield’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group. Soon after joining the firm, Giroux became part of the team that worked on the high-profile Hamama v. Adducci case, which involved a national class action for more than 1,400 Iraqi nationals who faced immediate deportation without the opportunity to appear before an immigration judge.
Giroux’s involvement in complex litigation extends to Title IX matters, election law disputes, and significant municipal cases, including her role on a team representing Detroit Water and Sewerage, a nearly decade-long litigation matter culminating in a positive outcome for the City.
Giroux has consistently been named to the State Bar of Michigan Pro Bono Honor Roll since its inception in 2019. In 2023, she was the winner of the Detroit Bar Association Barristers Section Pro Bono Award.
In addition, Crain’s Detroit Business has named Amy Johnston in its Notable Women in Law edition.
Johnston co-leads Miller Canfield’s nationally recognized Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group. She is widely acknowledged as one of Michigan’s top litigators and has earned a highly coveted ranking for Commercial Litigation in Chambers USA, among other awards. Her clients include small businesses as well as global and Fortune 100 companies in the energy, automotive, financial, manufacturing and real estate industries.
In addition to her leadership role as co-leader of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group, Johnston was elected to the firm’s Board of Managing Directors and in February 2021 was elected to serve as chair, a position she occupied until she stepped down in 2022.
Johnston serves as co-chair of the Federal Bar Association Committee for Law Day, which organizes activities and initiatives for the annual nationwide day of public legal education recognized in early May. She serves on the Michigan Supreme Court Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions. Additionally, Johnston is a fellow in the Oakland County Bar Foundation, the Michigan State Bar Foundation, and the American Bar Foundation.
Johnston has been recognized by several organizations, including Chambers USA; Hour Detroit Top Lawyers: Women Leaders; Best Lawyers in America; Michigan Super Lawyers; Michigan Lawyers Weekly: Women in the Law and Leaders in the Law; and DBusiness Top Lawyers.
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Dykema recently announced the addition of Jay Logel as a senior counsel in the firm’s Product Liability Practice Group and Automotive and Transportation Industry Group resident in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office. Logel joins Dykema after more than three decades holding several in-house legal roles with Ford Motor Company.
For the past decade, Logel served as managing counsel, Litigation & Regulatory for Ford, a role in which he managed a team of legal professionals handling global class action, discovery, employment, environmental, HR/Labor, product liability, and safety matters. He also advised on emerging technologies including EVs and autonomous driving. Some of Logel’s other roles with Ford included handling crisis management of multi-faceted government investigation, litigation, and media challenges across global markets, creating and leading teams of legal professionals and business colleagues during public crises to investigate and resolve environmental, safety, and quality issues, and initiating development of corporate policies to guide effective decision-making.
In his practice, Logel counsels businesses to meet product safety compliance and litigation challenges and provides timely, sound, and actionable legal advice that mitigates risks and manages costs. He also has experience building relationships with regulatory agencies to help clients receive fair hearings and have open discussions of issues affecting their business and developing effective company processes and compliance programs that balance competing priorities and allow companies to meet their regulatory obligations.
Logel earned a law degree and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Iowa.
Dykema also recently announced that Sean Darke was selected by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as a “Go To Lawyer” for Employment Law.
Darke is an employment and labor litigator who helps clients navigate everyday employment issues that impact workplace productivity, morale, and resources. He provides counsel to his clients early on to avoid risk on the front end by reviewing and drafting employment contracts, instituting arbitration provisions and procedures, anticipating potential claims, and providing practical guidance to avoid liability.
Darke earned a law degree from Michigan State University College of Law and the University of Dublin College of Law through Duquesne University of Law. He earned his B.A. with a focus in Business Economics from State University of New York, Potsdam.
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Kitch is pleased to announce that Jenna Wright Greenman has been named one of the Notable Women in Law of 2024 by Crain’s Detroit Business. Greenman, as a principal of the Kitch Firm, is a defense trial attorney with a track record of defense verdicts on behalf of hospitals and medical care providers against claims of professional negligence, including catastrophic brain damage cases, neurology, and neurosurgery, among others. She is a leader of the Detroit office’s birth trauma and medical malpractice defense practice groups.
Wright Greenman is also actively involved in the community. She is the past-president of the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit and, on its behalf, continues to organize and host a popular charity run on Belle Isle, benefiting the families of children who are hospitalized.
Wright Greenman is also an educator, engaged by numerous insurance carriers and institutions, such as the Detroit Medical Center, to develop plans for better patient care, safety, and medical-legal issues. She is also a frequent presenter for many professional organizations.
Wright Greenman was named “2023 Lawyer of the Year – Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants” by Best Lawyers®. Additionally, in 2021, she was nominated and voted into the American Board of Trial Advocates, an association of the premier trial lawyers in the country. She has previously been honored as one of Michigan Lawyers Weekly Women in the Law.
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Giarmarco, Mullins, & Horton PC is pleased to announce that Katherine E. Ross has joined the firm’s esteemed Education Law group. Ross brings experience in litigating matters in both state and federal cases involving general tort liability, first-party auto, third-party auto, premises liability, property damage, and employment discrimination. She also has appellate experience.
Ross earned her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and her B.A. from Albion College. She was named a Michigan Rising Star (Super Lawyers) in 2023, and a Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2024.
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Brooks Kushman is pleased to announce that Shareholder Rachel Smith was selected for this year’s class of Notable Women in Law by Crain’s Detroit Business.
Smith’s practice extends to licensing negotiation, open-source software and copyright issues, and pre-litigation due diligence and investigations. Her clients extend across an array of industries including consumer electronics and appliances, software and artificial intelligence, finance, medical devices, and automotive, to name a few.
Throughout her career, Smith has participated in numerous diversity and inclusion efforts with the goal of bettering the community and coaching others.
Externally, she has played a role in expanding the firms’ support of the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s (AIPLA) Women in IP Law Annual Global Networking Event, which connects women in IP from around the world. She also served in a leadership role to partner with the Girl Scouts of Michigan
– initiating the first event at the Detroit Patent Office to launch the IP Patch in Michigan, helping over 500 Girl Scouts earn the patch.
Smith has been an active member of the Leadership Counsel for Legal Diversity (LCLD) since 2020 and has attended events across the country to learn and network to promote diversity in the legal profession. She is an active member of the Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association (MIPLA) and a past president.
In addition, Brooks Kushman Executive Committee member Robyn Lederman has been named a 2024 Hall of Fame Honoree by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
With more than 25 years of experience practicing in the area of trademark law, Lederman specializes in global branding strategy, trademark and domain name counseling, clearance, protection, and enforcement for start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. She works with company legal, marketing, and business development groups to devise cost-effective strategies to achieve marketing goals. She works with her clients on issues involving anti-counterfeiting, copyright, domain name recovery, IP due diligence, licensing, trade dress and unfair competition.
Along with managing U.S. trademark portfolios for her clients, Lederman has experience in obtaining trademark protection for her clients worldwide. Prior to Brooks Kushman, she worked for more than seven years at a law firm in Israel as a trademark attorney and maintains her professional relationships in what has become known as “the start-up nation” by visiting clients and colleagues each year to keep them apprised of IP developments in the U.S.
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Maddin Hauser is pleased to announce that Michigan Lawyers Weekly selected shareholder Corinne S. Rockoff for its 2024 class of “Up & Coming” attorneys. Rockoff is a shareholder and member of Maddin Hauser’s Financial Services and Real Property Litigation Group.
Additionally, Rockoff has played roles in developing firm policies that consider and incorporate the needs and priorities of women, parents, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. In her practice, which involves high-dollar deals and high-stakes litigation, she takes pride in opportunities to represent women, clients who speak English as a second language, and others who have been marginalized, stereotyped, or condescended to, giving them a respectful ear and a voice.
Outside the firm, Rockoff is co-chair of the Board of Directors for the Ruth Ellis Center in Highland Park. She contributes her time, energy, and legal talents to making services available to LGBTQ+ young people who face multidimensional difficulties.
