Plunkett Cooney partner Frank T. Mamat was recently
reelected to the board of directors of the Jewish Bar Association of
Michigan (JBAM), of which he is a founding member. It is a two-year
term.
Co-founded in 2014, the JBAM is celebrating its 10th anniversary of providing and unifying Jewish and other like-minded attorneys, judges, paralegals, and law students in Michigan by offering educational, social and charitable activities.
A partner of Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s oldest and most accomplished law firms, Mamat utilizes his more than 50 years of experience to help companies, contractors, employers, lawmakers and trade associations resolve union matters. His expertise includes contract negotiations, elections, union avoidance and labor arbitrations. Additionally, he advises clients on noncompete agreements, unfair labor practice litigation, harassment suits, wage and hour issues and OSHA-MIOSHA safety matters.
Mamat’s experience also includes the resolution of National Labor Relations Board matters, attempted union organization, mass picketing and violence, and secondary boycotts and pressure. His
clients also rely on his counsel and advice on ERISA trust funds and related fiduciary liabilities.
Mamat is listed in Best Lawyers in America, Michigan Super Lawyers, DBusiness magazine’s Top Lawyers, the Labor Relations Institute’s Top 100 Labor Lawyers in the U.S., The American Lawyer’s Top Lawyers, and The American Registry’s Top Lawyers in Michigan.
Mamat received his undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester in 1971 and his law degree from Syracuse University College of Law in 1974.
• • •
Michigan Defense Trial Counsel is pleased to announce its 2024-2025 officers:
President John C.W. Hohmeier, Scarfone & Geen PC
Vice President Frederick V. Livingston, Novara Tesija & Catenacci PLLC
Treasurer Richard J. Joppich, Kitch Attorneys & Counselors PC
Secretary Michael J. Cook, Collins Einhorn Farrell PC
• • •
Kitch Attorneys & Counselors is pleased to announce that Terence Durkin has been appointed to the Human Resources & Workforce Council for a one-year term by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA).
Durkin’s practice blends labor and employment law with medical malpractice and general litigation. His experience gives him the ability to help clients sort through the challenging and ever-changing world of labor and employment rules and regulations.
• • •
Butzel attorney and shareholder Mitchell (“Mitch”) Zajac was elected chair of the Cooley Law School Board of Directors. He joined Cooley’s Board of Directors in 2020 and was elected vice-chair in 2022.
Zajac is a member of Butzel’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group, one of the firm’s largest practice areas. His practice also includes a focus on automotive, intellectual property, regulatory and emissions compliance, and sports law, to name a few. He is a registered patent attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
He has practiced in six federal courts, the U.S. Patent Office, the Court of International Trade, and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Zajac has helped several clients manage and craft IP portfolios in other unique industries, like medicine, light-weighting, and industrial manufacturing. He also has experience in complex patent, trade secret and commercial litigation cases.
Zajac was included in DBusiness magazine’s 2022 Class of “30 in Their Thirties.” He also was named to DBusiness magazine’s Top Lawyers of Metro Detroit, Intellectual Property and Patent Law, 2021, 2022 and 2023, Patent Litigation, 2023. He was named by 760 WJR and the Detroit Economic Club to the Class of 2023 Rising Stars, comprised of 10 local leaders under the age of 40 who are making an impact in their industries and communities.
He attended Cooley Law School (2017) after graduating from Western Michigan University with Bachelors’ degrees in Mechanical Engineering and German (2012) and a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering (2013).
Zajac was a Rhodes Scholar finalist (2012); interned for Congressman Fred Upton; and was a four-year starter on the Division 1 football team at WMU. Zajac was named to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s 2020 Class of Up & Coming Lawyers. He also received the Detroit Bar Association’s “One to Watch” Award in 2019. Zajac has been named to Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, Commercial Litigation, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
• • •
Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that the firm, and 28 current Bodman attorneys, have been included in the State Bar of Michigan’s 2024 A Lawyer Helps Pro Bono Honor Roll.
The Honor Roll recognizes individual attorneys, law firms, and corporations that support access to justice efforts by providing pro bono legal services to low-income individuals and families, and to organizations that benefit low-income communities, throughout Michigan. The various award categories are based on time devoted to pro bono matters during 2023.
Bodman was one of only three law firms recognized at the highest “Tier 1” level for cumulative firm hours devoted to pro bono matters for the year.
Individual attorneys are recognized for having devoted at least 30, 50, or 100 hours to pro bono service during 2023. The following local Bodman attorneys are included in the 2024 A Lawyer Helps Pro Bono Honor Roll.
—100+ Hours of Service
Fatmeh T. Cheaib (Detroit office)
Julie E. Nichols (Troy office)
—50 to 99 Hours of Service
Barbara A. Bowman (Troy office)
Grace A. Connolly (Detroit office)
Matthew R. Fleming (Troy office)
Angela M. Quinn (Detroit office)
Alexis A. Smith-Scott (Detroit office)
Glen M. Zatz (Troy office)
—30 to 49 Hours of Service
Celeste E. Arduino (Troy office)
Rebecca El Badaoui (Detroit office)
Amanda McSween Empey (Detroit office)
Brigid D. Fox (Troy office)
Joseph R. Haddad (Detroit office)
Jennifer M. Hetu (Troy office)
Jay B. Long (Detroit office)
Rebecca C. Seguin-Skrabucha (Troy office)
Matthew A. Slipchuk (Detroit office)
Katherine A. Smigelski (Detroit office)
• • •
Miller Canfield is pleased to announce that the firm has expanded its Employment and Labor Group with the addition of Senior Attorney Kyle Bierlein and Associate Attorney Eftiola Greco.
Bierlein comes to the law firm after serving as Michigan assistant attorney general, advising state clients in matters involving hiring practices, discrimination and harassment, employee discipline and termination, and employer policies and handbooks. He previously served as chief law clerk for the Michigan Department of Attorney General in the Children and Youth Services Division in Wayne County.
Bierlein is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School and Oakland University.
Greco’s experience includes advising and representing clients on a range of litigation and regulatory matters. Her previous experience includes work for the Detroit City Council as a senior policy advisor, and serving as the City of Detroit Board of Ethic’s general counsel and the City of Detroit’s assistant corporation counsel.
A graduate of Michigan State University College of Law and Wayne State University, Greco is the vice president of the Albanian American Bar Association of Michigan and is a member of the Detroit Bar Association and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan.
Co-founded in 2014, the JBAM is celebrating its 10th anniversary of providing and unifying Jewish and other like-minded attorneys, judges, paralegals, and law students in Michigan by offering educational, social and charitable activities.
A partner of Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s oldest and most accomplished law firms, Mamat utilizes his more than 50 years of experience to help companies, contractors, employers, lawmakers and trade associations resolve union matters. His expertise includes contract negotiations, elections, union avoidance and labor arbitrations. Additionally, he advises clients on noncompete agreements, unfair labor practice litigation, harassment suits, wage and hour issues and OSHA-MIOSHA safety matters.
Mamat’s experience also includes the resolution of National Labor Relations Board matters, attempted union organization, mass picketing and violence, and secondary boycotts and pressure. His
clients also rely on his counsel and advice on ERISA trust funds and related fiduciary liabilities.
Mamat is listed in Best Lawyers in America, Michigan Super Lawyers, DBusiness magazine’s Top Lawyers, the Labor Relations Institute’s Top 100 Labor Lawyers in the U.S., The American Lawyer’s Top Lawyers, and The American Registry’s Top Lawyers in Michigan.
Mamat received his undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester in 1971 and his law degree from Syracuse University College of Law in 1974.
• • •
Michigan Defense Trial Counsel is pleased to announce its 2024-2025 officers:
President John C.W. Hohmeier, Scarfone & Geen PC
Vice President Frederick V. Livingston, Novara Tesija & Catenacci PLLC
Treasurer Richard J. Joppich, Kitch Attorneys & Counselors PC
Secretary Michael J. Cook, Collins Einhorn Farrell PC
• • •
Kitch Attorneys & Counselors is pleased to announce that Terence Durkin has been appointed to the Human Resources & Workforce Council for a one-year term by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA).
Durkin’s practice blends labor and employment law with medical malpractice and general litigation. His experience gives him the ability to help clients sort through the challenging and ever-changing world of labor and employment rules and regulations.
• • •
Butzel attorney and shareholder Mitchell (“Mitch”) Zajac was elected chair of the Cooley Law School Board of Directors. He joined Cooley’s Board of Directors in 2020 and was elected vice-chair in 2022.
Zajac is a member of Butzel’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group, one of the firm’s largest practice areas. His practice also includes a focus on automotive, intellectual property, regulatory and emissions compliance, and sports law, to name a few. He is a registered patent attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
He has practiced in six federal courts, the U.S. Patent Office, the Court of International Trade, and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Zajac has helped several clients manage and craft IP portfolios in other unique industries, like medicine, light-weighting, and industrial manufacturing. He also has experience in complex patent, trade secret and commercial litigation cases.
Zajac was included in DBusiness magazine’s 2022 Class of “30 in Their Thirties.” He also was named to DBusiness magazine’s Top Lawyers of Metro Detroit, Intellectual Property and Patent Law, 2021, 2022 and 2023, Patent Litigation, 2023. He was named by 760 WJR and the Detroit Economic Club to the Class of 2023 Rising Stars, comprised of 10 local leaders under the age of 40 who are making an impact in their industries and communities.
He attended Cooley Law School (2017) after graduating from Western Michigan University with Bachelors’ degrees in Mechanical Engineering and German (2012) and a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering (2013).
Zajac was a Rhodes Scholar finalist (2012); interned for Congressman Fred Upton; and was a four-year starter on the Division 1 football team at WMU. Zajac was named to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s 2020 Class of Up & Coming Lawyers. He also received the Detroit Bar Association’s “One to Watch” Award in 2019. Zajac has been named to Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, Commercial Litigation, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
• • •
Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that the firm, and 28 current Bodman attorneys, have been included in the State Bar of Michigan’s 2024 A Lawyer Helps Pro Bono Honor Roll.
The Honor Roll recognizes individual attorneys, law firms, and corporations that support access to justice efforts by providing pro bono legal services to low-income individuals and families, and to organizations that benefit low-income communities, throughout Michigan. The various award categories are based on time devoted to pro bono matters during 2023.
Bodman was one of only three law firms recognized at the highest “Tier 1” level for cumulative firm hours devoted to pro bono matters for the year.
Individual attorneys are recognized for having devoted at least 30, 50, or 100 hours to pro bono service during 2023. The following local Bodman attorneys are included in the 2024 A Lawyer Helps Pro Bono Honor Roll.
—100+ Hours of Service
Fatmeh T. Cheaib (Detroit office)
Julie E. Nichols (Troy office)
—50 to 99 Hours of Service
Barbara A. Bowman (Troy office)
Grace A. Connolly (Detroit office)
Matthew R. Fleming (Troy office)
Angela M. Quinn (Detroit office)
Alexis A. Smith-Scott (Detroit office)
Glen M. Zatz (Troy office)
—30 to 49 Hours of Service
Celeste E. Arduino (Troy office)
Rebecca El Badaoui (Detroit office)
Amanda McSween Empey (Detroit office)
Brigid D. Fox (Troy office)
Joseph R. Haddad (Detroit office)
Jennifer M. Hetu (Troy office)
Jay B. Long (Detroit office)
Rebecca C. Seguin-Skrabucha (Troy office)
Matthew A. Slipchuk (Detroit office)
Katherine A. Smigelski (Detroit office)
• • •
Miller Canfield is pleased to announce that the firm has expanded its Employment and Labor Group with the addition of Senior Attorney Kyle Bierlein and Associate Attorney Eftiola Greco.
Bierlein comes to the law firm after serving as Michigan assistant attorney general, advising state clients in matters involving hiring practices, discrimination and harassment, employee discipline and termination, and employer policies and handbooks. He previously served as chief law clerk for the Michigan Department of Attorney General in the Children and Youth Services Division in Wayne County.
Bierlein is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School and Oakland University.
Greco’s experience includes advising and representing clients on a range of litigation and regulatory matters. Her previous experience includes work for the Detroit City Council as a senior policy advisor, and serving as the City of Detroit Board of Ethic’s general counsel and the City of Detroit’s assistant corporation counsel.
A graduate of Michigan State University College of Law and Wayne State University, Greco is the vice president of the Albanian American Bar Association of Michigan and is a member of the Detroit Bar Association and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan.
