By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
Raised as part of a large family in Ypsilanti, a city that has seen its fortunes ebb and flow with the swings of the auto industry, attorney Mary Pat Meyers continues to draw inspiration from her working-class upbringing where lessons and blessings were in plentiful supply.
As one of six children, Meyers and her siblings were encouraged by their parents to lead active lives and “to put service above self” in all their endeavors, a blueprint that they have followed faithfully throughout their respective careers.
“Each of us knew early on the importance that our parents attached to academics, athletics, and volunteer service,” recalled Meyers, a personal injury attorney with Meyers Law PLLC in Dearborn. “It was ingrained in us at a very early age. Our parents were great role models when it came to making a difference in the lives of others.”
Meyers, who recently marked her 41st year in the law, has an impressive history of community service and was one of the founding board members of Impact100 of Oakland County, an organization of women who share a vision of “making a big difference in Oakland County through large-scale charitable giving.” Since its founding in 2015, the local chapter has awarded more than $2 million to nonprofits serving the Oakland County community, targeting needs in the health, education, environmental protection, and social service areas.
After serving on the Board of Governors for Cranbrook Schools from 2009-19, Meyers began her involvement with the Shades of Pink Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps breast cancer patients with pressing financial needs. After initially volunteering to take photographs at its annual Zoo Walk fund-raising event, Meyers soon was invited to be part of the Shades of Pink board.
“Before I knew it, I was raising my hand to become the president of the board,” she said with a smile of her rise up the leadership ranks. “I have been so blessed to be involved in Shades of Pink and to see how many cancer patients have been positively impacted by our efforts. So many people in our community are dealing with chemo treatments and are unable to work or have had to cut back on their work schedules. The financial strain that puts on them can be enormous. In many cases, we’ve been able to step in and help them with a car payment, a rent payment, and other daily living expenses. It’s been gratifying to see the kind of support we’ve been able to attract for such a worthy cause.”
Meyers, who has served as president since 2021, recently transitioned to a co-president’s role, sharing the leadership responsibilities until the end of the year when Kitch attorney Jenna Wright Greenman takes over the reins of the organization that was founded in 2005.
“Jenna is me on steroids,” Meyers said of her co-president and successor. “She will do an amazing job as president and will help take Shades of Pink to the next level in terms of our impact in the community. We have ambitious goals set for 2025 as we celebrate our 20th anniversary next year.”
In addition to Meyers and Greenman, the legal profession also is represented on the Shades of Pink board by Toni Grinnan, a retired civil litigator, while attorney Nina Googasian serves as the organization’s Executive Administrator. Those interested in supporting Shades of Pink Foundation can visit its website at shadesofpinkfoundation.org.
A product of Ypsilanti High School, Meyers was a standout swimmer for the Braves during her junior and senior years when Title IX legislation opened up athletic opportunities for female students. A 2019 inductee into the Ypsilanti High Athletic Hall of Fame, Meyers took her swimming and academic talents to Michigan State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree before obtaining her juris doctor from Cooley Law School in Lansing.
During law school, she worked with the Michigan Department of Labor’s Commission for Handicapper Concerns, an assignment that whet her appetite for involvement in equal justice causes.
“I knew I wanted to be involved in work where I could help individuals and families who have been harmed by the negligence or misconduct of others,” said Meyers, who spent nearly 25 years with Charfoos and Christensen and then Sommers Schwartz as a medical malpractice and personal injury attorney. In 2022, she joined her husband Jeff in practice.
In 2018, while a partner at Charfoos and Christensen, Meyers began representing some of the survivors of the sexual assaults committed by Larry Nassar while he was a physician for USA Gymnastics and the MSU gymnastics team. An investigation by The Indianapolis Star triggered an onslaught of cases after several prominent Olympic gymnasts came forward with accusations of the sexual abuse they had endured at the hands of Nassar.
Nassar’s crimes reportedly began as early as 1994 and continued until his firing from MSU in 2016 in the wake of the newspaper’s report. In all, more 500 women were victimized by Nassar, prompting MSU to reach a $500 million settlement in 2018 with those he assaulted with an additional settlement in 2019. USA Gymnastics and the USA Olympic Committee subsequently reached a separate settlement worth $380 million to the survivors, while earlier this year a $139 million settlement was reached over the FBI’s botched investigation into Nassar’s wrongdoing.
“It took the courage of one of the survivors (Rachel Denhollander) to come forward, and those whose reports were initially dismissed, otherwise there could have been many others who would have suffered,” declared Meyers, who represented some of the gymnasts who appeared before the MSU Board of Trustees to detail Nassar’s misconduct. “We were there to help them right a wrong.”
For such efforts, Meyers has received a host of honors, including the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Michigan State Bar Association – Negligence Section in 2022 and “Influential Women in the Law”
recognition from Michigan Lawyers Weekly in 2018 and 2022. Meyers also received a special proclamation from the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in 2019.
She and her husband, attorney Jeff Meyers, now work as a team at Meyers Law PLLC, some four years after they became marriage partners (see related story below).
“He is a brilliant trial attorney who I had known for more than 35 years before we connected in 2019,” Meyers related. “After I was inducted into the (Ypsilanti High School) Hall of Fame, he sent me a note of congratulations, and the rest is history.”
Her two sisters, Annette Kubiske and Capt. Kathleen Allen, also are members of the YHS Hall of Fame for their athletic exploits. Annette was a state champ in diving who went on to earn All-American honors at Michigan State. Kathleen won 12 varsity letters in high school, sparkling in swimming, volleyball, and track before lettering in volleyball at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Her three brothers – Dan, Dave, and Doug – may be without Hall of Fame status, but each has enjoyed success in their respective careers in journalism, engineering, and business, according to Meyers, whose father Edward was a civil engineer before becoming city manager of Ypsilanti and then starting his own consulting firm.
“One thing that I know my dad would be proud of is the legacy he has left. The efforts that he made to receive a stellar education, the first in his family, had the domino effect on all those that came after him,” said Meyers. “All six of his children have advanced degrees, and 14 grandchildren are college educated with 11 advanced degrees. Quite a legacy. And obviously, my mom (Pat) played a huge part in all of that. I marvel at all that she has done in her life, raising six children, a wonderful grandmother, and her contributions to assisting others. She is one of the kindest women I’ve ever known.”
Meyers, in turn, is rightly proud of her own son, Jake Rosen, a Cranbrook product who earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management with a minor in applied statistics from the University of Michigan. He also holds a master’s degree in business analytics from Cornell University and currently is pursuing an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University while working as an audience strategy manager for Publicis Media in Chicago.
“I’m also blessed with three stepsons – Scott, David, and Will, their families, and three granddaughters,” Meyers added. “I have so much to be grateful for, which is why I enjoy doing my best to give back.”
Legal News
Raised as part of a large family in Ypsilanti, a city that has seen its fortunes ebb and flow with the swings of the auto industry, attorney Mary Pat Meyers continues to draw inspiration from her working-class upbringing where lessons and blessings were in plentiful supply.
As one of six children, Meyers and her siblings were encouraged by their parents to lead active lives and “to put service above self” in all their endeavors, a blueprint that they have followed faithfully throughout their respective careers.
“Each of us knew early on the importance that our parents attached to academics, athletics, and volunteer service,” recalled Meyers, a personal injury attorney with Meyers Law PLLC in Dearborn. “It was ingrained in us at a very early age. Our parents were great role models when it came to making a difference in the lives of others.”
Meyers, who recently marked her 41st year in the law, has an impressive history of community service and was one of the founding board members of Impact100 of Oakland County, an organization of women who share a vision of “making a big difference in Oakland County through large-scale charitable giving.” Since its founding in 2015, the local chapter has awarded more than $2 million to nonprofits serving the Oakland County community, targeting needs in the health, education, environmental protection, and social service areas.
After serving on the Board of Governors for Cranbrook Schools from 2009-19, Meyers began her involvement with the Shades of Pink Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps breast cancer patients with pressing financial needs. After initially volunteering to take photographs at its annual Zoo Walk fund-raising event, Meyers soon was invited to be part of the Shades of Pink board.
“Before I knew it, I was raising my hand to become the president of the board,” she said with a smile of her rise up the leadership ranks. “I have been so blessed to be involved in Shades of Pink and to see how many cancer patients have been positively impacted by our efforts. So many people in our community are dealing with chemo treatments and are unable to work or have had to cut back on their work schedules. The financial strain that puts on them can be enormous. In many cases, we’ve been able to step in and help them with a car payment, a rent payment, and other daily living expenses. It’s been gratifying to see the kind of support we’ve been able to attract for such a worthy cause.”
Meyers, who has served as president since 2021, recently transitioned to a co-president’s role, sharing the leadership responsibilities until the end of the year when Kitch attorney Jenna Wright Greenman takes over the reins of the organization that was founded in 2005.
“Jenna is me on steroids,” Meyers said of her co-president and successor. “She will do an amazing job as president and will help take Shades of Pink to the next level in terms of our impact in the community. We have ambitious goals set for 2025 as we celebrate our 20th anniversary next year.”
In addition to Meyers and Greenman, the legal profession also is represented on the Shades of Pink board by Toni Grinnan, a retired civil litigator, while attorney Nina Googasian serves as the organization’s Executive Administrator. Those interested in supporting Shades of Pink Foundation can visit its website at shadesofpinkfoundation.org.
A product of Ypsilanti High School, Meyers was a standout swimmer for the Braves during her junior and senior years when Title IX legislation opened up athletic opportunities for female students. A 2019 inductee into the Ypsilanti High Athletic Hall of Fame, Meyers took her swimming and academic talents to Michigan State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree before obtaining her juris doctor from Cooley Law School in Lansing.
During law school, she worked with the Michigan Department of Labor’s Commission for Handicapper Concerns, an assignment that whet her appetite for involvement in equal justice causes.
“I knew I wanted to be involved in work where I could help individuals and families who have been harmed by the negligence or misconduct of others,” said Meyers, who spent nearly 25 years with Charfoos and Christensen and then Sommers Schwartz as a medical malpractice and personal injury attorney. In 2022, she joined her husband Jeff in practice.
In 2018, while a partner at Charfoos and Christensen, Meyers began representing some of the survivors of the sexual assaults committed by Larry Nassar while he was a physician for USA Gymnastics and the MSU gymnastics team. An investigation by The Indianapolis Star triggered an onslaught of cases after several prominent Olympic gymnasts came forward with accusations of the sexual abuse they had endured at the hands of Nassar.
Nassar’s crimes reportedly began as early as 1994 and continued until his firing from MSU in 2016 in the wake of the newspaper’s report. In all, more 500 women were victimized by Nassar, prompting MSU to reach a $500 million settlement in 2018 with those he assaulted with an additional settlement in 2019. USA Gymnastics and the USA Olympic Committee subsequently reached a separate settlement worth $380 million to the survivors, while earlier this year a $139 million settlement was reached over the FBI’s botched investigation into Nassar’s wrongdoing.
“It took the courage of one of the survivors (Rachel Denhollander) to come forward, and those whose reports were initially dismissed, otherwise there could have been many others who would have suffered,” declared Meyers, who represented some of the gymnasts who appeared before the MSU Board of Trustees to detail Nassar’s misconduct. “We were there to help them right a wrong.”
For such efforts, Meyers has received a host of honors, including the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Michigan State Bar Association – Negligence Section in 2022 and “Influential Women in the Law”
recognition from Michigan Lawyers Weekly in 2018 and 2022. Meyers also received a special proclamation from the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in 2019.
She and her husband, attorney Jeff Meyers, now work as a team at Meyers Law PLLC, some four years after they became marriage partners (see related story below).
“He is a brilliant trial attorney who I had known for more than 35 years before we connected in 2019,” Meyers related. “After I was inducted into the (Ypsilanti High School) Hall of Fame, he sent me a note of congratulations, and the rest is history.”
Her two sisters, Annette Kubiske and Capt. Kathleen Allen, also are members of the YHS Hall of Fame for their athletic exploits. Annette was a state champ in diving who went on to earn All-American honors at Michigan State. Kathleen won 12 varsity letters in high school, sparkling in swimming, volleyball, and track before lettering in volleyball at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Her three brothers – Dan, Dave, and Doug – may be without Hall of Fame status, but each has enjoyed success in their respective careers in journalism, engineering, and business, according to Meyers, whose father Edward was a civil engineer before becoming city manager of Ypsilanti and then starting his own consulting firm.
“One thing that I know my dad would be proud of is the legacy he has left. The efforts that he made to receive a stellar education, the first in his family, had the domino effect on all those that came after him,” said Meyers. “All six of his children have advanced degrees, and 14 grandchildren are college educated with 11 advanced degrees. Quite a legacy. And obviously, my mom (Pat) played a huge part in all of that. I marvel at all that she has done in her life, raising six children, a wonderful grandmother, and her contributions to assisting others. She is one of the kindest women I’ve ever known.”
Meyers, in turn, is rightly proud of her own son, Jake Rosen, a Cranbrook product who earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management with a minor in applied statistics from the University of Michigan. He also holds a master’s degree in business analytics from Cornell University and currently is pursuing an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University while working as an audience strategy manager for Publicis Media in Chicago.
“I’m also blessed with three stepsons – Scott, David, and Will, their families, and three granddaughters,” Meyers added. “I have so much to be grateful for, which is why I enjoy doing my best to give back.”
• • • • • • • • • • •
Couple tied knot in somewhat of a
fairy-tale type of wedding
The
wedding ceremony that united Mary Pat and Jeff Meyers four years ago
was spiced by several light-hearted moments courtesy of the bride’s
brother, Dave Kubiske, pictured in sunglasses and bow tie.
By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
Mary Pat Meyers is part of what is lovingly known as a “Corona Couple,” the label attached to those wed during the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, the not-so-loving health crisis that nearly brought the world to a stop in 2020.
She and her husband, Jeff Meyers, exchanged wedding vows September 5, 2020 in an outdoor wedding with an assisted living facility and an Ohio cornfield as a backdrop. In other words, not exactly a dream-like wedding venue.
And yet, what the ceremony lacked in aesthetics, it more than made up for in terms of the joy and lasting memories arising from the nuptials.
“It was anything but conventional, but that made it even more special,” Meyers said of the COVID-19 wedding that will be forever imprinted in the minds of those who attended. “We did not know how long the pandemic would last, and wanted to get married, so with some ingenuity in collaboration with my siblings, we made it happen in a meaningful, but fun way.”
Legal News
Mary Pat Meyers is part of what is lovingly known as a “Corona Couple,” the label attached to those wed during the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, the not-so-loving health crisis that nearly brought the world to a stop in 2020.
She and her husband, Jeff Meyers, exchanged wedding vows September 5, 2020 in an outdoor wedding with an assisted living facility and an Ohio cornfield as a backdrop. In other words, not exactly a dream-like wedding venue.
And yet, what the ceremony lacked in aesthetics, it more than made up for in terms of the joy and lasting memories arising from the nuptials.
“It was anything but conventional, but that made it even more special,” Meyers said of the COVID-19 wedding that will be forever imprinted in the minds of those who attended. “We did not know how long the pandemic would last, and wanted to get married, so with some ingenuity in collaboration with my siblings, we made it happen in a meaningful, but fun way.”
The bride and groom in a keepsake photo with the best man, Jeff’s father, Carl.
Fun,
of course, was a word that was nearly banished from the dictionary
during the pandemic, which claimed millions of lives around the globe
and dramatically curtailed personal interaction. Large gatherings such
as weddings were verboten or so severely altered to ensure that they did
not become super-spreader events.
Which meant that the Meyers had to do some serious planning if their respective parents, both then in their early 90s, were to be included in the special occasion. In less than four weeks, the plans were set, she said.
“My mom (Pat Kubiske) was in an assisted living facility in Bryan, Ohio and would have faced two weeks in isolation if she had attended an event outside the residence,” Meyers explained. “We didn’t want to put her in a situation like that, so my sister Annette (Kubiske) went to work, getting approval from the administrator there to hold the ceremony in the courtyard where my mom could see from behind the window and Jeff’s dad, Carl, could attend as well. He served as Jeff’s best man, while my mom was the maid of honor.”
The ceremony took place on a sun-splashed day with only immediate family members attending, although residents of the assisted living facility were safely tuned in to the proceedings through the wonders of Bluetooth technology.
“It was a ceremony filled with laughter, as my brother Dave married us, describing me as a princess, quoting the ‘Princess Bride,’ among other choice comments,” Meyers recalled. “He was hilarious, and helped make it a wedding day like no other. It was perfect.”
Which meant that the Meyers had to do some serious planning if their respective parents, both then in their early 90s, were to be included in the special occasion. In less than four weeks, the plans were set, she said.
“My mom (Pat Kubiske) was in an assisted living facility in Bryan, Ohio and would have faced two weeks in isolation if she had attended an event outside the residence,” Meyers explained. “We didn’t want to put her in a situation like that, so my sister Annette (Kubiske) went to work, getting approval from the administrator there to hold the ceremony in the courtyard where my mom could see from behind the window and Jeff’s dad, Carl, could attend as well. He served as Jeff’s best man, while my mom was the maid of honor.”
The ceremony took place on a sun-splashed day with only immediate family members attending, although residents of the assisted living facility were safely tuned in to the proceedings through the wonders of Bluetooth technology.
“It was a ceremony filled with laughter, as my brother Dave married us, describing me as a princess, quoting the ‘Princess Bride,’ among other choice comments,” Meyers recalled. “He was hilarious, and helped make it a wedding day like no other. It was perfect.”
––––––––––––––––––––
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