Legal People

Brooks Kushman P.C.
Brooks Kushman P.C. is pleased to announce that Robert D. Burns and Scott E. Lloyd have joined the firm as associates. The announcement was made by Mark Cantor, president of Brooks Kushman. Burns and Lloyd join the firm’s patent prosecution team to add depth to its technical expertise.
Burns brings more than 20 years of engineering experience, including work with automotive and industrial applications, to the firm. Prior to joining Brooks Kushman, Burns worked for General Motors Co. (GM) where he focused on electric and hybrid vehicle technology, including electric vehicle and hybrid transmission controls. He has experience in electronic braking systems as well as electric motor and drive controls for industrial applications. As a design engineer, his efforts resulted in several patents for innovations in brake-by-wire systems and hybrid vehicle technology.
He earned his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Auburn Hills, a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Akron in Ohio, a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from Ohio State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Wayne State University.
With more than 10 years of IP experience, Lloyd previously served as in-house counsel at a product innovation and development company based in Chicago. As the head legal counsel, he was responsible for creating and enforcing a comprehensive IP protection program, handling all aspects of contractual transitions and advising the executive team in all business matters. Prior to entering the legal profession, Lloyd was an associate engineer and co-operative engineering student at GM in Warren.
Lloyd earned his law degree from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Kettering University (formerly GMI Engineering and Management Institute) in Flint. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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Giarmarco, Mullins, & Horton, P.C.

Giarmarco, Mullins, & Horton PC is pleased to announce that Joseph F. Page III has been named as a DBusiness Top Lawyer. He was also recognized as a Michigan Super Lawyer, by U.S. News – Best Lawyers in America, and received an “AV” Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
Page specializes in health care law, corporate law and commercial transactions. With more than 40 years of experience as a health care attorney, Page provides legal advice and services at every level of health care law from senior executives of large health care organizations to private practitioners. He represents hospitals and other non-profit health care institutions, large physician organizations, group practices and solo practitioners in corporate, regulatory, transactional and risk management issues including Stark II, HIPAA, Anti-kickback and the False Claims Act.
As a corporate attorney, Page provides strategic planning and technical advice on mergers and acquisitions, real estate development, contracting, personnel issues and dispute resolution.
Page is a retired United States Air Force colonel and has written three novels under the pen name of “Jeffrey Baldwin.”
Page earned his BA from Princeton University, and his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, American Health Lawyers Association, and a former member of the Michigan State Medical Society Task Force on Medical Legal Issues.

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Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak, & Steward PC

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak, & Stewart PC is pleased to announce that Tom Cattel, from the firm’s Detroit Metro office, has been included in the 2013 edition of Chambers USA.

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Michigan Supreme Court

Attorney Larry Royster, chief clerk and research director for the Michigan Court of Appeals, has been named clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court effective May 28. He will also serve as the Supreme Court’s chief of staff.
Chief Justice Robert P. Young Jr. announced the appointment.
Young also praised outgoing Clerk Corbin R. Davis, who has served in that position since 1983. “Corbin is well known throughout the legal community for his dedication, integrity, work ethics, and good judgment,” Young added. “It says a great deal about Larry that the court found him to be a worthy successor to Corbin.”
Royster joined the Court of Appeals Prehearing Division in 1985; he then served as a law clerk to Court of Appeals Judge Richard Maher. From 1989 to 1998, Royster served as supervisor of the Court of Appeals’ new Senior Research Division, which prepares research reports for the court’s longer, more complex cases. In 1999, he was named Court of Appeals deputy research director, becoming research director two years later. In January 2011, Royster began serving as both chief clerk and research director for the Court of Appeals.
Royster graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree; he earned his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

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Goodman Acker P.C.

Goodman Acker P.C., a law firm this year marking its 20th anniversary, recently announced the addition of Mark Brewer to its team.
Brewer, who spent the previous 18 years with the Michigan Democratic Party – 16 as its chair and two as executive chair – will launch a new practice area for the firm focusing on union-side labor, election, and campaign finance law. In his role, Brewer, who officially joins the firm on June 3, also will provide campaign management and political consulting services for officeholders, candidates, organizations, ballot initiatives and issues campaigns. The announcement was made jointly by Goodman Acker PC co-founders and senior partners Barry Goodman and Gerald Acker.
Brewer earned his law degree from Stanford University Law School and his undergraduate degree from Harvard College. He brings three decades of legal and political experience to his role with Goodman Acker.
“I’m very pleased to be joining one of Michigan’s top firms, which has been a successful fighter for justice for people who’ve been injured,” said Brewer. “During the last several weeks, officeholders, candidates, labor unions, local parties, trade associations and others have sought my help for candidate campaigns, state and federal Super PACs, 501(c)s, 527s, independent expenditure campaigns and ballot questions, among many topics. At Goodman Acker, I’ll be able to not only practice law with a group of great lawyers, but also provide political consulting and management services to all these people, putting my 30 years of experience to work for them.”
In addition to his nearly two decades leading the state’s Democratic Party, Brewer, who has been honored by the State Bar of Michigan for his pro bono legal work, also spent a number of years with Detroit-based Sachs Waldman, and early in his career clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and for Michigan Supreme Court Justice Charles Levin. Brewer  is a recipient of the Champion of Justice Award from the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ) and the Distinguished Service Award from the Michigan Education Association.
Like Brewer, Goodman and Acker both have a history of political volunteerism, including their roles on the National Finance Committee for President Obama’s election campaigns in 2008 and 2012. Additionally, Goodman was recently elected to a seat on the Democratic National Committee, and is a past president of the MAJ, a non-profit membership organization dedicated to furthering civil justice and access to the courts for the people of the State of Michigan. Acker is the current president-elect of MAJ and will assume the role of president in July 2013.

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Warner, Norcross, & Judd LLP

The law firm of Warner, Norcross, & Judd LLP has named Nazli G. Sater as the chair of its Family Law/Divorce Practice Group.
Sater will lead the eight-attorney practice group, which represents clients in all aspects of family law, including premarital and post-marital agreements, separations, annulment, divorce, custody and parenting time, spousal and child support, property division and others. A partner who practices in the firm’s Southfield office, Sater brings more than 25 years of experience in family law, litigation and dispute resolution to her new role with the firm.
A graduate of Leadership Detroit, Sater serves on the board of the Karmanos Cancer Institute and on the Family Law Advisory Board of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education. She has been named a top lawyer in family law by DBusiness and to Michigan Super Lawyers.
Sater is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Oakland County Bar Association. She has also served as a guest lecturer on a variety of topics related to family law and divorce issues. She is also the author of the child custody chapter in the Michigan Family Law Reference Book.
Sater earned a bachelor of arts from Wayne State University and a law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

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Collins, Einhorn, Farrell

Kevin P. Moloughney, an attorney at Southfield-based Collins, Einhorn, Farrell, has been named president of the Association of Defense Trial Counsel.
Moloughney’s practice is focused on the defense of personal injury and property damage claims.  He has also maintained an active practice litigating insurance coverage disputes.
Moloughney is a 1994 graduate of the Detroit College of Law. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and has been admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western District of Michigan. 
Moloughney also is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute. He sits as a case evaluator in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties and is active in the Association of Defense Trial Counsel on the Board of Directors.
The Association of Defense Trial Counsel brings together lawyers in Wayne County and other adjacent counties whose practice consists chiefly in representing insurance companies and other corporate defendants in damage suits in order to promote efficiency in that branch of the legal profession, to act as a unit in dealing with common problems and to better serve the general interests of the clients of the members.

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Foley & Lardner LLP
Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business has ranked 80 Foley & Lardner LLP attorneys as leading lawyers in their fields in its 2013 edition. Among these attorneys, nine were nationally ranked in their respective practice areas and 15 were newly recognized in 2013. Six of Foley’s practice areas received national recognition, including a new practice area this year - Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets. At the state level, five of the firm’s practices are newly ranked for 2013.
National Rankings:
Practices:
• Franchising
• Government: Government Contracts
• Healthcare
• Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets  
• Privacy & Data Security
• Sports Law

State Rankings:
Michigan
Practice
• Corporate/M&A

Attorney:
• Daljit S. Doogal, Corporate/M&A

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Miller Canfield
David M. Thoms, a principal at Miller Canfield (Troy office), has been elected to a three-year term on the board of trustees of Madonna University, a Catholic and Franciscan university located in Livonia committed to teaching, scholarship and service.
Thoms has long been active in the educational community. His service includes being a longtime board member and current president of the Alliance Française de Grosse Pointe. He’s a trustee and executive committee member of the Michigan Colleges Foundation and a trustee of Kalamazoo College. He’s also a Planned Giving Technical Advisor at Greenhills School, a private high school in Ann Arbor. He was previously involved in leadership and fundraising for the University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center and the University of Detroit-Mercy. He was honored with the Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques by the French Government for his contributions to French culture and education.
At Miller Canfield, Thoms assists clients with their business, estate and succession planning matters as well as assisting non-profit and charitable organizations with policy, tax, compliance, governance and fundraising.
Thoms earned his law degrees from University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and Wayne State University Law School. He also earned his bachelor’s degree from Kalamazoo College and a master’s degree in urban planning from Wayne State University.

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Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho PLC

The law firm of Cummings, McClorey, Davis, & Acho PLC is pleased to announce that Nathan I. Stull has joined their firm as an attorney in their Livonia office.
He focuses his practice on estate planning, business succession planning and real estate law.
Stull earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hillsdale College.

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