LEGAL PEOPLE

Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert P. Young Jr. has been named "Lawyer of the Year" by Michigan Lawyers Weekly in recognition of his work on court reform. In its profile of Young, Lawyers Weekly observed, "[U]nder the leadership of Chief Justice Robert Young Jr., the Michigan court system is undergoing a facelift of unprecedented proportions." Lawyers Weekly noted that the chief justice successfully advocated for eliminating judgeships that were no longer supported by workload. In the interview, Young also talked about the next wave of Michigan court reform, including courts sharing resources and combining some operations. Young also advocates for better use of technology and best practices for courts, including making court performance measures available online. Young has been a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court since 1999; he was elected chief justice by his fellow justices in January 2011. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, he joined the law firm of Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen & Freeman in 1978, becoming a partner in the firm in 1982. In 1992, he joined AAA of Michigan, serving as its vice-president, corporate secretary and general counsel until his 1995 appointment to the Michigan Court of Appeals, where he served until 1999. The chief justice has served on the boards of many charitable business and civic organizations, including United Community Services of Metropolitan Detroit and Vista Maria, a resource center for disadvantaged young women and girls. He has also served as a trustee of the Detroit Institute of Children, The Detroit Historical Society, and the Governor's Task Force on Children's Justice Concerning Child Abuse and Neglect. A former commissioner of the Michigan Civil Service Commission, Young is a former chair of the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce "Leadership Detroit" program. * * * Calli Duncan and a team from the law firm of Foley & Mansfield has returned from a week-long service trip to Durazno, Guatemala. The original mission was to build and repair latrines for this small impoverished community, but upon arrival, residents shared a greater need for smokeless stoves. Most of the village's single-room homes only had open-flame fire pits that engulfed each home with smoke while meals were prepared. The F&M team constructed ten new stoves and supplied the community with materials to complete another 30 smokeless stoves. The residents of Durazno were extremely grateful and bonded closely with the F&M service team of 19 employees who ranged from senior partners to case assistants. The Foley & Mansfield Foundation sponsored this service trip as another opportunity for its attorneys and staff to give back to those who are less fortunate, a core value emphasized and embraced at F&M. * * * Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Susan L. Johnson will be a featured speaker during the 2012 Annual Solid Waste Technical Conference on March 28 in Lansing. Presented by the Engineering Society of Detroit, the Conference is designed to educate attendees on emerging technologies and regulatory changes that affect the solid waste industry. Johnson's presentation topic is: "Implications of EPA's Proposed New Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) Definition of Solid Waste." Based in Butzel Long's Bloomfield Hills office, Johnson is recognized as a leading environmental attorney in Michigan. Her principal areas of practice include all aspects of environmental law with an emphasis on environmental and regulatory compliance; the siting and permitting of solid and hazardous waste landfills and treatment facilities, scrap and other recycling facilities; environmental due diligence, as well as municipal and environmental contracting. Johnson is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, and was elected in 1999 to serve on the Environmental Council. She also is a member of the State Bar of Michigan's Environmental Law Section; Superfund and Insurance Committee; Solid and Hazardous Waste Committee; Natural Resources and Wetland Committee and serves as a co-editor for the sections Environmental Law Deskbook. She is a member of the Michigan Waste Industry Association and the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce Task Force on Water and Sewerage Issues. She is a frequent speaker at various legal and professional conferences. Johnson is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School (1984) and the University of Michigan (B.A., 1980). She also completed the NITA Trial Advocacy Course (1987), Sanitary Landfill Design Course (1990) and the Groundwater Chemistry Course Certificate (1991) from the Engineering Society of Detroit; and the ISO 14000 Lead EMS Auditor Course, British Standards Institute (1997). * * * Attorney Mary Kucharek has been named partner with Beier Howlett law firm in Bloomfield Hills. Kucharek is a member of the firm's municipal law practice group, specializing in criminal law and prosecutions. The announcement was made by firm CEO Tim Currier. Kucharek is a frequent speaker on under-age substance abuse to metro Detroit area community groups, and has drafted many ordinances to address under-age substance abuse in her community. She is a graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. * * * Lippitt O'Keefe PLLC, a full-service law firm that recently emerged from the law offices of Hyman Lippitt PC, has opened a new Birmingham headquarters at 370 E. Maple Road, just west of Woodward. Norman Lippitt, a Michigan trial lawyer, formed the new firm with Brian O'Keefe, a Hyman Lippitt principal, last fall. Leonard Hyman, a co-founder of Hyman Lippitt in 1991, passed away last year. Lippitt began his career as a Wayne County assistant prosecuting attorney in the 1960s. As a criminal defense attorney, he later captured national attention for his work in Detroit's Algiers Motel case. He went on to represent defendants in a host of other well-known legal battles, including the Veterans Memorial Incident, the Rochester Street Shootout, the Raymond "Mad Dog" Peterson Murder Trial and the 10th Precinct Narcotics Case. In 1985, then Michigan Governor James Blanchard appointed Lippitt to the Oakland County Circuit Court where he served for four years. A Detroit native, Lippitt re-entered private practice in 1989 and has since focused almost exclusively on commercial litigation and family law, representing real estate developers, private business owners, major corporations and other law firms. He also is the author of "In the Trenches: Guerrilla Warfare and Other Trial Tactics," a recently published book that blueprints a battle-tested list of winning courtroom strategies. The book is currently available through the Lippitt O'Keefe website (www.lippittokeefe.com) and Amazon.com. Lippitt's partner in the new firm, Brian O'Keefe, is an attorney with more than 25 years of experience. The focus of O'Keefe's practice in recent years has been on venture capital transactions, including representation of both private equity funding sources and individuals and entities receiving angel and financing capital. He also represents local, regional and national entities in general business, real estate and corporate matters, including formations, financings, mergers and acquisitions, dispositions and dissolutions. Other principals and their areas of expertise at Lippitt O'Keefe include: * Daniel J. McCarthy, principal - Appellate and commercial litigation in both state and federal courts. * Joseph Pia, principal - Federal, state and international taxation, and probate and estate planning. * Harvey R. Weingarden, principal - Federal, state and international taxation, and probate and estate planning. * Ryan Plecha, attorney - Civil and complex commercial litigation, real estate, estate planning and corporate matters. * Anne C. Lipp, attorney - Business litigation, business transactions and intellectual property matters. Lippitt, a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum recognizing trial lawyers who have repeatedly achieved trial verdicts of $1,000,000 or more, has been named by his peers to the Michigan "Super Lawyers" list for professional achievement. A graduate of the Detroit College of Law (now the Michigan State University College of Law), he holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree for his long-standing service to the school. A former vice president of the college's board of trustees, he also was named a trustee emeritus in 2010. Lippitt is an active member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Oakland County Bar Association and a frequent speaker on a variety of subjects at colleges and universities, bar-association meetings and community gatherings. O'Keefe earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University. He received his law degree from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. O'Keefe has been a member of many local boards including the Young Entrepreneurs Organization of Michigan and the Manresa Retreat House. His professional memberships include the State Bar of Michigan, the Oakland County Bar Association and the American Bar Association. * * * Members of Bodman's Workplace Law Group are in high demand as speakers to major employer organizations at spring seminars on legal issues involving employer-employee relations. Workplace Law Group Chair Steve J. Fishman and Group members Karen L. Piper and Charles M. Russman have multiple engagements scheduled throughout the State of Michigan. Fishman and Piper will present three all-day seminars for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce on "Disability in the Workplace." The programs, which take place on Tuesday, March 2,7 in Novi, Wednesday, March 28 in Lansing, and Thursday, March 29, in Grand Rapids, will cover the ADA, FMLA, and Workers Compensation, and provide guidance for employers on their obligations under these laws. Fishman and Russman will present a half-day seminar on Wednesday, April 11, for the Michigan Manufacturers Association in the Grand Rapids area on "Health Care Reform: What Does It Really Mean?" The program will cover the continuing controversy over government-mandated changes in health care and provide employers with what they need to know to comply with new health care laws. Fishman will offer a half-day version of "Making Unionized Workplaces Work" on Tuesday, May 1, in Lansing on behalf of the Michigan Manufacturers Association. The program will emphasize ways to build and maintain positive labor relations. Finally, Fishman will be featured at the World Presidents Organization (WPO) conference on Wednesday, May 23, at Crystal Mountain Resort. Fishman will speak on how he helped Metalworks, a Ludington, Michigan-based manufacturer of office file cabinets and systems, turn a Teamsters bargaining breakdown strike into decertification of the union and a union-free operation. * * * The Michigan Defense Trial Counsel is proud to announce Brian D. Einhorn as the recipient of the Annual Excellence In Defense Award. He will be honored during the Awards Banquet at the MDTC Annual Meeting & Conference on Thursday and Friday, May 10 & 11, at the Westin Book Cadillac in Detroit. Einhorn, an attorney with the law firm of Collins, Einhorn, Farrell, & Ulanoff, has been selected by the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel to receive the organization's Excellence in Defense Award. Established in 1992, the Annual Michigan Defense Trial Counsel (MDTC) "Excellence in Defense Award" is designed to honor those civil defense counsel who have over a number of years through their professionalism, intelligence, creativity, judgment, personality, sensitivity, civility, advocacy skills, community involvement and efforts to educate younger attorneys, promoted the practice of the defense bar and the representation of their clients both in and outside of the courtroom. It also recognizes contributions beyond their normal roles as an advocate. Einhorn served as the treasurer of the State Bar of Michigan for the 2009-2010 term. He has served on the Board of Commissioners for the State Bar of Michigan since 2004, he is currently the vice president and is scheduled to be president in September of 2013. For more than three decades Einhorn has been at the forefront of legal issues affecting lawyers, judges, courts, businesses and insurers. He has litigated numerous court cases and disciplinary proceedings that have shaped Michigan law with issues ranging from lawyers' potential liability to clients for defamation, to judicial candidates' free speech rights. He has defended many district and circuit courts throughout the state, including Michigan's largest and most populous, against §1983 actions and similar claims. * * * Attorney Jennifer D. Warner is the new director of the State Court Administrative Office's Trial Court Services division, the Michigan Supreme Court announced recently. Warner was an assistant prosecuting attorney in Muskegon and Ionia counties before joining the Michigan Judicial Institute, SCAO's continuing education division, in 2002. As an MJI research attorney, Warner researched and wrote the "Michigan Adoption Benchbook," a comprehensive guide for judges handling adoptions. Warner also contributed to numerous other publications, including benchbooks on child protective proceedings, contempt of court, domestic violence, and juvenile justice. In 2005, she joined Trial Court Services as a management analyst. In addition to analyzing proposed legislation and court rules, Warner led workgroups to improve court operations and gave numerous presentations to judicial associations and other groups. She serves on the Trial Court Performance Measures Committee, which in October 2011 released a report advocating performance measures as a way for courts to improve efficiency and public service. Warner earned her undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University and her law degree from Shepard Broad Law Center, Nova Southeastern University. * * * Paul S. Magy and Mark G. Kaylian of Kupelian, Ormond, & Magy PC will be speaking at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Michigan Operations Breakfast on Thursday, March 29, at 7:30 a.m. at The Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. Magy and Kaylian will lead the roundtable discussion: "Ask the Lawyer Off the Clock - Bring Your Legal Questions Relating to Shopping Center Management." Magy and Kaylian are shareholders of KOM specializing in commercial real estate law, including acquisition, development, financing, zoning, leasing and sale of commercial real estate, as well as litigation related to all of these areas, including receiverships, distressed assets and retailer bankruptcy, and negotiation and structuring of general business transactions. Magy and Kaylian represent local, regional and national shopping centers, retail and office clients, commercial property owners, developers, property managers and brokers, as well as multinational corporations with both their real estate and general corporate matters. Published: Mon, Mar 26, 2012