Plunkett Cooney announces board election results

Plunkett Cooney – one of the Midwest’s oldest and largest law firms – is pleased to announce that five partners have been elected to serve as members of its board of directors.

At the firm’s annual meeting held in February, Peter D. Cronk, the managing partner of Plunkett Cooney’s East Lansing office, and Timothy F. Sheridan, the managing partner of the firm’s Grand Rapids office, were elected for the first time. Re-elected to the board were longtime members Michael P. Ashcraft, Jr,  Michael S. Bogren and Kenneth C. Newa. The board re-elected Bogren as Chairman and Ashcraft as secretary/treasurer at its meeting held the following month.

Cronk, who serves as co-leader of Plunkett Cooney’s Banking, Transactions & Estate Planning Group, was elected to serve a one-year term on the board. A 1999 graduate of Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, Cronk has particular expertise in commercial loan workouts, corporate work for global companies and small businesses, real estate acquisition and development, and commercial litigation in both state and federal courts. A member of the Plunkett Cooney’s Budget & Finance and Hiring committees, Cronk has earned Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer-review rating, “AV-Preeminent.”

Sheridan, who was elected to a three-year term, focuses his litigation practice in the areas of professional liability (legal and accounting malpractice), construction liability, trucking and transportation liability, premises liability and product liability. Admitted to practice in Michigan’s state and federal courts, Sheridan is a member of the Grand Rapids Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee, the State Bar of Michigan, the Incorporated Society of Irish American Attorneys, DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar and the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel. He graduated from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1993.

Ashcraft, who serves as a co-leader of Plunkett Cooney’s Professional Liability Practice Group, is one of the state’s leading professional liability attorneys, focusing his practice primarily on the defense of and accountants in malpractice claims. A partner in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, he also represents insurance brokers and agents, securities brokers, real estate brokers and agents, investment advisors, officers and directors, and notaries public in professional liability cases in state and federal courts. A 1993 graduate of Michigan State University College of Law, Ashcraft is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association’s Negligence Section, the State Bar of Michigan’s Professional Ethics Committee and the American Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Liability.

Bogren, the managing partner of Plunkett Cooney’s Kalamazoo office, has been a member of the board since 2003 and has served as chairman since 2012. He is a member of Plunkett Cooney’s Governmental Law Practice Group and focuses his practice in the areas of municipal law, civil rights and labor and employment law. A 1982 graduate of the University of Detroit School of Law, Bogren has extensive experience representing municipalities in both state and federal court claims involving police liability, due process matters, First Amendment issues, Michigan Open Meetings and Freedom of Information Act violations, zoning disputes and employment law.

Newa is a partner in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office who focuses his practice principally on the representation of insurance companies in a variety of coverage disputes, including complex, high-exposure coverage litigation relating to environmental, asbestos, toxic tort and construction defect claims. A 1989 graduate of the University of Detroit School of Law, Newa is a member of the State Bar of Michigan (Environmental Law and Negligence sections), DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar (Insurance Law Committee and Bad Faith and CGL Subcommittee), the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association and the Association of Defense Trial Counsel.