Varnum LLP
Varnum LLP is pleased to announce that Caleb Griscom has joined the firm’s Birmingham office as counsel on its Corporate Practice Team. Griscom brings a background in M&A and private equity transactions, having advised on a variety of deals, including mergers, equity and asset purchases, carve-outs, sale-leasebacks, and cross-border transactions.
Griscom has experience in corporate transactional matters, handling everything from drafting purchase agreements to coordinating complex closings. He also assists clients with general corporate matters, including entity formation, corporate governance, and equity documentation.
In addition to his legal experience, Griscom served as a logistics officer in the United States Marine Corps, where, among other roles, he led an engineer support platoon in Afghanistan and received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
He earned a law degree from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the United States Naval Academy.
In addition, Varnum estate planning attorney Rebecca Wrock has been re-elected to serve a three-year term as a council member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan. The council oversees Michigan’s probate and estate planning attorneys, focusing on education, law development and Michigan appellate court decisions.
Wrock is an active member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section and has helped drive the progress of estate planning law in Michigan. As a member of Varnum’s Estate Planning Practice Team, her practice covers all areas of estate planning and estate settlement, including tax planning, charitable gift planning, business succession planning and long-term care planning. She has helped clients with everything from simple estate plans to complex strategies, ensuring protections for minor children, aging parents, loved ones with disabilities and even animal companions through pet trusts.
Wrock also serves as a council member and chair-elect of the Animal Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan. She is also involved in the nonprofit sector, having served as past chairperson of the board of Barn Sanctuary and vice president of the board of Attorneys for Animals.
Wrock has earned honors from Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers and the National Law Review. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Wayne State University Law School and regularly contributes to the Institute of Continuing Legal Education.
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Brooks Kushman P.C.
Brooks Kushman is pleased to announce that its newest associates have received their Michigan Bar exam results. Abdulai Rashid, Yasmeen Moradshahi, and Cameron Anstess are the newest additions to the firm’s intellectual property team.
Rashid focuses his practice on patent prosecution and litigation in the biomedical and automotive fields. He has experience in contract drafting, filing trademark applications, as well as aiding clients with turning their ideas into businesses or patentable inventions. Rashid earned a law degree from Penn State Law School. He passed the Virginia bar before graduating law school. He also received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Central Methodist University.
Moradshahi is a patent attorney specializing in patent prosecution and litigation with a focus on electrical and mechanical engineering, particularly in the automotive sector. She brings hands-on experience from her time working at a major automotive company, where she contributed to the manufacturing controls simulation lab, diesel launch team, and patent profiling in the IP department. Before joining Brooks Kushman as an attorney, Moradshahi spent three years as a technical specialist with the firm, building a foundation in intellectual property law. She earned her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Kettering University.
Anstess is specializes in patent prosecution and litigation with expertise in battery chemistry patents. His background in chemical engineering enables him to navigate complex technical matters with precision. Anstess has worked on a variety of patent matters, leveraging his understanding of both the legal and technical aspects of intellectual property. Before joining Brooks Kushman, Anstess gained experience in the healthcare industry as a quality manager for a healthcare software development company. In this role, he developed a keen attention to detail and a deep understanding of regulatory processes, which now informs his approach to intellectual property law. Anstess earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University.
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Honigman LLP
Honigman LLP recently announced that it is expanding its Litigation Department with the addition of Valerie Stacey as partner in Detroit. Stacey, who will be part of the firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group, joins from Jones Day.
Stacey focuses her practice on high-stakes commercial litigation and complex tort disputes in state and federal courts across the country, providing strategic guidance to clients in a variety of industries on high-profile, multi-million and -billion-dollar cases. From Ponzi schemes and residential mortgage-backed securities disputes to breach of contract and fiduciary duty claims, Stacey excels in ensuring clients’ interests are protected at every stage of the litigation process.
Stacey brings experience crafting and arguing persuasive motions; conducting and defending fact and expert depositions; managing offensive and defensive discovery; and executing all aspects of the appellate process. In addition to her client work, she has an active pro bono practice counseling asylum seekers, including developing case assessments and preparing refugees for credible fear interviews, as well as first-chairing evidentiary hearings to secure restraining orders.
Stacey earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 2017 and a B.A. from James Madison College at Michigan State University in 2014. She started her career at Robins Kaplan, where she worked closely with first-chair trial lawyers in the firm’s Financial Fraud and E-Discovery practice.
Varnum LLP is pleased to announce that Caleb Griscom has joined the firm’s Birmingham office as counsel on its Corporate Practice Team. Griscom brings a background in M&A and private equity transactions, having advised on a variety of deals, including mergers, equity and asset purchases, carve-outs, sale-leasebacks, and cross-border transactions.
Griscom has experience in corporate transactional matters, handling everything from drafting purchase agreements to coordinating complex closings. He also assists clients with general corporate matters, including entity formation, corporate governance, and equity documentation.
In addition to his legal experience, Griscom served as a logistics officer in the United States Marine Corps, where, among other roles, he led an engineer support platoon in Afghanistan and received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
He earned a law degree from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the United States Naval Academy.
In addition, Varnum estate planning attorney Rebecca Wrock has been re-elected to serve a three-year term as a council member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan. The council oversees Michigan’s probate and estate planning attorneys, focusing on education, law development and Michigan appellate court decisions.
Wrock is an active member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section and has helped drive the progress of estate planning law in Michigan. As a member of Varnum’s Estate Planning Practice Team, her practice covers all areas of estate planning and estate settlement, including tax planning, charitable gift planning, business succession planning and long-term care planning. She has helped clients with everything from simple estate plans to complex strategies, ensuring protections for minor children, aging parents, loved ones with disabilities and even animal companions through pet trusts.
Wrock also serves as a council member and chair-elect of the Animal Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan. She is also involved in the nonprofit sector, having served as past chairperson of the board of Barn Sanctuary and vice president of the board of Attorneys for Animals.
Wrock has earned honors from Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers and the National Law Review. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Wayne State University Law School and regularly contributes to the Institute of Continuing Legal Education.
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Brooks Kushman P.C.
Brooks Kushman is pleased to announce that its newest associates have received their Michigan Bar exam results. Abdulai Rashid, Yasmeen Moradshahi, and Cameron Anstess are the newest additions to the firm’s intellectual property team.
Rashid focuses his practice on patent prosecution and litigation in the biomedical and automotive fields. He has experience in contract drafting, filing trademark applications, as well as aiding clients with turning their ideas into businesses or patentable inventions. Rashid earned a law degree from Penn State Law School. He passed the Virginia bar before graduating law school. He also received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Central Methodist University.
Moradshahi is a patent attorney specializing in patent prosecution and litigation with a focus on electrical and mechanical engineering, particularly in the automotive sector. She brings hands-on experience from her time working at a major automotive company, where she contributed to the manufacturing controls simulation lab, diesel launch team, and patent profiling in the IP department. Before joining Brooks Kushman as an attorney, Moradshahi spent three years as a technical specialist with the firm, building a foundation in intellectual property law. She earned her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Kettering University.
Anstess is specializes in patent prosecution and litigation with expertise in battery chemistry patents. His background in chemical engineering enables him to navigate complex technical matters with precision. Anstess has worked on a variety of patent matters, leveraging his understanding of both the legal and technical aspects of intellectual property. Before joining Brooks Kushman, Anstess gained experience in the healthcare industry as a quality manager for a healthcare software development company. In this role, he developed a keen attention to detail and a deep understanding of regulatory processes, which now informs his approach to intellectual property law. Anstess earned his law degree from Wayne State University Law School and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University.
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Honigman LLP
Honigman LLP recently announced that it is expanding its Litigation Department with the addition of Valerie Stacey as partner in Detroit. Stacey, who will be part of the firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group, joins from Jones Day.
Stacey focuses her practice on high-stakes commercial litigation and complex tort disputes in state and federal courts across the country, providing strategic guidance to clients in a variety of industries on high-profile, multi-million and -billion-dollar cases. From Ponzi schemes and residential mortgage-backed securities disputes to breach of contract and fiduciary duty claims, Stacey excels in ensuring clients’ interests are protected at every stage of the litigation process.
Stacey brings experience crafting and arguing persuasive motions; conducting and defending fact and expert depositions; managing offensive and defensive discovery; and executing all aspects of the appellate process. In addition to her client work, she has an active pro bono practice counseling asylum seekers, including developing case assessments and preparing refugees for credible fear interviews, as well as first-chairing evidentiary hearings to secure restraining orders.
Stacey earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 2017 and a B.A. from James Madison College at Michigan State University in 2014. She started her career at Robins Kaplan, where she worked closely with first-chair trial lawyers in the firm’s Financial Fraud and E-Discovery practice.
