Troy attorney Mark Rossman moderated a panel of expert witnesses
at last year’s Business Law Symposium. Also pictured are Thomas Frazee
(FVF Consulting), Jesse Ultz (Stout), Daniel Agauas (GlassRatner), and
James Harrington (MDD Forensic Accountants).
By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
“The Business of the Lawsuit” will serve as the title of the 8th Annual State Bar of Michigan Business Law Symposium on Thursday, Feb. 12 in downtown Detroit.
The 2026 program will feature several new formats, including 3-on-3 debate teams and a singular debate between two titans in the Michigan legal community, E. Powell Miller and Daniel Quick, moderated by former U.S. District Chief Judge Gerald Rosen, who served as the chief mediator of the Detroit bankruptcy in 2013.
Befitting an event that has grown in popularity and importance each year and has become the flagship production of the Business Law Section, the 2026 edition of the Business Law Symposium will be staged at The Gem Theatre, located on Madison Street next to Ford Field.
The Gem, which was built in 1927, is a former movie theater that was re-purposed in the late 1990s into a general event venue that showcases its charm as a Detroit building that is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
“This year’s program will feature an incredibly strong slate of attorneys and entirely new formats to facilitate debate, conversation, and interaction with the audience,” said Troy business attorney Mark Rossman, who has served as the organizer and chief producer of the event since its inception. “The program formats will include small group discussion, lecture, three-on-three panels, and a one-on-one debate. Networking opportunities are available not only on the scheduled break, but also throughout the program in the separate ‘networking room,’ which will remain open throughout the program, with food and open bar included in the $135 price.”
This is the second year in a row that the program is being held at The Gem, according to Rossman.
“The location was so perfect last year, and the feedback so great that we decided to do a repeat for the 8th Annual,” said Rossman, co-chair of the Privately Held Businesses Forum, which has run the program for the State Bar of Michigan and Business Law Section each of the last 8 years.
Among the presenters will be retired U.S. District Judges Victoria Roberts and Gerald Rosen, now mediators with the Detroit office of JAMS (Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services); E. Powell Miller, founding partner of the Miller Law Firm in Rochester; Daniel Quick, a past president of the State Bar of Michigan and a partner with Dickinson Wright; I.W. Winsten, a partner with Honigman; Ian Williamson, a partner at Mantese Honigman; Pat Lannen, a partner with Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley; and Mike Weaver, a partner with Flood Law.
Also featured at the Symposium will be; Paul Mersino, president and CEO of Butzel; James Allen, a partner with Schenk & Bruetsch; Sara MacWilliams, a partner with Doerr MacWilliams Howard; Ben Aloia, president of Aloia & Associates; Joe Duffy, a partner with Dykema; H. Joel Newman, founder of H. Joel Newman PLLC; Linda Oszust, a partner with Rossman P.C.; and T. Maxwell Carey and Noah Mathews, associates with Rossman, P.C.
Doors open at 4 p.m. on Feb. 12 and the event commences at 4:30, with an “opening statement” from Rossman, and remarks from Business Law Section Chair Michael Molitor, who is the General Counsel of Cooley Law School.
Rossman — a University of Michigan grad and Wayne State University Law School alum whose law firm, Rossman, P.C. in Troy secured a $5 million jury verdict in Oakland County Business Court over the summer —said the program will begin with a discussion group topic on “What Makes the Business Lawyer Unique Among Lawyers,” featuring attorneys I.W. Winsten and Ian Williamson
The 5 p.m. session will be moderated by retired U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts.
It will be followed at 5:35 p.m. with a discussion on “The Anatomy of a Business Trial” moderated by Linda Oszust. The panelists will be attorneys Pat Lannen and Mike Weaver, both experienced trial attorneys who recently made major career moves.
Butzel CEO Paul Mersino will be featured at 6:10 p.m. with a presentation on “Promoting and Marketing the Business Law Practice.”
A pair of “3-on-3 Competing Panel Discussions” will kick off the evening program at 7 o’clock with James Allen, Sara MacWilliams, and Ben Aloia on one team, with Joe Duffy, H. Joel Newman, and Ryan Plecha on the other. The teams will debate the topic “Breaking Up the Professional Corporation; It’s Hard to Do.” The discussion will be moderated by T. Maxwell Carey and Noah Mathews.
The symposium’s finale, scheduled for 7:50 p.m., figures to be a “must-see” event, Rossman predicted.
“We have added a debate component to the program this year, featuring Powell Miller versus Dan Quick, with Judge Rosen moderating,” Rossman said. “This is going to be dynamite.”
Of the new debate format, E. Powell Miller, who is a co-chair with Rossman of the Privately Held Businesses Forum, said “we’re excited to bring the house down with cutting edge legal strategies to win cases.”
In past years, the symposium has explored topics ranging from corporate oppression, expert witnesses, and trial practice, to topics including the business of the running a law firm and negotiation in the mediation context.
The 2026 symposium will principally focus on the uniqueness of the business lawyer and the business lawsuit, Rossman indicated.
“The business dispute and the lawyers who handle them are very different from what you find in other areas of law,” Rossman said. “The intellectual rigor combined with the intense trial work makes for a special kind of lawyer and a unique manner of lawsuit. That’s what we’re going to be exploring at this year’s Symposium.”
The cost of attending the Symposium is $135, and more information can be obtained by visiting www.bizsymposium.com. Law students may register for free.
Sponsorships are not sold for this event, but gifts to the program are welcome and may be made through the State Bar.
“I also want to recognize two program partners without whom we could not make this Symposium happen: Fortz Legal Support, who does onsite tech and video and post-production editing; and PJ Creative out of Nashville, who designed the program website and is providing the continuity music and voiceover,” said Rossman. “They are great companies.
"This is a real team effort at my firm and every lawyer commits a fair number of billable hours to the effort so that this Symposium comes together and is executed the same way we engage in our trial work: efficient, purposeful, and captivating," Rossman added.
Legal News
“The Business of the Lawsuit” will serve as the title of the 8th Annual State Bar of Michigan Business Law Symposium on Thursday, Feb. 12 in downtown Detroit.
The 2026 program will feature several new formats, including 3-on-3 debate teams and a singular debate between two titans in the Michigan legal community, E. Powell Miller and Daniel Quick, moderated by former U.S. District Chief Judge Gerald Rosen, who served as the chief mediator of the Detroit bankruptcy in 2013.
Befitting an event that has grown in popularity and importance each year and has become the flagship production of the Business Law Section, the 2026 edition of the Business Law Symposium will be staged at The Gem Theatre, located on Madison Street next to Ford Field.
The Gem, which was built in 1927, is a former movie theater that was re-purposed in the late 1990s into a general event venue that showcases its charm as a Detroit building that is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
“This year’s program will feature an incredibly strong slate of attorneys and entirely new formats to facilitate debate, conversation, and interaction with the audience,” said Troy business attorney Mark Rossman, who has served as the organizer and chief producer of the event since its inception. “The program formats will include small group discussion, lecture, three-on-three panels, and a one-on-one debate. Networking opportunities are available not only on the scheduled break, but also throughout the program in the separate ‘networking room,’ which will remain open throughout the program, with food and open bar included in the $135 price.”
This is the second year in a row that the program is being held at The Gem, according to Rossman.
“The location was so perfect last year, and the feedback so great that we decided to do a repeat for the 8th Annual,” said Rossman, co-chair of the Privately Held Businesses Forum, which has run the program for the State Bar of Michigan and Business Law Section each of the last 8 years.
Among the presenters will be retired U.S. District Judges Victoria Roberts and Gerald Rosen, now mediators with the Detroit office of JAMS (Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services); E. Powell Miller, founding partner of the Miller Law Firm in Rochester; Daniel Quick, a past president of the State Bar of Michigan and a partner with Dickinson Wright; I.W. Winsten, a partner with Honigman; Ian Williamson, a partner at Mantese Honigman; Pat Lannen, a partner with Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley; and Mike Weaver, a partner with Flood Law.
Also featured at the Symposium will be; Paul Mersino, president and CEO of Butzel; James Allen, a partner with Schenk & Bruetsch; Sara MacWilliams, a partner with Doerr MacWilliams Howard; Ben Aloia, president of Aloia & Associates; Joe Duffy, a partner with Dykema; H. Joel Newman, founder of H. Joel Newman PLLC; Linda Oszust, a partner with Rossman P.C.; and T. Maxwell Carey and Noah Mathews, associates with Rossman, P.C.
Doors open at 4 p.m. on Feb. 12 and the event commences at 4:30, with an “opening statement” from Rossman, and remarks from Business Law Section Chair Michael Molitor, who is the General Counsel of Cooley Law School.
Rossman — a University of Michigan grad and Wayne State University Law School alum whose law firm, Rossman, P.C. in Troy secured a $5 million jury verdict in Oakland County Business Court over the summer —said the program will begin with a discussion group topic on “What Makes the Business Lawyer Unique Among Lawyers,” featuring attorneys I.W. Winsten and Ian Williamson
The 5 p.m. session will be moderated by retired U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts.
It will be followed at 5:35 p.m. with a discussion on “The Anatomy of a Business Trial” moderated by Linda Oszust. The panelists will be attorneys Pat Lannen and Mike Weaver, both experienced trial attorneys who recently made major career moves.
Butzel CEO Paul Mersino will be featured at 6:10 p.m. with a presentation on “Promoting and Marketing the Business Law Practice.”
A pair of “3-on-3 Competing Panel Discussions” will kick off the evening program at 7 o’clock with James Allen, Sara MacWilliams, and Ben Aloia on one team, with Joe Duffy, H. Joel Newman, and Ryan Plecha on the other. The teams will debate the topic “Breaking Up the Professional Corporation; It’s Hard to Do.” The discussion will be moderated by T. Maxwell Carey and Noah Mathews.
The symposium’s finale, scheduled for 7:50 p.m., figures to be a “must-see” event, Rossman predicted.
“We have added a debate component to the program this year, featuring Powell Miller versus Dan Quick, with Judge Rosen moderating,” Rossman said. “This is going to be dynamite.”
Of the new debate format, E. Powell Miller, who is a co-chair with Rossman of the Privately Held Businesses Forum, said “we’re excited to bring the house down with cutting edge legal strategies to win cases.”
In past years, the symposium has explored topics ranging from corporate oppression, expert witnesses, and trial practice, to topics including the business of the running a law firm and negotiation in the mediation context.
The 2026 symposium will principally focus on the uniqueness of the business lawyer and the business lawsuit, Rossman indicated.
“The business dispute and the lawyers who handle them are very different from what you find in other areas of law,” Rossman said. “The intellectual rigor combined with the intense trial work makes for a special kind of lawyer and a unique manner of lawsuit. That’s what we’re going to be exploring at this year’s Symposium.”
The cost of attending the Symposium is $135, and more information can be obtained by visiting www.bizsymposium.com. Law students may register for free.
Sponsorships are not sold for this event, but gifts to the program are welcome and may be made through the State Bar.
“I also want to recognize two program partners without whom we could not make this Symposium happen: Fortz Legal Support, who does onsite tech and video and post-production editing; and PJ Creative out of Nashville, who designed the program website and is providing the continuity music and voiceover,” said Rossman. “They are great companies.
"This is a real team effort at my firm and every lawyer commits a fair number of billable hours to the effort so that this Symposium comes together and is executed the same way we engage in our trial work: efficient, purposeful, and captivating," Rossman added.
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