Legal People

Best Lawyers has named LeRoy H. Wulfmeier III as the "Detroit Best Lawyers Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants Lawyer of the Year" for 2018.

Wulfmeier is a partner in the Litigation Group of Giarmarco, Mullins, & Horton PC with more 35 years of experience defending health care providers in complex medical malpractice cases. Wulfmeier has acted as chief trial counsel in more than 400 medical malpractice cases, and has represented physicians in all specialties as well as dentists, nurses, and hospitals in a variety of malpractice and disciplinary proceedings.

With more than 75 successful defense jury verdicts under his supervision, Wulfmeier has served as a special mediator and arbitrator in serious injury malpractice and personal injury cases.

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Wayne State University Law School Professor Katherine E. White is a recipient of the ATHENA International Leadership Award presented by ATHENA International.

White received this honor in recognition of her "fine work inspiring, encouraging, educating and developing tomorrow's leaders, particularly emerging women leaders." She was presented with the award at the ATHENALeaders of the Huron Valley's Executive Women's Leadership Forum on May 22.

Since joining the Wayne Law faculty in 1996, White, who is a registered patent attorney, has taught courses in contracts, patent law and patent enforcement.

White has served on the Board of Regents for the University of Michigan since 1998. Most recently, she was re-appointed by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue as a member of the Plant Variety Protection Board and will serve another two-year term.

White is also a colonel in the U.S. Army serving in the Michigan Army National Guard as the command judge advocate for the 46th Military Police Command in Lansing. In her previous two military assignments, she was in the U.S. Army Reserve serving as an instructor of law at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and as the reserve associate dean of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School. On active duty, she was in the chief counsel of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Honors Program serving as the intellectual property counsel for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In addition to her military appointments, White was a Fulbright scholar for 1999-00 and served as a White House fellow from 2001-02.

ATHENA International is a non-profit organization that seeks to support, develop and honor women leaders through programs administered in partnership with host organizations from local communities.

White earned her bachelor's in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University, law degree from the University of Washington, master of laws from George Washington University Law School and master's in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.

In addition, Assistant Professor Blanche Bong Cook, Wayne State University Law School's nationally recognized expert on the prosecution of sex traffickers, has been named a scholar in residence at the University of California Berkeley School of Law.

Cook's appointment is part of Berkeley Law's Visitors in Residence program, which brings internationally recognized social justice practitioners, academics and leaders to Berkeley Law for an extended time to share their expertise. During her stay in mid-October, Cook will deliver a series of lectures that address the ways in which the law creates vulnerability for the purpose of both labor and sexual exploitation.

Her most recent paper, "Stop Traffic: Using Expert Witnesses to Disrupt Intersectional Vulnerability in Sex Trafficking Prosecutions," will be published in the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law next spring. The paper is the first of its kind and addresses the ways in which intersectional, feminist and other critical theories can be used to maximize the use of expert witnesses in sex trafficking cases.

Prior to joining academia, Cook was an assistant U.S. attorney with the Department of Justice, where she specialized in large-scale drug and sex-trafficking prosecutions. In that capacity, she briefed and/or argued more than 40 federal appeals.

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Norman Tucker, who is Of Counsel at Sommers Schwartz PC, served as the distinguished co-chair of the American Conference Institute's 17th Annual Advanced Forum on Obstetric Malpractice held on June 25 and 26 at the Union League in Philadelphia.

In addition to his leadership role, he gave a presentation on "Assessing the Risk Profile of an Obstetric Malpractice Case: Conducting an Effective Damages Work-Up, Developing Strategies for Mitigating Damages, and Anticipating the Potential Impact of the ACA Repeal."

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Southfield law firm Maddin, Hauser, Roth, & Heller PC is pleased to announce that the Oakland County Bar Association (OCBA) has awarded two committees led by Maddin Hauser professionals with its annual Committee of the Year Awards.

The OCBA Employment Law Committee, led by Shareholder Kaitlin A. Brown, has been recognized as one of the most active committees at the OCBA. The committee has been acknowledged for its efforts in securing dynamic speakers, spreading the word about the benefits of the OCBA and structuring the committee to encourage engagement. Some of the speakers who presented at the committee's monthly meetings this year included: Gail Cober, director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Detroit; Sylvia Elliott, director of Office of Legal Affairs for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights; and Terry Moran, regional director of Detroit Regional Office for the National Labor Relations Board.

The OCBA Paralegal Committee, led by paralegal Patricia A. Allerton, has been recognized for a renewed energy in becoming one of the OCBA's most active committees. It has been acknowledged for sharing best practices, spreading the word about the benefits of the OCBA and community outreach through its adoption of a family through Volunteers of America. In addition, this past winter, the committee donated 100 coats, as well as money for purchasing socks and hats in bulk, to the Hope Warming Center in Pontiac. Notable speakers at this year's monthly meetings who provided insight into paralegal ethics, data analytics and legal research included: John Winkler of KLDiscovery and Diane Ebersole, assistant division director of the State Bar of Michigan.

Both committees have been recognized for embodying the characteristics of what the OCBA committees are meant to be: communities of practice. The Committee of the Year awards are given each year at the OCBA's Annual Meeting to those committees that have accomplished significant results.

Brown is a shareholder in Maddin Hauser's Corporate and Employment practice groups. Specializing in employment law, she focuses primarily on counseling employers to take proactive measures to prevent more costly claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and improper payment of wages.

She has been recognized among Michigan Lawyers Weekly's 2016 Up and Coming Lawyers, named a Rising Star by Michigan Super Lawyers® from 2014-2017, received a Pro Bono Accomplishment Award from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and was recognized in 2017 with the Member of the Year Award from the Women's Bar Association.

Allerton has served as a legal assistant in Maddin Hauser's Estate Planning and Probate Practice Group for more than 15 years. In 2009, she earned her paralegal certificate from Oakland University's ABA approved paralegal program. In 2017, Allerton was elected chair of the OCBA's Paralegal Committee.

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Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Hala Jarbou was recently honored with the Pillar of Justice Award at the Chaldean American Bar Association's 25th Anniversary Scholarship & Awards Dinner. This award is given to attorneys and judges who not only are experts in the field of law, but who demonstrate exemplary community service and are held in high esteem by their peers.

Jarbou was presented the award by the president of the Chaldean American Bar Association, Raed Abbo.

In 2015 Jarbou was appointed by Governor Snyder to an open seat on the Oakland County Circuit Court bench. Prior to joining the court, she worked for the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office until she was appointed as an assistant United States attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jarbou is assigned to the civil/criminal docket and is also presiding judge of the male section of the Adult Treatment Court.

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The Lipson Neilson law firm recently announced that attorney Christina M. DiMichele has joined the firm's Bloomfield Hills office as an associate. DiMichele's practice concentrates on Probate and Trust Administration, Probate Litigation, Family and Domestic Law, and Professional Liability.

Prior to joining the firm, DiMichele worked as the judicial attorney for Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Lisa M. Neilson, Family Court. DiMichele provided direct assistance to Neilson and was responsible for administration of the courtroom docket. She drafted legal memoranda, prepared written orders and opinions, and worked with lawyers and self-represented litigants to resolve contested matters. She was responsible for the implementation of processes and procedures used throughout the Family Court Division.

While a judicial attorney, DiMichele worked with attorneys at the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Egypt, and the U.S. Embassy in Jordan to orchestrate the safe return of two children that had been abducted by a parent to the Middle East (Yemen) during divorce proceedings.

DiMichele received a law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and a B.S. from Grand Valley State University. She is a member of the Wayne County Family Law Bar Association, the American Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division, the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, and the William Booth Legal Aid Clinic for Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties.

Published: Mon, Jul 02, 2018