LEGAL PEOPLE

Partner Sam Schiffer of Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC has been named the deputy chair of the firm’s real estate practice group. Jaffe CEO Jeffrey M. Weiss made the announcement.

In his expanded role, Schiffer will be assisting with facilitating lateral recruiting and in the attorney review process, balancing workloads for team members, and providing business development/marketing support.

Schiffer practices in all areas of commercial real estate, including commercial leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, financings and development projects. His client-base includes a leading national co-working company, as well as a variety of real estate owners, investors, operators and users from around the country. Schiffer focuses his practice on the areas of commercial, retail and hospitality among others.

Since joining the firm as an associate in 2012, Schiffer has developed industry knowledge and provides creative and pragmatic strategies and solutions for both immediate results and future planning.

Schiffer graduated with honors from Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business in 2004 and earned his law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. Currently, Schiffer serves on the board of directors of MSU Hillel.

Jaffe also announces that Gregory Obloy has joined the Southfield office as a partner with the real estate practice group. Jaffe CEO Jeffrey M. Weiss made the announcement.

Obloy is well versed in counseling clients in virtually all aspects of business and real estate law. Over his career, Obloy has assisted real estate developers, owners and operators with their commercial real estate acquisitions, due diligence, financing, leasing and dispositions. In addition to providing traditional real estate legal services, Obloy has experience in zoning and use matters where he has been able to secure land use entitlements for his clients from local municipalities and other governmental agencies. Obloy also assists clients with their business needs such as entity formation, entity governance, contracts, financing and other business transactions.

Obloy is listed among Martindale-Hubbell’s bar register of pre-eminent lawyers that have earned the AV Peer Review Rating. He was named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers® from 2008-2010.

Obloy earned a bachelor’s degree from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and received his law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

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Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that patent attorneys Mark Jotanovic and Michael MacCallum have joined Dickinson Wright’s Troy office as members and Ao Li has joined as a patent agent.

Jotanovic is a registered patent attorney and focuses his practice on litigation and patent prosecution in electrical, electro-mechanical, and software matters. Jotanovic represents clients in a wide range of industries such as automotive, computer software, consumer products, and retail. In addition to his litigation experience, he also counsels clients on the use of Open Source Software. Jotanovic has experience as lead trial counsel, argued before the Federal Circuit and the United States Patent and Trademark Office in inter partes reviews.

Jotanovic is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Federal Bar Association and is involved in the State Bar of Michigan’s pro bono patent program. He is recognized as a leader in his field by Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Stars.

Jotanovic received his B.S. from Wayne State University and his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

MacCallum is a registered patent attorney. He focuses his practice on domestic and international intellectual property protection, counseling, and enforcement. Having clients ranging from Fortune 100 corporations to independent inventors, MacCallum has a depth of experience in all aspects of patent protection and enforcement. His focus is on mechanical and software technologies, ranging from artificial intelligence and machine learning, to MEMS devices, sporting goods, and transmission components.

MacCallum is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association, and the State Bar of Michigan. He served as an adjunct professor for the Wayne State University Law School Patent Procurement Clinic. MacCallum is recognized as a leader in his field by IAM Patent 1000, Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Stars, DBusiness Top Lawyers, and named an “Up & Coming Lawyer” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

MacCallum received his B.S. from Michigan State University and his law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

Li is a registered patent agent, and performs patent searches for prior art used in patent prosecution, clearance opinions and patent validity studies in the chemical and life science arts. He supports attorneys in the patent process by providing data to clients, which strengthens their position in determining whether to patent an inventive concept, whether they have freedom to operate, the state of the art of a specific technology market and if there is any white space within that technology market, as well as in intellectual property licensing negotiations, settlements and litigation.

Li earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Wayne State University and a bachelor’s degree in Polymer Materials and Engineering from Xiangtan University in China.

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Butzel Long attorney Javon David has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel Association (MDTC) which is an organization of leading lawyers dedicated to representing individuals and corporations in civil litigation. She accepted this appointment after serving as co-chair of the Trial Practice Section of the MDTC. 

David concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial litigation, media and entertainment law, and products liability. She has litigation experience, successfully handling matters from the onset of suit through trial.

David holds several leadership positions in the legal field. She serves on the Business Court and Counsel Committee for the Oakland County Bar Association (OCBA). She also serves as deputy general counsel for the Michigan Press Association (MPA), and on the litigation, insurance, and advertising/commercial speech committees for the Media Law Resource Center (MLRC). In addition, David serves on the Board of Governors for the Young Leaders Council, Original Equipment Suppliers Association – Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (OESA-MEMA).

David earned a law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

David has been named to the list of Michigan Rising Stars in Super Lawyers magazine for 2017- 2020. She also was named among Michigan’s Top Women Lawyers from 2017-2020. David was named as Ones to Watch in commercial litigation by Best Lawyers in America.

David is admitted to practice law in the State of Michigan, the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, and the United States District Court, Western District of Michigan. She also is a certified mediator through the American Bar Association.

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The Michigan Defense Trail Counsel recently announced two award recipients.

The MDTC Anita Comorski Volunteer Award 2022 recipient is Deborah Brouwer of Nemeth Law PC. The MDTC President’s Special Recognition Award recipient is John Hohmeier of Scarfone & Geen PC. 

Brouwer practices exclusively in labor and employment law, with particular experience in the defense of lawsuits against employers, including claims of race, age, religion, national origin, gender and disability discrimination, harassment and retaliation, as well as FLSA, FMLA and non-competition suits. She also provides harassment training and conducts discrimination and harassment investigations for employers.

Brouwer has experience in appearing before administrative agencies, including the EEOC, MDCR, MIOSHA, OSHA and the NLRB.  She also appears frequently before the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  She received her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

Since joining Scarfone & Geen in 2012, Hohmeier has focused his practice on first- and third-party No Fault litigation. He was both trial and appellate counsel in Dawoud v State Farm Mut Auto Ins, where the Court of Appeals issued a published opinion further clarifying the derivative nature of medical provider’s rights in the No Fault arena. His current focus remains on the recent explosion of medical provider litigation against insurance carriers.   
Hohmeier obtained his law degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.