Women Lawyers Association of Michigan elects officers

Women Lawyers Association of Michigan (WLAM) held elections at their recent 95th Annual Meeting.  WLAM is proud to present the following outstanding attorneys serving as Officers in 2013-2014:  Marla Linderman, President; Michele Rivas, President Elect; Kristen Pursley, Vice President; Suzanne Sukkar, Treasurer; Julie Gafkay, Secretary; and Hon. Angela Sherigan, Immediate Past-President.

Marla A. Linderman is the current President of Women Lawyers Association of Michigan and a past president of the Washtenaw chapter. Ms. Linderman also serves as an executive board member for the Michigan Association for Justice and is the current President of the Washtenaw Association for Justice. In 2006, Ms. Linderman received the Regeana Myrick Award, the Outstanding Young Attorney Award, by the State Bar of Michigan. She was also named the Outstanding Young Lawyer by the Washtenaw County Bar Association in the same year. A fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation, she was named by “Michigan Lawyers Weekly” as an Up and Coming Lawyer in 2007 and as one of the Top 20 Women in the Law in 2012. Ms. Linderman has also been designated a Michigan Super Lawyer annually since 2009. She is the author of three chapters of “Michigan Causes of Action Formbook” (ICLE). Marla A. Linderman practices in the areas of employment discrimination and wrongful termination, civil rights, and commercial litigation.

President-Elect Michele Rivas practices employee benefit, labor and employment law at Sullivan, Ward, Asher & Patton, P.C. in Southfield, Michigan.  Ms. Rivas graduated magna cum laude from Michigan State University College of Law.  She has been a WLAM member since she first became a licensed attorney, and she has served in several leadership roles on both the state and regional level.  Ms. Rivas was recently elected to the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and selected to the 2013 Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Stars list.

Vice President Kristen Pursley is a shareholder at The Dobrusin Law Firm in Pontiac, Michigan and specializes in patent, trademark and copyright law. Ms. Pursley graduated in 2000 from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 2005. Ms. Pursley was previously employed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in the office of Intellectual Property and Venture Development and as a corporate paralegal at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati in Palo Alto, California. Ms. Pursley is currently the Treasurer for the Women’s Bar Association (The Oakland County Region of WLAM). She is active in the Technology Committee for Automation Alley and is also a member of Michigan Intellectual Property Inn of Court.

Suzanne Sukkar of Miller Canfield (Ann Arbor office) will serve as Treasurer.  Ms. Sukkar specializes in immigration law, including employment-based visas and EB-5 immigrant investor visas. She has served on the Board of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce and was named 2011 National Woman of the Year from the National Association of Professional Women.

Julie Gafkay, of Gafkay & Gardner in Frankenmuth, was elected Secretary.  She specializes in Employment & Labor Law.  Ms. Gafkay graduated with honors from Whittier Law School.  She has served on the Board of the Saginaw County Bar, the Board of Governors for the Frankenmuth Community Foundation, and is past-President of WLAM’s Great Lakes Bay Region.

Immediate Past-President Judge Angela Sherigan serves as the Associate Judge for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, in Manistee, MI., and is the managing partner of Wojnecka & Sherigan, P.C. in Shelby Township, MI, practicing criminal defense, Federal Indian Law, and tribal law.  In 2012 she received an award from the Legal Services Corporation for her pro-bono work on behalf of Native people, and in 2013 was named a “Leader in the Law” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly

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