LEGAL PEOPLE

Butzel Long ­Butzel Long attorney and shareholder David J. DeVine has been elected to the Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) Board of Trustees. He will serve a three-year term on the Board. JVS helps people meet life challenges affecting their self-sufficiency through counseling, training and support services in accordance with Jewish values of equal opportunity, compassion, responsibility and the steadfast belief that the best way to help people is to make it possible for them to help themselves. Founded in Detroit in 1941, JVS has served thousands of people and continues to adapt its services today to meet the changing needs of the community to help job seekers, people with disabilities, seniors, students, homeless individuals, veterans and people on probation or parole fulfill their needs and attain their goals. The agency also helps businesses remain resourceful by providing HR consultation, employee recruitment and staffing and cost-effective janitorial, steam cleaning and subcontracting services. DeVine, based in Butzel Long's Detroit office, practices in the areas of business litigation and bankruptcy and serves businesses in an array of industries, including automotive, banking, construction, and real estate. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and American Bar Association. He has been listed as a Michigan Super Lawyer Rising Star (Business Litigation) since 2010. Additionally, he was named Corporate LiveWire's 2014 Lawyer of the Year for Detroit in the area of Bankruptcy & Restructuring. DeVine's leadership skills were recognized in 2013 by the Original Equipment Supplier Association (OESA), an automotive industry group of more than 440 corporate members, which accepted him as one of just 33 individuals to serve on its Young Leadership Council. He also was a speaker at OESA's 2014 Terms and Conditions and Legal Issues Update. DeVine is a contributor to and editor of the 2010-2011 OESA "North American OEM Production P.O. Terms and Conditions Comparative Analysis," the standard reference manual among automotive suppliers. DeVine is a graduate of Emory University School of Law (2006), where he was a managing editor of the Emory Law Journal. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan (2003). In addition, Butzel Long attorneys were invited to speak at and helped develop the business roundtable program for the Telugu Association of North America (TANA) Conference July 4-6, 2015 in Detroit. TANA is the oldest and largest Indo-American organization in North America. Richard E. Rassel, Butzel Long chairman; Nicholas J. Stasevich, chair of the firm's International Practice; and Neil Patel, corporate attorney, secured guest speakers for the business roundtable of the conference. Moreover, Clara DeMatteis Mager, manager, Butzel Long's Immigration Practice Group, was a featured speaker. Mager spoke on the EB-5 Investor Visa at the Business program. The EB-5 visa provides a method of obtaining a green card for foreign nationals who invest money in the United States. To obtain the visa, individuals must invest $1,000,000 (or at least $500,000 in a targeted employment area-high unemployment or rural area), creating or preserving at least 10 jobs for U.S. workers excluding the investor and their immediate family. Rassel practices primarily in the area of complex business litigation and arbitration with a special concentration in media law. He has been a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1989 and is a graduate of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution Mediation and Arbitration Training Program. Stasevich practices in the areas of international, corporate, antitrust, and technology, and labor and employment law. He represents a broad range of companies with both domestic and multi-national operations in mergers and acquisitions, antitrust, joint ventures, employment matters, sales and distribution contracts, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act-global corporate compliance, global export control compliance, and other matters. Patel concentrates his practice in the areas of business and corporate law. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and the University Of Windsor, Ontario. Mager focuses her practice on business and family immigration issues including all aspects of the international movement of personnel, inbound and outbound work-authorized nonimmigrant (temporary) and immigrant (permanent) status, immigration consequences of mergers, acquisitions and corporate restructuring, employer sanctions, and immigration law audits (e.g. labor condition applications and I-9). ----- Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP Glenn S. Walter has joined Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP's Commercial Transactions and Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Creditor Rights practice groups as a partner. He will be located in the firm's Detroit office. Walter brings nearly 20 years of experience to Honigman in corporate restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy issues. He has guided financially troubled companies in out-of-court workouts and Chapter 11 reorganizations. Walter also represents investors, asset purchasers, major creditors and official committees of unsecured creditors. He is certified as a specialist in business bankruptcy by the American Board of Certification. Walter is admitted to practice in California, New York and New Jersey and will be seeking admission in Michigan. He earned a law degree from Cornell University Law School. He received a B.A. from Livingston College at Rutgers University. Walter joins Honigman from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom LLP in Los Angeles. In addition, Jessica A. Engerer joined Honigman's Captive Insurance Practice Group in the firm's Insurance Department as an associate. She is located in the firm's Detroit office. Engerer assists captive clients with formation, operation and governance. She is admitted to practice in Michigan. Engerer earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. in economics and political science from the University of Michigan. She joined Honigman from Kerr, Russell, and Weber PLC in Detroit. ----- Secrest Wardle Margaret A. Scott, an executive partner in Secrest Wardle's Troy location, has been chosen as one of 30 members of the Michigan Lawyers Weekly Class of 2015 "Women in the Law." The honorees will be recognized at an awards celebration on September 10, 2015, at the Detroit Marriott in Troy. Secrest Wardle extends congratulations to all of the members of "Women in the Law" Class of 2015. Scott is a member of Secrest Wardle's Motor Vehicle Litigation, Municipal, and Property, Fire and Casualty Practice Groups. She is recognized in the Michigan legal community and beyond as an advocate in the fight against auto theft, arson prevention, and insurance fraud. In following her passion, Scott has taken on several leadership roles. She is the past-chair of the Michigan Anti-Car Theft Campaign Committee. She is the current chair of the Michigan Arson Prevention Committee's Governmental Resource Committee. Scott obtained her B.A. from Michigan State University in Criminal Justice and Psychology. She received her law degree from Wayne State University Law School, and was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 1988. Scott is licensed in all Michigan courts. Scott has been recognized by her peers for her dedication to the fight against auto theft and insurance fraud. She has received the Bob Sattler Award by the North Central Regional Chapter-International Association of Auto Theft Investigators. She has also received an Award for Professional Excellence for services provided to the Michigan State Police characterized by outstanding performance of duty and a personal commitment to the excellence associated with the prosecution of a Western Wayne Auto Theft Unit investigation. Additionally, Scott has been awarded the William V. Liddane Award by the Help Eliminate Auto Theft (H.E.A.T.) Organization in recognition of her advocacy in reducing auto-theft related crimes in Michigan. Scott is a member of the following associations: - North Central Regional Chapter-International Association of Auto Theft Investigators. - Michigan Chapter-International Association of Arson Investigators. - Michigan Arson Prevention Committee. - Michigan Help Eliminate Auto Theft Committee. ----- Varnum LLP Varnum corporate attorney Rick Manczak has been named to the Michigan DEQ's Compost Facilities Work Group, tasked with advising Office of Waste Management and Radiological Protection on compost facility regulation. The Compost Facilities Work Group will develop recommendations for improving how to oversee the development and operation of compost facilities in Michigan. The Compost Facilities Work Group will function on an ad hoc basis to the Solid Waste and Sustainability Advisory Panel, which was recently established to look at solid waste laws and advise on any changes that promote solid waste and sustainability goals. Manczak is a corporate and transactional business attorney with experience in all major areas of corporate, business and commercial law. He is familiar with regulatory law related to the solid waste industry at both the federal and state level. Manczak is a member of the Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Ecosystems Committee and the Renewable, Alternative and Distributed Energy Resources Committee of the American Bar Association, and is a member and volunteer with the Huron River Watershed Council. ----- Howard & Howard Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC is pleased to announce that attorney Regina (Gina) Goyette Staudacher was selected to Michigan Lawyers Weekly "Women in the Law" Class of 2015. The Class of 2015 will be honored at a special luncheon on Sept. 10 at the Detroit Marriott in Troy. The class will choose the 2015 "Woman of the Year" in a secret ballot. The result will be announced at the luncheon. Staudacher concentrates her practice in the area of corporate taxation for public companies and large private entities with an emphasis in accounting methods, IRS controversy, international incentives, global research tax credits and fixed assets. ----- Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, P.C. Michigan Lawyers Weekly recently announced that Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC Partner and Board Member Sara Kruse has been named one of only 30 "Women in the Law" honorees for 2015. Jaffe CEO William Sider made the announcement. Kruse is the co-founder and co-chair of Jaffe's Emerging and Growth Business Practice Group and also serves as an active member of the firm's Corporate Practice Group. She has experience, backed up by successful results, in all areas of formation, governance, M&A and exits, as well as regularly serving as the lead partner in negotiating complex transactions. In addition to being a two-term member of Jaffe's Board of Directors, Kruse serves as the only service provider member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Venture Capital Association (MVCA). As a key member of Jaffe's award winning Women's Caucus Group, Kruse is a mentor to many of the firm's female attorneys, providing them with professional guidance and personal support, while helping them build their practices and advance their careers. Kruse is a member of several professional affiliations and advisory positions, including the Women Presidents' Organization; Oakland County Bar Association; State Bar of Michigan; Inforum and the State of Michigan Board of Consulting. She received her bachelor's from the University of Michigan, and is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School. Published: Mon, Aug 03, 2015