Legal People

Dominic A. Paluzzi, the co-chair of McDonald Hopkins’ national Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group, has been named to Cybersecurity Docket’s 2018 Incident Response 30, a list of the 30 “best and brightest” data breach response attorneys and compliance professionals in the industry “who not only have the right stuff to manage a data breach response, but are also the kind of professionals critical to have on speed-dial when the inevitable data breach occurs.” Paluzzi was a recipient of the inaugural Incident Response 30 list in 2016.

According to the publication, which is devoted to cybersecurity, data breach and incident response, the Incident Response 30 includes attorneys and professionals from many of the top firms in the world who are “key players” in “the most significant data breach responses worldwide.” The honorees were chosen based on nominations and input from the cybersecurity community, and announced at Cybersecurity Docket’s Incident Response Forum 2018 held on April 18 in Washington, D.C.

Paluzzi has responded to more than 2,000 data breaches, where he works closely with law enforcement, forensic investigators and third-party vendors to offer his clients efficient and effective breach response services. He has also conducted more than 300 breach response workshops for organizations. The Data Privacy and Cybersecurity team led by Paluzzi is a 2018 finalist for the Advisen Cyber Risk Award for Cyber Law Firm of the Year.

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Honigman announced that it added a new partner to its Intellectual Property department. John Chau joins the firm’s Patent practice group in Bloomfield Hills.
Chau advises his clients on a full range of intellectual property matters, including patent prosecution, freedom to operate, intellectual property rights enforcement, licensing and research projects between private companies and government agencies. He joins Honigman from Dinsmore & Shohl LLP.

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Butzel Long attorney and shareholder, Bushra Malik, co-presented a program titled “Fact Checking the Immigration Process” on Sunday, April 22, at St. Thomas More Church in Troy.

The other presenter was Rebecca Robichaud, assistant (clinical) professor, assistant director of externships, Wayne State University Law School. The program was sponsored by the South Oakland Vicariate Justice & Peace Committee and Neighbors in Faith.

Malik practices in the area of immigration law, focusing on the representation of multinational and domestic clients’ inbound and global migration needs. Her experience includes Employment-based (Extraordinary Ability, Outstanding Researcher, Multinational Manager, and PERMs) and Family based Permanent Residence Petitions Non-Immigrant Petitions (H-1B/Specialty Occupation, J-1/ Exchange Visitor, L-1/Intracompany Transfers, O-1/Extraordinary Ability, TN/ NAFTA); Employer Compliance (I-9 Audits and H-1B Public Access File Audits); J-1 waivers; Compliance under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiate (WHTI); U.S. Passports; complex naturalization matters; and currency seizures.

She has experience in securing work and residence permits for numerous countries around the globe, including: China, India, Canada, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Malaysia, Hungary, Poland, Italy, and Belgium. Malik routinely represents clients at U.S. Ports of Entry, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services District Office, U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad, various Foreign Embassies and Consulates.

Prior to joining Butzel Long, Malik was a vice consul for the United States Foreign Service, Department of State in Seoul, South Korea. She also worked with the Executive Office of Immigration Review at the Chicago Immigration Court and had externships with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in New Delhi, India, and the legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service, Office of the General Counsel in Washington, DC.

Malik is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the American Bar Association, the South Asian Bar Association, the Michigan Muslim Bar Association, and the Japanese Business Society of Detroit.

Malik is currently serving as a member of the Steering Committee of AILA’s Global Migration Section (GMS). She also currently serves on the Executive Committee for the Michigan Chapter of AILA as the vice chair, and previously served on the Executive Committee for the Michigan Chapter of AILA as the treasurer and the Secretary. Malik previously served on the AILA Department of State National Liaison Committee; AILA Customs and Border Protection National Liaison Committee; program chair of the 2015 AILA Global Immigration Forum; and has presented at numerous AILA National, AILA GMS and AILA Rome District conferences. She also previously served as the chair of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service Liaison Committee for the Michigan Chapter of AILA. Malik speaks Hindi, Japanese and Urdu.

Malik is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School (1998) and Michigan State University’s James Madison College (1996). She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Immigration Law) and was named one of DBusiness magazine’s Top Lawyers in the field of immigration law.

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Laurel F. McGiffert, a partner at Plunkett Cooney, has been appointed as the firm’s first ever director of Diversity & Inclusion.

Plunkett Cooney President & CEO Thomas P. Vincent announced the appointment, indicating that McGiffert, who is a founding member of the firm’s Diversity Committee and a member of the Detroit office, will join his administration immediately.

In her new role, McGiffert will be responsible for leading the firm’s efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce. She will work alongside the firm’s management team, diversity committee members and administrative department leaders to accomplish this goal.

“I’m honored and excited to have been given this opportunity by Tom and the firm to focus on an issue about which I’m truly passionate,” said McGiffert, who is a member of several organizations focused on diversity, including the African American Partners Collaborative. “Plunkett Cooney has been a leader on diversity in the legal community for years. This new position will allow me to focus on helping to take that work to the next level.”

McGiffert, who graduated from Vassar College in 1970 and Wayne State University Law School in 1980, joined the firm in 1989 and became a partner in 1991. Her practice includes the defense of clients in civil litigation involving employment law, medical malpractice, general liability and municipal liability.

A member of the firm’s Medical Litigation, Employment Law and Governmental Law practice groups, she is active in several bar organizations, including the Wolverine Bar Association, Detroit Bar Association, State Bar of Michigan, and American Board of Trial Advocates. She also serves as a member of the boards of directors for the Oakland Mediation Center and Power Company Kids Club.

McGiffert is the recipient of the 2017 Earl J. Cline/Sherwin Schreier Award for Excellence presented by the Negligence Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan and the 2012 Respected Advocate Award from the Michigan Association for Justice. She is an AV-preeminent rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell, and she has been named for several years as a Best Lawyer in America, a Michigan Super Lawyer and a DBusiness magazine Top Lawyer. Crain’s Detroit Business named McGiffert to its 2017 list of Michigan’s Notable Women in the Law, and she was named by Michigan Lawyers Weekly to its class of Women in the Law for 2015.

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Southfield law firm Maddin, Hauser, Roth, & Heller PC is pleased to announce the addition of attorneys Earle I. Erman, Julie Beth Teicher, Craig E. Zucker, David H. Freedman, and David Eisenberg to its growing team.  The announcement was made by the firm’s president and CEO, Steven D. Sallen.

Earle I. Erman is a shareholder in the firm’s Creditor Rights, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Practice Group. Erman’s practice focuses on insolvency-related matters inside and outside of bankruptcy. He served as a member and bankruptcy trustee of the Panel of United States Trustees for the Eastern District of Michigan and has successfully handled a wide range of creditor-related matters, contract disputes, mediations, receiverships, representation of debtors, creditors’ committees, secured and unsecured creditors, and other parties in bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy matters.

AV rated in Martindale Hubbell, Erman has been named in the Best Lawyers in America® since 1995 and has been recognized in the Michigan edition of Super Lawyers®. He is also board certified in Business Bankruptcy by the American Bankruptcy Board of Certification.

Julie Beth Teicher is a shareholder in the firm’s Creditor Rights, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Practice Group. Recognized for her expertise in insolvency-related matters, Teicher concentrates her practice on business-related insolvency and bankruptcy matters, handling cases in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, U.S. District Court and State court proceedings. A certified bankruptcy court mediator, she has served as an adjunct professor at University of DetroitMercy School of Law at various times since 2006 and has presented at numerous seminars.

Teicher is AV rated in Martindale Hubbell and is included in its registry of preeminent women lawyers. Since 2010, she has been recognized in DBusiness Magazine’s Top Lawyers, named in the Best Lawyers in America®, and recognized in the Michigan edition of Super Lawyers®. Teicher has been recognized by Super Lawyers® as one of the Top Women Lawyers for Business Bankruptcy.

Craig E. Zucker is a shareholder in the firm’s Creditor Rights, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Practice Group who concentrates his practice in bankruptcy and insolvency-related matters. Zucker has a broad range of experience in representing debtors and creditors in federal, bankruptcy and state court proceedings, and through out-of-court workouts, mediations and facilitations. He is recognized for his successful representation of the interests of multi-employer fringe benefit funds, pension funds, health and welfare funds, unions, and retirees in various federal and bankruptcy court proceedings, including Chapter 7, Chapter 9 and Chapter 11 bankruptcies. 

AV rated in Martindale Hubbell, Zucker has been named in the Best Lawyers in America® since 2010 and has been recognized in DBusiness Magazine’s Top Lawyers.

David H. Freedman is a shareholder in the firm’s Corporate and Business, Real Estate and Creditor Rights, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Practice Groups. He counsels clients on a wide variety of corporate, business and real estate matters, with an emphasis on transactional and contract work.

Freedman’s practice includes all types of business and related transactions. He is also involved in a variety of debtor and creditor rights matters and regularly represents court-appointed receivers in state and federal court matters. AV rated in Martindale Hubbell, Freedman has been recognized in the Michigan edition of Super Lawyers® since 2010, named in DBusiness Magazine’s Top Lawyers in 2010, 2013, 2015 and 2018, and listed in Best Lawyers in America since 2012.

David M. Eisenberg is an associate in the firm’s Creditor Rights, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Practice Group. He concentrates his practice in business-related insolvency, commercial litigation and collection matters in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, U.S. District Court and in state court proceedings, as well as out of court loan modifications and workouts.

As part of Eisenberg’s experience, he has represented suppliers, contractors, and union fringe benefit funds in the construction industry and receivers appointed in matters instituted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He engages in pro bono representation of bankruptcy debtors in non-dischargeability proceedings. Eisenberg has been recognized as a Michigan Super Lawyers® Rising Star from 2013-2015.

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Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy, & Sadler PLC announced that Susan Kowal and Lauren Saad have joined its growing team of attorneys. Managing Member Ed Dawda made the announcement.

Kowal will serve as a senior attorney at Dawda Mann, specializing in the area of commercial real estate, business transactions, corporate and banking law. Saad joins Dawda Mann as an associate attorney and will concentrate her practice on litigation matters including commercial litigation, insurance defense and coverage and real estate.

Kowal previously served as a shareholder at Kowal Law Group PLC and earned her law degree from Seton Hall Univeristy School of Law and her Bachelor of General Studies in Accounting from the University of Michigan. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the State Bar of New Jersey and is certified as a designated counsel for the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 Loan Program.

Saad was previously with Resnick Law PC as an associate attorney. She earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

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Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bridget Mary McCormack will deliver the keynote address at Wayne StateBridget Mary McCormack University Law School’s Commencement ceremony on Monday, May 14.

McCormack was elected to the Michigan Supreme Court in 2012 and is the court’s liaison to Michigan’s business and tribal courts.

She was elected to the American Law Institute in 2013 and in 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology appointed her to the National Commission on Forensic Science. She also serves as an editor for the American Bar Association’s preeminent journal, Litigation.

McCormack joined the Yale Law School faculty in 1996 and went on to the University of Michigan Law School in 1998 where she taught criminal law, legal ethics and various clinics. She was named associate dean for clinical affairs in 2002. Since her election to the Michigan Supreme Court, she has continued to teach at Michigan Law and publish in professional journals and law media.

She is a graduate of New York University School of Law.

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University of Detroit Mercy School of Law welcomes Meghan Petiprin to the Alumni Relations Office as the school’s new communications specialist. In this role, she will create a comprehensive communications plan that will include social media and web strategy, as well as media relations. Petiprin will also serve as editor of the school’s alumni magazine, the Docket, and will debut an e-newsletter for alumni and the Detroit Mercy Law community.

Prior to joining Detroit Mercy Law, Petiprin was the communications & technology specialist in the Office of Global Initiatives at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business, where she managed communications for the school’s international engagement activities for five years. She earned a BS in Biopsychology, Cognition, & Neuroscience from the University of Michigan.

“I am honored to join this distinguished institution,” said Petiprin. “I believe the law school’s mission to ‘educate the complete lawyer,’ an approach to legal education that combines theory, doctrine, experiential learning, global perspectives, and service to the Detroit community, sets it apart from other schools. I am thrilled to be able to showcase the many mission-driven activities and accomplishments of Detroit Mercy Law alumni, students, faculty, and staff in my communications efforts.”

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Kerr Russell Director of Marketing Roy Sexton was recently appointed to two boards: Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit and the Royal Starr Film Festival.

Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit is one of Southeast Michigan’s most highly regarded cultural treasures. Its critically acclaimed student-driven performances and national and international tours have brought worldwide attention to Detroit as a center for arts and culture while shining a spotlight on the area’s talented young people and creating new and diverse audiences for the performing arts. Founded by Rick Sperling in 1992 to address gaps in Metro Detroit arts education, Mosaic served 25 young artists in its inaugural year. Today, hundreds of youth from more than 50 Metro Detroit schools participate in Mosaic’s First, Second and Main Stage programs every year.

The Royal Starr Film Festival is organized by the nonprofit Royal Starr Arts Institute in partnership with Emagine Entertainment. The Starr part of the name comes from Orson Starr, who settled in the Royal Oak area in the mid-19th Century.

Sexton is responsible for leading Kerr Russell’s marketing, business development, communications, and strategic planning efforts. 

He has nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, business development, and strategic planning, having worked at Deloitte Consulting, Oakwood Healthcare (now Beaumont), Trott Law (formerly Trott & Trott), and St. Joseph Mercy Health System. He has been heavily involved regionally and nationally in the Legal Marketing Association as a board member, content expert, and presenter. He is treasurer-elect currently for the Legal Marketing Association’s Midwest Regional Board of Directors.

He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Wabash College, and holds two masters degrees: an MA in theatre from Ohio State University and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He is a graduate of Leadership Detroit and Leadership A2Y, was a governor-appointed member of the Michigan Council of Labor and Economic Growth, and was appointed to the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association Board of Governors in 2012.

Sexton served as an at-large member of LMA’s Midwest Regional Board, served on the advisory committee for Strategies Magazine, and was a member of the Social Media SIG steering group. He has been involved on the following nonprofit boards and committees: First Step, Michigan Quality Council, National MS Society, ASPCA, Wabash College Southeast Michigan Alumni Association, Penny Seats Theatre Company and the Spotlight Players. He currently sits on the boards of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Ann Arbor and encoremichigan.com. He is a published author with two books “Reel Roy Reviews,” volumes 1 & 2.