LEGAL PEOPLE

Dykema Gossett PLLC recently announced that Kwangwook (Paul) Lee has joined Dykema's Detroit office helping bolster the firm's national Corporate Finance practice and its Korean Business Initiative. Prior to joining Dykema, Lee was an associate in Plunkett Cooney's Bloomfield Hills office which he joined upon graduation from law school. Lee served as a summer associate in 2009 at Cappell & Howard PC in Montgomery, Alabama. He spent the summer of 2008 with Bae, Kim, & Lee LLP in Seoul. During his tenure with Plunkett Cooney PC, Lee primarily represented Asian automotive companies in various transactional matters including cross-border mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures, and also represented banking and bankruptcy clients. Lee led a business law seminar for Korean suppliers, who had been invited by the Korean Consulate General of Chicago. Lee focuses his practice on a wide variety of business needs for Korean and Asian companies including purchase agreements, regulatory reviews and cross-border financings. Lee has also written articles on the labor and employment issues specific to Korean managers. Lee graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2010 and received his B.S. in Business, with majors in Finance and Business Law, from Indiana University. Lee is fluent in English and Korean. In addition,Dykema also recently announced that Sherrie L. Farrell has been named managing member of the firm's Detroit office. In her new role, Farrell will oversee the general management and growth of Dykema's Detroit office. Farrell, a former columnist and feature writer for the Michigan Chronicle, also serves as chair of Dykema's Diversity Committee. Farrell, who has been at Dykema since 1997, is a Member in the firm's Litigation Department. In that role she advises clients on all aspects of business disputes, including a broad range of complex litigation matters. She has represented manufacturers, closely-held corporations, auto suppliers and construction companies in both litigated and non-litigated matters. Her practice also includes the defense of consumer financial services matters. She also served as the national discovery counsel for a Fortune 25 corporation. Farrell has experience in corporate bankruptcy matters and business restructuring. She has represented troubled suppliers, staffing corporations, construction companies and other regional and national businesses in creditors' rights matters, out-of-court restructurings and as debtors' and creditors' counsel in Chapter 7, 11 and 13 proceedings. She has a breadth of experience in leading document and information investigations and has worked extensively with corporate counsel to develop and implement discovery strategies. In 2011, she received the Robert Millender Visionary Award from Michigan State University College of Law's Black Law Students Association. A participant in a number of professional and bar activities, Farrell is a member of the American Bar Association, Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, National Bar Association, Wolverine Bar Association, serving as president from 2008-2009, and the Women's Lawyers Association of Michigan, which she served as president from 2000-2001. In addition, Farrell is an active member of several civic and charitable organizations. She serves on the Michigan Governing Board of Directors for Gift of Life and is an Advisory Board member of the Detroit Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP). She formerly served as a member of Wayne State University Law School's Board of Visitors and as Barrister of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law's chapter of American Inns of Court. Farrell was a member of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Detroit Class XVIII. She is a current board member of the Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. Farrell earned her B.A. from Wayne State University and her law degree from the Michigan State University College of Law. * * * Denise M. Kizy has been appointed to the Court Reporting and Recording Board of Review by the Michigan Supreme Court. She will serve the unexpired portion of a term ending on March 31, 2013. Kizy, who has served both as an official and freelance court reporter for more than 30 years, is president of Kizy Court Reporting, Inc. She earned an associate's degree in court and conference reporting from Oakland Community College. Kizy is a member of the Michigan Association of Professional Court Reporters and the National Court Reporters Association. The Board of Review tests and certifies court reporters and recorders, and publishes guidelines for their work. The board also handles complaints against court reporters and recorders. * * * James J. Parks, a partner in the Southfield office of Michigan-based Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC, has been appointed to the Winning Futures Board of Directors. He will be serving his first three-year term on the board through 2015. Jaffe CEO Richard Zussman made the announcement. Winning Futures is an award winning nonprofit organization that provides school-based mentoring programs and workshops for teens in Southeast Michigan. More than 20,0000 students have been impacted and $1.5 million has been awarded in scholarships since the program was founded in 1994. Parks also serves as a board member for Generation of Promise, a non-profit that was founded in 1987 to providing leadership skills to Detroit-Metro high school students with an emphasis on diversity awareness and problems associated with racial polarization. Parks currently serves on the Board for the Oakland County Bar Association and is a Discovery Master and Case Evaluator for the Oakland County Circuit Court. Parks earned his Bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson and is a graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law. * * * Bowman and Brooke LLP is proud to announce that attorney David L. Campbell has been named partner. Former associate at the firm's Troy office, Campbell is a licensed attorney in both Michigan and Ontario, Canada. He has grown his cross-border practice to include the defense of corporate clients in the areas of product liability, toxic tort, and commercial litigation. During his career with Bowman and Brooke, he has been to trial in Michigan, Tennessee and Pennsylvania and has served in national discovery and regional litigation counsel roles for automotive, manufacturing, and retail clients. Campbell was a judicial intern for the Michigan Supreme Court and a law clerk for the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission, he holds an adjunct professor position at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law teaching tort law to second year students. Campbell is also licensed as a barrister and solicitor with the Law Society of Upper Canada, where he currently serves as solicitor of record in complex Canadian litigation pending from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. Dedicated to serving the community, Campbell is legal counsel to his local chamber of commerce and is a volunteer mediator with the Wayne Mediation Center in domestic, special education, and probate matters. In addition to his pro bono work, he spent four years as a member of the Lakeshore Police Services Board and currently serves as an associate director with the Harrow and Colchester South Agricultural Society. Campbell earned his law degrees from Osgoode Hall Law School, his Bachelor of Law from the University of Windsor School of Law, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from the University of Windsor. * * * Bush, Seyferth, & Paige PLLC is pleased to announce that Stephanie A. Douglas has joined the firm and will add her expertise in appellate, class action and complex litigation. In addition to her legal talent, Douglas offers practical business and technical experience, which she acquired during her ten-year engineering and consulting career with Accenture. Douglas graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 2006. Before joining BSP, Douglas was an associate at Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP. She also gained experience as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge John Feikens and for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Raymond Kethledge, Sixth Circuit, a founding partner of BSP. * * * Gov. Rick Snyder recently announced the appointment of retired judge Benjamin Friedman to the Michigan Gaming Control Board. Headquartered in Detroit, the Gaming Control Board is responsible for licensing and regulating the state's gaming industry. Friedman is a member of the Friedman & Lichterman PC law firm. He previously served as Oakland County 45B District Court judge and on the Gaming Control Board for seven years, including a term that ended Dec. 31, 2011. Friedman will fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Jim Plakas. Friedman will serve the remainder of a four-year term that expires Dec. 31, 2012. The appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. * * * Kellen T. Myers has been named an attorney at Detroit-based employment law firm Nemeth Burwell PC. He originally joined the firm in 2011 as a law clerk. Myers earned his law degree from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington in 2009. Myers earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and philosophy from Eastern Michigan University. Myers is a member of the American Bar Association - Labor and Employment Law Section, and the State Bar of Michigan - Labor and Employment Law Section and Litigation Section. He focuses his practice on management labor and employment law. * * * Phillip J. Neuman was the moderator of the Feb. 2 Institute for Continuing Legal Education's Homeward Bound program titled "Title Insurance in Turbulent Times." The program explored several issues related to title insurance, including tendering and handling claims, closing protection letters and loan modifications. Neuman is a shareholder of the Farmington Hills law firm of Nadis Neuman. He concentrates his practice on real estate litigation, including quiet title actions, mortgage priority disputes, real estate fraud and landlord-tenant matters. Neuman is a member of the Michigan Land Title Association and serves on its Legislative Committee, and was recently recognized as a Michigan Super Lawyer. * * * H. Nathan Resnick of Resnick & Moss PC was recently nominated to the Board of Directors of The Bear Hug Foundation. The Bear Hug Foundation is a non-profit organization that gives at-risk, underprivileged and special needs children the opportunity to experience an outdoor summer camp in Northern Michigan. Resnick is the founding member and current president of Resnick & Moss PC. He concentrates his legal practice on complex commercial litigation, real estate, corporate law, bankruptcy and creditor's rights. * * * Strobl & Sharp PC is pleased to announce that Henry Andries, Clark Bien, and Jon Everly have joined the firm as shareholders. Andries has been engaged in private practice with a concentration in employment law, civil litigation and business law since 1995. In that role he has represented clients in a broad range of labor and employment-related matters, including employee litigation, the drafting of employment-related agreements, policies and procedures, the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements and more. Andries will lead the Employment Law practice group and is also a part of the Corporate and Litigation practice groups. Bien has been a chief legal officer and advisor to several privately held international manufacturing and distribution companies before joining Strobl & Sharp. He has been practicing law since 1978 and is an expert in a wide variety of corporate law specialties such as contracts for the purchase, sale, manufacturing and distribution of products in the U.S. and abroad; litigation, intellectual property, real estate, employment, collective bargaining and general business advice. He is part of the Banking, Corporate, Labor and Employment and Real Estate practice groups. Everly is a corporate, estate planning, real estate and tax lawyer who has been in practice since 1996. He was most recently a partner with Apap & Everly. Everly works with individuals, families and closely-held businesses, advising clients on a broad range of matters from formation and transactions to tax and succession planning. He also consults individuals and families on a wide range of estate planning needs. Everly is a part of the firm's Corporate, Estate Planning, Real Estate and Taxation practice groups. * * * Richard A. Walawender, a principal and director of the Corporate Group at the law firm of Miller Canfield, recently delivered the keynote address at the Investment and M&A Opportunities in Healthcare Conference in Nashville, TN. His presentation "Healthcare Investment Opportunities in Poland," was with Pawel Pietrasienski, minister counselor, chief of section, Trade & Investment Section, Embassy of Poland. The annual healthcare conference is attended by U.S. healthcare providers, investment funds and other investors. Considering the significant recent legal reforms and changes in Poland's healthcare system, Walawender explained the opportunities available to U.S. investors in Poland's healthcare sector. "In contrast to much of the rest of the world, Poland is opening its healthcare industry to the private sector. Given that the U.S. has the world's largest and best private healthcare market, the opportunities in Poland should be especially interesting to American private healthcare investors," he said. Walawender established the firm's offices in Poland over 20 years ago. In addition to the Corporate Group, he directs Miller Canfield's International Practice. His practice specialties include mergers and acquisitions, corporate and commercial law, corporate governance and securities, private equity, venture capital, equity and debt financing, international transactions and joint ventures. He earned his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Michigan. Additionally, Larry J. Saylor, a principal in the Detroit office of the firm, has been appointed chair of Miller Canfield's Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section by the firm's Litigation and Trial Group. Saylor has served as chair of the Antitrust, Franchising and Trade Regulation Section of the State Bar of Michigan and has more than 30 years' experience handling complex business disputes in state and federal courts throughout the country, and in domestic and international arbitration. Saylor's experience includes antitrust, trade secret, consumer protection, franchising, dealer law, and tax issues, including class actions, injunctions, and appeals. He also acts as an arbitrator and mediator. He earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, his M.C.R.P. from Ohio State University and his A.B. from Miami University, Ohio. * * * Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC is pleased to announce that David B. Braun has joined the firm. He will practice out of the firm's Royal Oak Office. Braun has practiced securities, transactional, and corporate law for more than 15 years both in private practice and as a senior attorney with the Division of Corporation Finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. His practice focuses on public and private offerings of securities, business transactions, federal and state securities law compliance and general business and corporate matters. Braun advises companies in a variety of industries regarding securities, transactional and corporate matters. He assists clients with both public and private offerings of securities, periodic reporting and other compliance matters under federal and state law. Braun's experience includes public offerings of equity and debt securities in public and private transactions. He has advised boards and board committees regarding corporate governance and compliance matters. Braun counsels clients in M&A transactions involving both stock and assets. He has experience in structuring, drafting and reviewing joint venture, leases and loan documents. He has acted as outside general counsel for a number of emerging businesses in a variety of industries. Braun earned his law degree from Michigan State University College of Law at in 1993. He earned his M.B.A. from Wayne State University in 1987 and his B.B.A. from Walsh College in 1984. Braun is a member of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan; the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association and its Federal Regulation of Securities, Mergers and Acquisitions and Venture Capital Committees; the SEC Alumni Association; the Association for Corporate Growth and the Detroit Athletic Club. * * * Eileen J. Slank, Ann Arbor attorney and mediator, was elected 2012 chair of the Family Mediation Council-Michigan at the Jan. 21 Annual Meeting. Other officers are: * Vice-Chair: Carrie L. Cole, Livonia. * Treasurer: Barbara Kirby, M.A., Howell. * Secretary: Lauren Shepherd, Rochester Hills. The board also welcomed new board members: * Sherry Chin, Ellen Craine, and Merry McQuiddy. FMC is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to inform the public about the benefits of mediation in the resolution of family disputes. The organization also has a referral service listing trained mediators. Professionals interested in joining FMC for educational, referral and/or networking opportunities, contact Shirley Robertson, executive assistant at sacrobertson@sbcglobal.net. * * * More than 30 attorneys from Southfield-based Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC were selected as Top Lawyers for 2012 by DBusiness. The publication recognized the following Jaffe attorneys: Appellate Law Brian G. Shannon Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law Richard E. Kruger Louis P. Rochkind Jay L. Welford Business Litigation Peter M. Alter Commercial Litigation Peter M. Alter R. Christopher Cataldo Corporate Law Lee B. Kellert Criminal Defense - Non-White Collar David Griem Criminal Defense - White Collar Christopher A. Andreoff Employee Benefits Law Deborah L. Baughman Environmental Law Eric A. Linden Arthur H. Siegal Family Law Susan S. Lichterman Julia A. Perkins Immigation Law Eli Maroko Julianne Cassin Sharp Information Technology Law Jeremy D. Bisdorf Lawrence R. Jordan Michael S. Khoury Intellectual Property Law Lawrence R. Jordan Mergers & Acquisitions Law Joel M. Alam Peter Sugar Public Finance Law Stephen G. Schafer Real Estate Law Brian S. Raznick Mark D. Rubenfire Richard A. Zussman Securities Law Mark L. Kowalsky Peter Sugar Tax Law Robert E. Lewis William E. Sider Arthur A. Weiss Trusts and Estates Susan M. Sutton Published: Mon, Feb 13, 2012