LEGAL PEOPLE

The State Bar of Michigan has named Bodman PLC to its 2012 "Pro Bono Circle of Excellence" for exceeding the State Bar's voluntary standards for pro bono activities. Firms that qualify for the "Circle of Excellence" provide, at no charge, legal services to poor and low income individuals and to nonprofit organizations serving low income individuals. Their commitment to the community inspires others to be of service. In 2011, Bodman attorneys devoted 2,447 hours to pro bono projects and more than 2,000 hours of additional services to nonprofit organizations. Bodman and its attorneys contributed more than $100,000 to the State Bar's Access to Justice Fund and directly to charities whose services are targeted to low income individuals. Bodman paralegals and summer associates devoted an additional 168 pro bono hours. Bodman's Pro Bono Committee, chaired by firm members Susan M. Kornfield and Christopher J. Dine, coordinates the firm's referral relationships, matches attorney volunteers with appropriate assignments, and meets monthly to assess the status of the pro bono program. The committee also holds an annual "Pro Bono Summit" at which it evaluates the firm's progress toward the goals of pro bono service and develops a strategic plan for the following year. Bodman has partnered with several referral sources to help assure that its pro bono efforts make the maximum impact. Significant referral sources have included Legal Aid and Defender, Michigan Community Resources, Homeless Experience Legal Protection - Detroit, and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others. * * * Prominent defense attorney Michael Crow has joined the Farmington Hills offices of Zausmer, Kaufman, August, Caldwell, & Tayler PC. Crow has experience in defending municipalities, insurers, corporations and individuals in a wide variety of matters involving property loss, personal injury, municipal liability, employment disputes and construction law. Crow is a seasoned courtroom lawyer who has obtained multiple jury verdicts in favor of his clients on cases involving wrongful death, multi-million dollar damage claims, and cases against the top plaintiffs' lawyers in the country. * * * Lorne B. Gold, owner of the Bloomfield Hills The Gold Law Firm PLLC, has been admitted into the invitation-only American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML). Gold has also been recognized for inclusion, by his peers, in Best Lawyers in America® and in Superlawyers® as one of Michigan's Top 100 Lawyers. "I intend to use my admission into the AAML to better serve the clients I represent," said Gold. Gold has also served as a multi-term Council Member of the State Bar of Michigan's Family Law Section, is a frequent lecturer for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, is an active member of both the American and Oakland Country Bar Associations and the Michigan Council for Family and Divorce Mediation. Gold practices solely in the areas of complex litigated and non-litigated family law matters, including divorce, business valuations, custody, and parenting time cases throughout Southeastern Michigan. In addition, Gold is a trained and certified mediator of family law cases and has been certified in domestic violence screening protocol. * * * Junhua (June) Gu has joined Butzel Long as an associate attorney based in the firm's Detroit office. Gu concentrates her practice on corporate, bankruptcy, and international matters. Gu has experience representing both domestic and international clients in various corporate matters, including representing owners in buying and selling businesses, counseling clients on choice-of-entity and corporate governance, and drafting shareholder and operating agreements. She has advised United States companies on international business transactions and negotiated international sales contracts, and she assists Chinese companies establish subsidiaries in the United States. She has represented both debtors and creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, and her clients have included several Chinese export companies. Gu also has handled business immigration matters. In 2009, Gu was the recipient of the Chinese Association of Greater Detroit's Community Service Award. Gu is a member of the State Bar of Michigan's International Law Section. She has been the business manager for the Detroit Chinese Business Association since 2008, and she is a member of the Board of Directors for the North American Chinese Society of Automotive Engineers. Gu is a graduate of Wuhan Textile University (Bachelor of Engineering in Textile Materials and Design), 1996 in Wuhan, China; Renmin University of China (Master of Science in Management), 1999 in Beijing, China; and the Brooklyn Law School, 2003. Prior to graduating from law school, Gu worked as a summer intern at the Michigan Attorney General's Office - Consumer Protection Division; a student law clerk for the New York Kings County Supreme Court Justice Edward M. Rappaport; and a research assistant for Professor Samuel Murumba at the Brooklyn Law school. Gu is licensed to practice in Michigan and New York. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and English. * * * Cathy Roumell, an associate at Cantor Colburn LLP in Troy, Michigan, has been elected president of the Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association (MIPLA), for a year-long term. MIPLA is an association of intellectual property attorneys, patent agents, and law students from across Michigan who are interested in patents, trademarks, copyrights, and other intellectual property issues. "It's an honor to have a leadership role in the thriving Michigan intellectual property community," said Roumell. Roumell has been a patent attorney for ten years. She concentrates her practice on chemical patent prosecution. Roumell earned a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from Michigan State University, a law degree, a Master's in Education Administration and a Graduate Certificate in Polymer Engineering from Wayne State University. She is admitted in Michigan and the District of Columbia, and she is registered to practice before the United State Patent and Trademark Office. The mission of the MIPLA is to promote the advancement of industry, to develop and disseminate information, and to maintain a high ethical standard among practitioners. * * * Attorney Randall R. Hall was recently named the new Business Law Department leader at Plunkett Cooney. Hall, a partner who focuses his personal practice in the areas of banking law and commercial real estate, has been licensed to practice in Michigan and Texas for over 30 years. In his role as Business Law Department leader, he will oversee the day-to-day operations of the firm's corporate and transactional practice, which includes approximately 50 attorneys in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. A recipient of Martindale-Hubbell's highest peer review rating - AV Preeminent, Hall is active in a number of professional organizations, including the State Bar of Michigan's Business Law and Real Property law sections. He also serves as a member of the Mortgages and Financing Devices Committee of the State Bar of Michigan's Real Property Law Section. Hall earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1975 and went on to graduate from University of Michigan Law School in 1978. * * * Peter Sugar, a partner with Southfield-based Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC, has been honored with the Richard J. Barber Wayne Law Review Alumni Achievement Award. Jaffe CEO William Sider made the announcement. Every year, The Wayne Law Review recognizes an alumnus whose professional achievements, civic contributions and integrity embody the highest ideals. Sugar was recognized for his success in the legal community and willingness to share his experience with students. Sugar is a member of Jaffe's Securities Regulation, Acquisitions and Divestitures, E-Commerce, and Corporate Practice Groups, specializing in securities regulation, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Wayne State University and is a graduate from Wayne State University Law School. * * * Dirk Beckwith, shareholder at the law firm of Foster, Swift, Collins, & Smith PC, has been named as the president-elect of the Transportation Lawyers Association (TLA). Beckwith will begin serving his presidential term in May of 2013. Beckwith has experience representing transportation companies and handles both regulatory and administrative matters for those engaged in the transportation industry. He has been involved in several landmark decisions for the trucking and railroad industries, as well. During the past year he has served as the TLA's first vice president and as editor of TLA's publication entitled The Transportation Lawyer. Beckwith is also a member of the Association for Transportation Law Professionals, where he previously held the position of regional vice president. He is active in the Trucking Insurance Defense Association, Transportation Loss Prevention and Security Association and the Conference of Freight Council. Beckwith is a graduate of the University of Michigan and earned his law degree from the Wayne State University Law School. * * * The law firm of Miller Canfield announces that Harold W. Bulger, a principal in the Detroit office, has been named as one of the Michigan Chronicle's Men of Excellence for 2012 for his contributions to the region, community, and to the business world. Bulger's expertise is assisting municipalities secure financing for infrastructure improvements and capital improvements for cultural, educational and convention facilities. His practice includes municipal economic development, Brownfield redevelopment, and tax increment financing. He has experience in assisting financially distressed cities and school districts with short-term cash flow borrowings and long-term fiscal stabilization bonds to solve fiscal imbalances. "I feel very honored to have been chosen for this award from a field of so many esteemed nominees," Bulger said. "As a finance attorney, I am able to work on projects that benefit society by helping municipalities and school districts. Being honored for doing this work is extremely rewarding." Bulger has been honored by his peers for his expertise in Public Finance law in such publications as Best Lawyers in America, DBusiness Magazine's Top Lawyers, and Michigan Super Lawyers. He is a member of the ABA, State Bar of Michigan, Wolverine Bar, Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, and a life member of the NAACP and Kappa Alpha Psi. He has tutored Detroit middle school children in math and is on the board of the Detroit Summer Finance Institute for high school students. Bulger earned his B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University and his law degree and M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. * * * The State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section will present Michelle Carter with the Regeana Myrick Outstanding Young Lawyer Award on Saturday, June 16, at the Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit. The award is named for Regeana Myrick, who was a very active member of the SBM Young Lawyers Section Executive Council when she died in 1997. It is presented annually to a young lawyer in Michigan who has demonstrated many of her best qualities: An overwhelming commitment to public service, exemplary service to the State Bar, and exceptional professional accomplishments. Carter is general counsel for Allied Human Services, Inc. She is past president of the Wolverine Bar Association and serves on the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association Board of Directors. She is also a member of the Michigan Supreme Court's Solutions on Self-Help Task Force, established in May 2010 by Justice Marilyn J. Kelly, and is secretary of the Volunteers of America-Michigan Board of Directors. In 2011, Carter received the Legal Aid and Defender Association Pro Bono Spirit Award for the many hours of pro bono service she gave to the Wayne County community. " The Outstanding Young Lawyer Award will be presented as part of the SBM Young Lawyers Section's Fifth Annual Summit. The Summit also features a full day of seminars and a keynote address from SBM President Julie Fershtman. For more information about the Summit, visit www.michbar.org/younglawyers/news.cfm or contact Felicia Johnson at fojohnson@yahoo.com. * * * For the third year in a row, three attorneys from Southfield-based Erman, Teicher, Miller, Zucker, & Freedman PCwere named to the 2011 Michigan Super Lawyers® list: Earle I. Erman, Julie Beth Teicher, and David H. Freedman. Erman, who founded the firm in 1976, has been recognized among the Michigan Super Lawyers for each of the publication's six years rating attorneys in the state. He focuses his practice on insolvency-related matters, representation of debtors, creditors' committees, secured and unsecured creditors, and other parties in bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy matters. Erman also has experience in receivership and trustee matters. He acts as a certified mediator for the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and is board certified in business bankruptcy. He also has served on the Merit Selection Panel for Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan. The Wayne State University Law School alum is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and is admitted to practice in numerous federal courts. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan Debtor/Creditor Rights Committee, American Bankruptcy Institute and Federal Bar Association. Teicher, a shareholder at the firm since 1991, earned recognition from Michigan Super Lawyers for the third consecutive year. Her practice area is concentrated in the area of debtors' and creditors' rights, principally in business bankruptcy, and general insolvency and commercial litigation matters. She also has experience representing receivers in both federal and state courts, debtors, creditors and creditors' committees in business reorganization cases. A certified Bankruptcy Court mediator, she also is an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy Law School, where she earned her law degree. Teicher is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and Federal Bar Association, Bankruptcy Section, on which she is the former co-chair, and the Eastern District of Michigan Bankruptcy Bench Bar Committee. She is admitted to practice in the Federal District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Like Teicher, Freedman is a three-time Michigan Super Lawyers selection. A shareholder at the firm since 1996, he practices in the areas of corporate and business law, real estate law, debtor and creditor rights, out-of-court workouts and state and Federal court receiverships. Friedman also counsels clients on a wide variety of corporate, business, real estate and receivership matters, with an emphasis on transactional and contract work. He also provides consulting and drafting services for all types of business and related transactions, including choosing and creating the right business entity, buying or selling assets, real estate or business interests, shareholder agreements, operating agreements, buy-sell agreements, employment agreements and general business planning. The Wayne State University Law School alum is involved in a variety of debtor and creditor rights matters including workouts and liquidations, transactional acquisition and sale matters involving insolvent entities and their owners, and a variety of business and contract litigation, including general collection matters. Freedman is a member of the State Bar of Michigan. He is admitted to practice before the United States District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan. Published: Mon, Jun 4, 2012