Alumni Accomplishments
- Posted 2009-02-09
Brent N. Bateman, '99, was named one of the 2009 Utah Legal Elite by Utah Business Magazine. Brent is the Lead Attorney in the Utah Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman. - Posted 2009-02-09
Mark A. Frentrup, '99, has been elected a principal of Harness, Dickey, & Pierce PLC. His practice includes patent searching and opinions relating to patentability, infringement, and freedom to practice, as well as preparation and prosecution of patent applications in a wide variety of chemical and mechanical arts, with a specialty in organic and polymer chemistry. - Posted 2009-06-08
Thomas A. Kabel, '99, led a roundtable discussion during the ICSC 2009 Michigan Continuing Education program for Real Estate Professionals on April 29, 2009, in Novi, Mich. - Posted 2009-08-18
Michael Gibbs, '99, who serves as vice president and general counsel of Whataburger, is pleased to announce that Whataburger has recently moved its corporate headquarters from Corpus Christi, Texas, to San Antonio, Texas, to better manage its 700-plus restaurants and $1.2 billion in system wide sales. Gibbs oversees all the corporate governance, litigation, contracts, employment and intellectual property matters, as well as assists in the management of franchising activities. He and his wife are raising their two sons, 9 and 7, as young Texans. - Posted 2009-11-17
Todd Holleman, '99, a principal with Miller Canfield, will serve a third term (2009-2010) as co-chair of the Appellate Practice Committee for the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Litigation. - Posted 2009-02-09
Carrie Lynn Fuca, '98, recently joined the Fitch firm. Prior to joining Fitch, Fuca ran her own firm in Macomb County for five years. She has argued cases in the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court. - Posted 2009-02-03
Mark D. Baker, '98, after serving in the U.S. Navy's JAGC for nearly 10 years, and reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander, left active service last summer and transfered to the reserves. At that time he took a civilian position in Washington, D.C. as an Assistant Counsel to the Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. During his time in the Navy he was the senior prosecutor for Naval Station Everett, north of Seattle, Washington, the installation attorney for the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Southeastern Georgia, a fleet attorney for the Atlantic Fleet, in Norfolk, Virginia, and an appellate legal clerk for the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals in Washington, D.C. - Posted 2009-02-08
Carrie Lynn Fuca, '98, has joined the Fitch firm in the Mt. Clemens office. She gained experience in the Wayne County Prosecutors office, working for another general practice firm, and as a Macomb County case evaluator. Prior to joining, Fuca ran her own firm in Macomb County for five years. She has argued cases in the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court. Fuca also served as an executive board member of the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association, and ran for Macomb County Circuit Judge in 2006. - Posted 2009-02-10
Kevin A. Smith, '97, was elected a principal by Miller Canfield. Smith represents municipal, governmental agency and private clients in evaluating, structuring and documenting a broad range of traditional and complex tax-exempt or taxable financings, including general obligation bonds, collateralized lease revenue bonds, general revenue bonds, private activity bonds, deficit funding and cash flow borrowings. His particular areas of expertise include traditional fixed rate, variable rate and multi-modal financing structures. - Posted 2009-02-09
Jeffrey C. Hicks, '97, was recently elected to the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce 2009 Board of Directors as Legal Counsel. Hicks is a partner with the Lansing firm of Hicks & Mullett, PLLC and practices extensively in real property and business law. - Posted 2009-02-07
Joseph B. Urban, '97, was recently admitted as a member of Clark Hill's Birmingham office, where he concentrates his practice in the areas of municipal finance, education law, and real estate law. Urban has represented Michigan school district and municipal clients, as well as private entities providing financing to these organizations for over a decade. He has extensive experience in municipal and school finance, regularly serving as bond and underwriter's counsel for school districts, public school academies, and other governmental units as well as counseling them in the acquisition and disposition of real property. - Posted 2008-11-18
Jeffrey C. Hicks, '97, was recently elected to a four year term on the Delta Township Board of Trustees. He previously served on and chaired the Delta Township Zoning Board of Appeals. Hicks is a partner with the Lansing firm of Hicks & Mullett, PLLC and practices extensively in real property and business law. - Posted 2009-06-01
George V. Cassar Jr., '97, shareholder at the Southfield-based law firm of Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth and Heller, PC, has been selected by Inforum to serve on its Finance Committee.
- Posted 2009-07-07
Jason Bank, '97, has joined Kerr, Russell and Weber, PLC as a member of the firm, leading the firm's bankruptcy and restructuring practice. - Posted 2009-07-07
Jeffrey C. Hicks, '97, of the Lansing law firm, Hicks & Mullett, PLLC, was recently elected President of The Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that exists to raise funds for the awarding of grants to support the charitable endeavors of the Rotary Club of Lansing. - Posted 2009-08-28
Robert P. Tiplady II, '97, of Dykema, was listed in the 2010 Best Lawyers in America guide. He practices in the areas of estate planning and probate, including wills, trust agreements, powers of attorney, probate and trust administration, probate litigation, and gift, estate and generation skipping transfer tax planning. Tiplady has substantial experience advising fiduciaries and beneficiaries in contested and uncontested probate matters. - Posted 2009-02-09
Sherry O’Neal, '96, is a new member of the Dickinson Wright PLLC firm. O’Neal focuses her expertise in commercial and business litigation, labor and employment relations, ERISA litigation. - Posted 2009-02-09
Michael Socha, '96, has recently become a member of the Dickinson Wright PLLC firm. He focuses his practice in commercial, business and product liability litigation. - Posted 2009-03-04
Steven Tyshka, '96, joined Lutheran Social Services of Michigan as vice president of services for senior adults. Tyshka will oversee operation of three senior retirement communities, three freestanding skilled nursing facilities including Luther Manor in Saginaw, 15 subsidized apartment complexes and a home care program. He previously worked for Sunrise Senior Living in southeast Michigan. - Posted 2008-12-01
Norman Richards, '96, has joined the Farmington Hills office of Foster, Swift, Collins, and Smith PC as a shareholder. Richards is a leading attorney in the areas of estate planning (wills, trusts and powers of attorney), estate taxes, elder law and disability planning, probate and trust administration, real estate, and business formation and succession planning. He volunteers as a legal advisor to seniors through the Farmington Hills Costick Center. He is a frequent lecturer with organizations such as the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Lorman Education Services, the Alzheimer’s Association of Southeast Michigan and private interest groups. - Posted 2009-03-27
Matthew Schenk, '96, has been named by Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano as new chief of staff and assistant deputy CEO. Schenk, who most recently served as an assistant Wayne County executive, is replacing Nancy Mouradian and William Wolfson. - Posted 2009-06-18
Abby Pendleton, '96, co-founded the Health Law Partners, PC, a boutique firm specializing in healthcare law in Southfield, Mich., with Rob Iwrey, '93, Adrienne Dresevic, '02, and Jessica Gustafson, '05. - Posted 2009-10-23
Stephen T. Portell, '96, has joined the Tucson-based office of Haralson, Miller, Pitt, Feldman & McAnally PLC. Portell's practice includes automotive and heavy equipment product liability, drug and medical device, insurance coverage, class-action and business litigation. He is admitted to practice law in Arizona state courts and the U.S. District Court for Arizona, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to joining the firm, Portell was an equity partner with Quarles & Brady LLP and an associate with Snell & Wilmer LLP. Portell graduated summa cum laude from the University of Detroit. He is former president of the Pima County Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division and currently serves on the Arizona Supreme Court's Judicial Performance Review Commission and as a special magistrate for the Tucson City Court. - Posted 2009-02-10
Gerald J. Gleeson II, '95, was elected a principal by Miller Canfield. He specializes in criminal and civil litigation. He has handled cases in federal court and various courts across Michigan and has personally tried more than 180 jury trials to verdict. He is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association Board of Directors, where he is chair of the Criminal Committee. - Posted 2009-02-09
Humma S. Siddiqi, '95, was recently elected to membership of Dykema. Siddiqi's practice focuses on automotive, toxic tort and other general litigation matters. - Posted 2009-10-23
James J. Boutrous II, '95, joined the Detroit Office of McDonald Hopkins' Labor and Employment Counseling and Litigation Practice, which specializes in representing management in all aspects of labor and employment law at both the state and federal level. Boutrous has extensive non-compete and trade secret experience, which includes counseling, auditing, and drafting agreements. Boutrous's national practice involves both prosecuting and defending employers in non-competition and trade secret litigation, with significant injunction hearing experience. He is a member of the Non-Compete/Trade Secrets Subcommittee of the American Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section. Boutrous is also a skilled employment litigator, with trial experience in employment discrimination matters, defending employers in labor arbitrations, as well as labor and employment counseling.He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992 from the University of Notre Dame. - Posted 2009-11-17
Gerry Gleason, '95, a Miller Canfield principal, served as moderator for the Oakland County Bar Association's Seminar "Preservation of Electronic Evidence, e-Discovery: No Longer an Option -- It's a Rule, So Now What?" - Posted 2009-05-11
Martin S. Frenkel, '94, a shareholder at Southfield-based Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth & Heller PC, was a featured panelist at a national conference hosted by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) in Chicago. - Posted 2009-08-10
Elisa Angeli Palizzi, '94, has been sworn in as the 2009-2010 president of the Federal Bar Association, Eastern District of Michigan. - Posted 2009-03-06
Mark Sparschu, '93, joined Brooks Kushman P.C. Sparschu joins the leading intellectual property (IP) law firm as a senior attorney and will be responsible for client counseling in trademark and other IP law matters, including brand protection and trademark development, clearance, counterfeiting and litigation.
Most recently, Sparschu served as chief trademark counsel for Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Mich., where he had overall responsibility for the trademark law matters for Ford and its worldwide subsidiaries, including the Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin brands. In this capacity, he led a group of eight trademark professionals in four countries and outside counsel throughout the world.
- Posted 2008-11-13
Marcy J. Ford, '93, a partner with Farmington-Hills based Trott & Trott PC, has been named USFN Secretary. USFN is a national resource network serving the mortgage industry. Ford is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Oakland County Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees, American Bankruptcy Institute, Consumer Bankruptcy Association (CBA) and the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association (MMLA). - Posted 2009-04-10
David Galbenski, '93, has authored a book: "Unbound: How Entrepreneurship is Dramatically Transforming Legal Services Today." The book highlights and dissects how the demands of a changing marketplace are forcing the legal industry, rooted in century-old law firms and billing practices, to behave less like a profession and more like a business. The book also demonstrates how entrepreneurial best practices are being applied to the rapidly changing legal services industry. Nineteen leading visionaries from corporate counsel, law firms, and legal outsourcing providers offer input on where the industry is going over the next three to five years.
Seven key trends are examined in the book. The hard-cover edition is slated for an April 20, 2009 release, and can be ordered at www.unboundlegal.com, or by contacting Karen Weaks at kweaks@unboundlegal.com.
- Posted 2009-06-12
Portia Roberson, '93, has been named director of intergovernmental affairs and public liaison at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, D.C. She formerly worked at the Detroit Medical Center. - Posted 2009-06-18
Rob Iwrey, '93, co-founded the Health Law Partners, PC, a boutique firm specializing in healthcare law in Southfield, Mich., with Abby Pendleton, '96, Adrienne Dresevic, '02, and Jessica Gustafson, '05. - Posted 2009-07-24
Andrew M. (Jake) Grove, '93, is a shareholder at Reising Ethington, PC. He is now in his third year serving as an adjunct professor teaching Trademark Law and Unfair Competition at the University of Detroit Mercy Law School. He is also co-author of the student case book Patent Law published by Thomson West. Grove has also been selected as a Michigan Super Lawyer in each of the last four years. - Posted 2009-08-21
Andrew "Jake" Grove, '93, a shareholder at the intellectual property law firm Reising Ethington, has been asked back to teach the Trademark and Unfair Competition law class this year at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. He was asked to teach again after last year's students gave him excellent reviews. Grove is a co-author of the West Publishing Company's Sixth Edition of the textbook Cases and Materials on Patent Law, Including Trade Secrets, Copyrights, Trademarks and a corresponding teacher's guide. He has been asked to help write the next edition of this textbook and teacher's guide. - Posted 2009-11-17
Jake Grove, '93, has joined Honigman, Miller, Schwartz and Cohn, LLP as a partner in its Litigation Department. Grove concentrates his practice on intellectual property litigation with a particular emphasis on patent, trade secret and other technology-related subjects. - Posted 2008-12-01
Cameron J. Evans, '92, a partner with Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, was appointed Chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Law and the Media Committee for the 2008-09 term. The focus of the committee is to develop, recommend and support programs that promote a positive relationship between law and the media. In addition to representing businesses in all facets of employment-related litigation, Evans has an active First Amendment media law practice representing newspapers, radio and television stations. - Posted 2008-11-24
Bryan Weldman, '92, has been hired as litigation partner at the Chicago-based personal injury law firm of Levin & Perconti. Prior to coming to Levin & Perconti, Bryan was a partner at Sinas, Dramis, Brake, Boughton & McIntyre, PC, a leading personal injury law firm in Michigan. Waldman has served as President of the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association (2003-2004), and in May 2007 the Governor of Michigan appointed him as a member of the Civil Service Commission where he was elected Chair in September of 2007. He has also received an “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell and was selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America and a Michigan SuperLawyer. - Posted 2009-03-13
Anna M. Maiuri, '92, has been re-elected chair of the managing directors, Miller Canfield’s five-person management administration. The managing directors work closely with CEO Michael W. Hartmann to oversee the firm’s offices and lawyers in the United States, Canada, Poland and China. Maiuri has been with Miller Canfield for nearly 17 years and is a principal in the Troy, Michigan office. - Posted 2009-03-13
Charles M. Fish, '92, has joined the international law firm of Chadbourne & Parke LLP as counsel in the intellectual property practice in the New York office. Prior to joining Chadbourne, Fish was vice president and chief patent counsel for Time Warner Inc. in New York. - Posted 2009-04-27
Mari Anne Guidobono, '92, has been appointed to the position of vice president, River Place Trust, a division of Community Central Bank. - Posted 2009-07-21
Gary Kendra, '92, opened a law practice in TechTown. - Posted 2009-02-09
Matthew Meyer, '91, was recently hired by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of its Civil Division. - Posted 2009-01-21
Mark A. Davis, '91, was unanimously re-elected as President and CEO of Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC for his second, five year term. - Posted 2009-08-03
Belinda Reed Shannon, '91, was appointed to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University's Board of Trustees for a one-and-half year term that ends on Jan. 6, 2011. - Posted 2009-01-27
Mark J. Bennett, '90, senior counsel at the law firm of Miller Canfield and leader of the firm's Climate Change Practice Team, will be speaking throughout the U.S. on various climate change-related topics in the first few months of 2009 with a focus on the expected federal economic stimulus package in the climate change area. The proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 contains over $54 billion in climate-change related funding with an emphasis on immediate investment in "ready to go" programs involving renewable energy, green building retrofits as well as energy-efficiency and clean energy related projects. Bennett sees wide spread growth opportunities for companies in the real estate and engineering industries as well as the myriad of professionals who support them, including engineers, attorneys and finance professionals. - Posted 2009-02-06
AnnMarie Sanford, '90, an attorney in Pepper Hamilton LLP's Detroit office, has been qualified as a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) by the Green Building Certification Institute. The LEED AP program was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in conjunction with its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating Systems. - Posted 2009-04-28
Lori A. Buiteweg, '90, has been named a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. A member of the International Association of Collaborative Professionals, Buiteweg also serves on the Executive Committee of the State Bar of Michigan Board of Commissioners and was past chair of the State Bar of Michigan Representative Assembly. In addition to her expertise in parenting time and legal custody, her practice includes divorce, mediation, and estate planning. 
Posted 2009-08-28
Patricia Nemeth, '90, founding partner of Detroit-based employment law firm Nemeth Burwell, PC, has been named to the 2010 edition of the Best Lawyers in America in the specialty area of labor and employment law. Best Lawyers is considered the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States. Selection to Best Lawyers is based on a rigorous peer review survey comprising more than 2.8 million confidential evaluations by the top attorneys in the country.- Posted 2009-10-26
The Hon. Thomas Boyd, '90, has been honored by the Mid-Michigan Region of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan as an outstanding member of the legal community who has made an exceptional contribution to women in the law. Before becoming chief judge of the 55th District Court in Mason, Boyd was in private practice as a civil litigator. In 1995, Boyd was appointed assistant attorney general by then-Attorney General Frank Kelley. His responsibilities included criminal, civil, administrative, and legislative law. Boyd was appointed to the bench in July 2005 and re-elected in 2006 and 2008. He serves on the boards of the Mason Community Fund (an advisory board of the Capital Area United Way) and the Oak Park YMCA, and volunteers for the Holt-Dimondale School Business Alliance and the Lansing Area Teen Court. - Posted 2009-11-17
AnnMarie Sanford, '90, an attorney with Pepper Hamilton LLP, has been elected to the Board of Directors of WARM Training Center. Her two-year term began on Oct. 21, 2009. WARM Training Center is a non-profit organization that promotes the development of resource efficient, affordable, healthy homes and communities through education, training and technical assistance. - Posted 2009-11-17
Mary Massaron Ross, '90, a partner in the Detroit office of Plunkett Cooney, has been elected as second vice president of the Defense Research Institute. - Posted 2009-11-17
Patricia Nemeth, '90, founding partner with Nemeth Burwell, was included in DBusiness magazine's exclusive 2010 Martindale-Hubbell list of metro Detroit's finest barristers.
