Crain's Detroit Business - 2011 Book of Lists - (Page 72)

Page 72 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS December 27, 2010 litigation and alternative dispute resolution, became co-chairman of Dickinson Wright with James Samborn early in the year. Pappas also is co-chair with attorney Barry Howard, of counsel at Lipson Neilson Cole Seltzer & Garin PC in Bloomfield Hills, of the Judicial Crossroads Task Force convened by the state bar, which is completing a report on the ways to keep the justice system effective and adaptive to Michigan’s contracting economy. One of the proposals the task force deliberated was a dedicated business court in Michigan. al Fine Art Registry LLC and a California art expert about a series of articles alleging fraud and violations of consumer protection laws in its cruise ship auctions. Best Lawyers Crain’s worked with Best Lawyers to create this report on outstanding area attorneys. John Hern CEO, Clark Hill PLC, Detroit Edward Dawda, 58, heads the real estate practice and is the largest equity member at the firm he co-founded after leaving what was then Clark, Klein & Beaumont PLC in 1995. He also was named Lawyer of the Year in Real Estate Law for the Detroit Area by Best Lawyers for 2011, the first year the publication made that designation for attorneys with particularly high peer review ratings. The firm has grown from around 10 attorneys in the late 1990s to 38 lawyers in November, including three of counsel. He had 698 transactions in 2009, including 51 valued at $5 million or more. That’s up from 627 transactions with 51 worth $5 million or more the previous year. John Hern has overseen a year of growth in innovative practices and out-of-state markets, helping Clark Hill to partly defy the larger legal market trend. Hern, 50, CEO since 2002, saw slight growth at roughly 200 attorneys nationwide, including about 180 in Michigan, compared with a headcount of 195 in early 2009. Other comparably sized law firms based in the region reported anywhere from 4 percent to 30 percent contraction over the period or maintained their size by growing outside Michigan. Patricia Stamler Partner, Hertz Schram PC, Bloomfield Hills Patricia Stamler, 52, along with Elizabeth Thomson, an associate at Hertz Schram PC in Bloomfield Hills, is helping to represent a class of neighboring landowners in the Enbridge Energy Partners LP oil spill that polluted the Kalamazoo River and surrounding areas in late July. Other notable cases in Stamler’s career include representing more than 3,000 African-American employees at Henry Ford Hospital in a class-action lawsuit dealing with race discrimination that resulted in a total settlement exceeding $3 million. Mark Bendure Partner, Bendure & Thomas, Detroit Mark Bendure, 60, was appellate counsel for automotive contract worker Rodney McCormick in the landmark McCormick v. Carrier decision in which the Michigan Supreme Court on Aug. 1 reversed a 2004 ruling that had raised the legal standard for a plaintiff to claim noneconomic “pain and suffering” damages in injury cases. Bendure said a bigger victory in 2010 was winning Krupski v. Costa Crociere, also a personal injury case, because he argued at the U.S. Supreme Court. Marilyn Peters Managing member, Dykema Gossett PLLC, Bloomfield Hills Marilyn Peters, 58, helped General Motors Co. and its supplier Kautex Textron GMBH & Co. resolve two lawsuits early in 2010. The suit filed by GM was pending in Macomb County Circuit Court, while the suit filed by Bonn, Germany-based Kautex was pending in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Kautex got the terms it wanted in its contract with GM, and GM was pleased with its contract terms with Kautex. GM also received performance assurances from Kautex. Maurice Jenkins Managing partner, Detroit office, Jackson Lewis LLP, Southfield Maurice Jenkins, 56, launched the Detroit office of White Plains, N.Y.-based Jackson Lewis LLP in early 2008 with a former associate from Dickinson Wright. A series of lateral hires, a merger with Southfield boutique firm Rubin Shulman PLC and some dramatic acceleration in specialized areas of labor law have fed the growth for Jackson Lewis, which now claims 10 attorneys in Southfield and plans to grow to 12 after the first of the year. Christopher Dine Partner, Bodman LLP, Detroit Christopher Dine, 54, is proud of the tax work he did for a private foundation that helped the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy complete the first phase of an acquisition of more than 6,000 acres of dunes and wetlands, some along Lake Michigan. He also is co-chairman of Bodman’s pro bono committee and on the board of Detroit-based Community Legal Resources, which matches lawyers with nonprofit organizations that cannot afford legal services. Kathleen Bogas Principal, Law Offices of Kathleen L. Bogas PLLC, Bingham Farms Kathleen Bogas, 59, plans to reincorporate to Bogas, Koncius & Croson PC when associate Brian Koncius becomes an equity partner. She’s noted for mentoring women in labor and employment law. She received the Jean Ledwith King Leadership Award in May from the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, based in part on her mentoring. She also received the Earl Klein Award for excellence from the negligence section of the State Bar of Michigan. Michael Staebler Partner, Pepper Hamilton LLP, Detroit Michael Staebler, 67, has set up 175 small-business investment companies for the U.S. Small Business Administration program in the last 15 years in at least 35 states. Pepper Hamilton has the largest national SBIC practice; Staebler has been specializing in the work for 15 years. R. Terrance Rader Founding member, Rader, Fishman & Grauer PLLC, Bloomfield Hills R. Terrance Rader, 63, and his firm were aggressive last year in lawsuits dealing with false markings — patent numbers or warnings that manufacturers put on their products after the patent has expired. There’s been an increase in false markings litigation that stems from a late 2009 decision — The Forest Group Inc. v. Bon Tool Co. — by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit holding that fines can reach up to $500 per item that is marked with a nonexistent or expired patent. Rader has seen the firm grow from five lawyers to 45. He was voted 2011 Lawyer of the Year in intellectual property law by Best Lawyers. PEOPLE Justin Klimko President and managing shareholder, Butzel Long PC, Detroit Justin Klimko, 54, began the year as a past practice group leader and shareholder in Butzel Long. He joined Butzel’s board of directors and was later appointed president and managing shareholder. Under Klimko’s leadership, the firm also has been negotiating leases on its Michigan real estate footprint to reflect staff cuts. Jerome Watson Principal, managing director, Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC, Detroit The Detroit Public Schools obtained nearly $300 million worth of financial relief this year by turning to a legal team of Jerome Watson and other attorneys at Miller, Canfield. Watson, 60, was co-counsel on a tax collection case that reached a $259 million decision in the district’s favor from the Michigan Supreme Court. A separate case netted more awards from several vendors who allegedly profited from illegal payouts. Eugene Driker Founding member, Barris, Sott, Denn & Driker PLLC, Detroit Eugene Driker, 73, has represented AAA Michigan, Avis Rent-A-Car, Buffalo Bills Inc., CMS Energy Corp., the W.A. Dart family, DTE Energy Co., Dow Chemical Co., Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Michigan Consolidated Gas Co. and Textron Inc. in contract, tort, securities antitrust and other business disputes. He has represented numerous lawyers and law firms in professional liability, disciplinary and partnership dissolution matters. Charles Borgsdorf Vice president, Hooper, Hathaway, Price, Beuche and Wallace PC, Ann Arbor Charles Borgsdorf, 66, received the Champion of Justice award in September at the State Bar of Michigan’s annual meeting for his pro bono work. He has been on the board of Legal Services of South Central Michigan in Ann Arbor for 36 years. Phyllis Golden Morey Shareholder, practice group leader, Brooks Kushman PC, Southfield A move to grow the litigation practice beyond IP law and offer expanded services began to yield results in 2010 — in the form of several appellate court victories for Phyllis Golden Morey, 53. Morey this year won dismissals and rulings in appellate courts on lawsuit claims ranging from breach of contract or fiduciary duty to shareholder oppression and unjust enrichment. Keefe Brooks Founder and managing partner, Brooks Wilkins Sharkey & Turco PLLC, Birmingham One of Keefe Brooks’ highlights this year was a more than $4 million verdict in favor of Adrian-based The Service Source Inc., a shipping reseller that used to contract with DHL Express before DHL pulled out of its business obligations. Brooks, 56, was co-counsel with Courtney Morgan Jr. of Morgan & Meyers PLC in Dearborn. David Ettinger Partner, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, Detroit David Ettinger, 59, has served as lead antitrust counsel in a number of cases of major national importance. Among those are Hassan vs. Independent Practice Associates, a case on HMO and network antitrust liability; United States vs. Mercy Health Services, the successful defense of a hospital merger against a Justice Department challenge in Iowa; and Compuware Corp. vs. IBM, whereby in 2005 he helped settle the case in which Compuware accused IBM of misappropriated trade secrets and unlawful trade practices. Rodger Young Partner, Young & Susser PC, Southfield Rodger Young, 64, was lead counsel for Pontiac-based TheraMatrix Physical Therapy, which in July won nearly $4.6 million in damages when an Oakland County jury found that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan had breached an agreement over a program that would have saved Ford Motor Co. millions of dollars. In August, he successfully obtained a federal court order reversing a $500,000 jury verdict earlier in the year against Southfield-based Park West Galleries Inc., the art dealer he represented in a 2008 lawsuit against Glob- Arthur Weiss Partner, director, Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss PC, Southfield Tax lawyer Arthur Weiss, 61, has his hand in many projects and deals. As board treasurer of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, he has taken a part in negotiations with the orchestra’s lenders on proposed restructuring for $54 million in loans from 2001 that financed the Max M. Fisher Music Center. Traditional deals as a tax expert were also on Weiss’ calendar in 2010. They included representing First Michigan Bancorp Inc. when the one-branch bank in Troy bought $1.1 billion in assets from CF Bancorp of Port Huron after it had been closed by federal regulators. Edward Pappas Co-chairman, Dickinson Wright PLLC, Bloomfield Hills Edward Pappas, 63, with a practice in corporate Edward Dawda Co-founder and manager, Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler PLC, Bloomfield Hills

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's Detroit Business - 2011 Book of Lists

Crain's Detroit Business - 2011 Book of Lists
The Big Picture
10 things to watch in 2011
10 things to remember about 2010
Private 200
Fastest-growing companies
Public school districts
Top-compensated CEOs
Top-compensated non-CEOs
Metro Detroit employers
Wayne County employers
City of Detroit employers
Livingston County employers
Washtenaw County employers
Macomb County employers
Oakland County employers
Publicly held companies
Hispanic-owned businesses
Native American-owned businesses
Asian-owned companies
Black-owned businesses
Woman-owned businesses
The Motor City
Airlines Serving Detroit Metro
Professional Sports Teams
Auto Suppliers
Auto Dealers
Aftermarket Suppliers
Divisions
Defense Contractors
New Economy/Health Care
Family-owned companies
IP law firms
Group health plans
Hospital companies
Physician organizations
Graduate business degrees
Engineering companies
Environmental companies
IT companies
Biotech companies
People/Awards
Salute to Entrepreneurs
CFO Awards
40 Under 40
Best Lawyers
20 in their 20s
Women to Watch
M&A Awards
Most Connected
Finance
Capital campaigns
Accounting firms
Banks and thrifts
Money managers
Business insurance agencies
SBA Lenders
Real Estate/Services
Office furniture dealers
Nonprofits
Meeting facilities
General contractors
Architects
Property managers
Residential brokers
Staffing companies
Logistics firms
Law firms
Classifieds
Index of Companies

Crain's Detroit Business - 2011 Book of Lists