Butzel Long announces new shareholders

2.25.2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DETROIT, Mich. – Butzel Long has announced the following attorneys have been named shareholders: Regina M. Alter, William J. Kliffel, Jeffrey D. Moss, Jennifer E. Powell, Thomas L. Shaevsky and Bethany Steffke Sweeny. Previously, Ms. Alter and Ms. Sweeny were associate attorneys with Butzel Long. Mr. Moss, Ms. Powell and Mr. Shaevsky were previously senior attorneys with the firm.

Regina M. Alter

Based in Butzel Long's New York office, Ms. Alter concentrates her practice on wide-ranging commercial litigation and dispute resolution, including contracts, real estate, employment, corporate trust, and securities.

Ms. Alter represents individuals and companies in federal and state courts and in arbitration and mediation forums. She has experience conducting court and arbitration hearings, arguments and conferences, and handling all phases of testimonial and documentary discovery. Ms. Alter's experience includes preparing witnesses for trials, arbitrations, and depositions, negotiating settlements and drafting briefs and agreements. She also is experienced in investigative matters, such as those involving securities issues and SEC investigations.

Ms. Alter is a graduate of The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1996) where she served on the Cardozo Law Review. She also served as an Alexander Fellow, through which she performed a full-time externship with the Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin, S.D.N.Y. She earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science/International Relations, with minors in Art History and Russian, from New York University (B.A., cum laude, 1993) where she was a Founders' Day Honor Scholar. Ms. Alter is fluent in Russian and Hebrew.

William J. Kliffel

Mr. Kliffel, based in Butzel Long's Detroit office, practices in the area of business litigation. He has extensive experience in the area of asbestos defense litigation, including product identification, liability issues, appearance work and medical aspects of defense of both manufacturers and suppliers. He also has experience in the defense of automotive negligence, premises liability, medical malpractice and products liability cases. Mr. Kliffel is a member of the State Bar of Michigan.

Mr. Kliffel is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School (J.D., 1993) and The University of Michigan (B.A., 1987). He has a strong command of the French language.

Jeffrey D. Moss

Based in Butzel Long's Bloomfield Hills office, Mr. Moss has significant transactional experience with a special emphasis on tax planning. As tax issues arise in many different types of transactions and situations, Mr. Moss has worked with corporations, limited liability companies, entrepreneurs, physicians and real estate developers to achieve their business and tax goals. His experience and services include mergers and acquisitions, international tax planning, choice of entity and tax-advantaged structures, including joint ventures and other reorganizations. Mr. Moss is experienced and knowledgeable in obtaining both federal and state and local tax credits, particularly in the areas of alternative energy.

In the nonprofit area, Mr. Moss has experience forming and qualifying entities as tax exempt under federal tax law, both for charitable and medical purposes. He has many physician and medical practitioner clients and has been actively involved in issues confronting medical professionals, including practice formation and separation, buy-sell agreements, estate planning and asset protection solutions, LLCs and other healthcare transactions. Previously, he has acted as lead counsel for transactions related to the purchase, sale, leasing and financing of real estate in excess of $150 Million.

Because of his cross-disciplined experience, Mr. Moss is able to represent clients aggressively and meaningfully by integrating their business, tax and estate planning objectives. He acts as the publisher of the Butzel Long Income Tax Newsletter and has published many other articles as well. He is a frequent speaker on tax and tax-related topics.

Mr. Moss is an honors graduate of the James Madison College at Michigan State University (B.A., 1990), the University of Michigan Law School (J.D., 1993) and he has a Master's Degree in Taxation (LL.M.) from Wayne State University Law School (1999).

Jennifer E. Powell

Based in Butzel Long's Bloomfield Hills office, Ms. Powell's practice is focused on business, corporate and transactional matters, including: mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations corporate finance and securities and corporate governance and compliance. Prior to joining Butzel Long, Ms. Powell represented corporate clients as an associate at Goodwin Procter, LLP in Boston and interned at the Department of Justice Office of International Affairs.

Ms. Powell is a member of the Boston, Oakland County and American Bar Associations and is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and Michigan.

Ms. Powell is a graduate of The George Washington University Law School (J.D., with honors, Order of the Coif, 2000), where she was Executive Notes Editor of The George Washington University International Law Review, and Georgetown University (B.S. Foreign Service, cum laude, 1995).

Thomas L. Shaevsky

Based in Butzel Long's Bloomfield Hills office, Mr. Shaevsky practices in the area of employee benefits. He advises profit and nonprofit employers, as well as individuals, on compliance and planning issues pertaining to a wide range of retirement and welfare plan issues. His experience includes counseling on fiduciary duty compliance, prohibited transaction avoidance and correction, reporting and disclosure issues, mergers and acquisitions due diligence, QDROs, as well as COBRA, HIPAA, and other benefits issues. Mr. Shaevsky represents clients undergoing IRS and U.S. Department of Labor audits.

Prior to joining Butzel Long, Mr. Shaevsky was engaged as in-house counsel to Comerica Bank's Institutional Trust Department, counseling and advising business owners and managers with regard to retirement plan issues and general compliance issues. He has assisted with the formulation of a multitude of business decisions and policies.

Mr. Shaevsky also has experience counseling public entities on Open Meetings Act, Freedom of Information Act, and conflict of interest issues.

Mr. Shaevsky is the Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of Michigan. He also is the Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the Oakland County Bar Association and a past member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Employee Benefits Conference (2008-2009). He served as a member of the West Bloomfield Township Wetland Review Board (2007-2009). Mr. Shaevsky also is a member of the American Bar Association (taxation section).

Mr. Shaevsky is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School (J.D., 1992, magna cum laude, The Order of the Coif Michigan Law Review: Contributing Editor), and the University of Michigan (B.A., with high distinction, Angell Scholar, 1989). Immediately following law school graduation, Mr. Shaevsky served as a law clerk to the Honorable John Feikens of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Bethany Steffke Sweeny

Based in Butzel Long's Ann Arbor office, Ms. Sweeny concentrates her practice in the area of labor and employment law, focusing on employment litigation involving state and federal claims of harassment, retaliation and discrimination, as well as FMLA and whistleblower claims. She has represented employers in front of various administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and other state agencies. Ms. Sweeny also provides employers with general advice regarding employment law issues and litigation avoidance.

Prior to joining Butzel Long, Ms. Sweeny had an extensive career in higher education, including work as a foundation fundraiser at Yale University, a corporate and foundation fundraiser at the University of Michigan and as the program manager for an international multidisciplinary program for graduate students at the University of Michigan Business School. Ms. Sweeny also served as the Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Michigan.

Ms. Sweeny is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Washtenaw County Bar Association.

Ms. Sweeny is a graduate of The University of Michigan School of Law (J.D., 2001), The University of Michigan School of Social Work (M.S.W., 1994), and Kalamazoo College (B.A., magna cum laude, 1992).

About Butzel Long

Butzel Long is one of America's leading law firms, with 220 attorneys and offices in Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Lansing and Ann Arbor, Michigan, New York City, Washington, D.C., Boca Raton and Palm Beach, Florida, as well as Alliance offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Mexico City and Monterrey. The firm is also a member of the Washington, D.C. law firm Butzel Long Tighe Patton. Butzel Long represents clients from diverse industries on a regional, national and multi-national level and is a member of Lex Mundi, a global association of 160 independent law firms. Visit the Butzel Long website at www.butzel.com.

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Media Contact: Maribeth Farkas at Caponigro Public Relations Inc., (248) 353-3030.

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