Butzel Long elects leadership team

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DETROIT, Mich. –  Butzel Long recently elected firm attorneys to serve on its Board of Directors: 

• Justin G. Klimko is completing his second year on the Board.  Mr. Klimko was reappointed by the Board as President and Managing Shareholder.
• Carey A. DeWitt and James E. Wynne have been re-elected to the Board. 
• Richard B. Brosnick, W. Patrick Dreisig and Louis Theros are newly elected to the Board. 
• Jordan Schreier is completing his second year on the Board.
• Richard E. Rassel has been reappointed Chairman of the firm.

Justin G. Klimko is President and Managing Shareholder of Butzel Long.  Mr. Klimko is based in the firm’s Detroit office.  He has extensive experience in securities regulation, corporate financing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and general corporate matters, fields in which he has practiced since 1980.

He is a past Chair of the State Bar of Michigan Business Law Section.  He co-chairs the Business Law Section’s Corporate Laws Committee, which monitors Michigan corporation laws and actively participates in their amendment from time to time.  He Chaired the Business Law Section’s Ad Hoc Committee on Legal Opinions in Business Transactions.  He also is a member of the Legal Opinions Committee, the Negotiated Acquisitions Committee and the Federal Regulation of Securities Committee of the American Bar Association.

Mr. Klimko is included in The Best Lawyers in America and is rated one of Michigan's top Corporate/M&A attorneys by Chambers USA Guide of America's Leading Lawyers for Business and is listed in Michigan Super Lawyers (Mergers and Acquisitions).

Carey A. DeWitt is a Shareholder and Vice President, and is past Chair and Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Labor and Employment Department.  He is based in the firm’s Detroit office.  He has more than 26 years of experience representing employers in all phases of employment litigation.  Mr. DeWitt is listed in Best Lawyers in America (Labor and Employment) and Michigan Super Lawyers (Labor and Employment): Corporate Counsel.  He is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation.

Mr. DeWitt has published numerous legal articles and has been a featured speaker at many conferences and forums.  His memberships include: National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) State Bar of Michigan (Labor and Employment Law Section) American Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law and Litigation Sections) Federal Bar Association, and the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association.

James E. Wynne is a Shareholder and Vice President, based in the firm’s Detroit office.  He is admitted to practice law in both Michigan and Illinois and in numerous federal courts across the country.  Mr. Wynne is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

Mr. Wynne has handled commercial and product liability trials and litigation since 1975.  He serves as the national trial counsel for several major automotive suppliers, handling cases in a variety of states. 

Mr. Wynne is a member of a several bar associations, including their sections on negligence, intellectual property, commercial litigation and product liability, and serves locally as Chairman of TriCounty Hearing Panel No. 2 of the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board.

Richard Brosnick is a Shareholder and Vice President based in Butzel Long’s New York office.  He concentrates his practice in the areas of financial services and securities litigation, antitrust litigation and counseling, commercial contract litigation, white collar crime, intellectual property and employment law.

He has successfully represented a broad range of U.S. and international clients in a wide variety of commercial litigations involving a wide variety of industries, including financial services, high tech, medical equipment, industrials, pharmaceuticals, software, electronics, telecommunications, and retail.

W. Patrick Dreisig is a Shareholder and Vice President, based in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office.  He is co-chair of the firm’s Global Automotive Industry Group and is a member of the firm’s Business Law Practice.  He focuses his practice in general business law and transactional matters. 

Mr. Dreisig is a member of the Business Law and Taxation Sections of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan.  He also serves as an active member of the Legal Issues Council.  He has been named a FIVE STAR Wealth Manager SM for 2010 and 2011.

Louis Theros is a Shareholder and Vice President and is based in the firm's Detroit office.  Mr. Theros, an attorney with more than 20 years of experience, concentrates his legal practice in the areas of employment litigation, labor, advising and counseling clients on statutory employment compliance and gaming law. 

Mr. Theros has published a number of scholarly articles on various aspects of labor and employment law.  He is a frequent lecturer on a wide range of employment and labor issues.  He is listed in Best Lawyers in America and is named in Michigan Super Lawyers, both since 2007. 

Mr. Theros is a former president of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association (2005-2006), and currently serves as a Trustee of the Association’s charitable arm, the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Foundation (2006-present).

Jordan Schreier is a Shareholder and Vice President and is the Practice Group Leader for the Employee Benefits Practice Group.  Mr. Schreier is based in the firm’s Ann Arbor office.  He represents clients primarily in the area of ERISA, employee benefits and compensation.  Mr. Schreier is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Employee Benefits Law Labor and Employment Law).

Mr. Schreier is a member of the State Bar of Michigan (Labor and Employment and Taxation Sections), the Washtenaw County Bar Association (Labor and Employment and Tax Law Sections) and the American Bar Association (Labor and Employment Section).  He teaches a regular class on COBRA compliance for the American Society of Employers, has been an instructor for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and is a frequent speaker on pension and benefit issues.

Richard E. Rassel is a Shareholder and serves as Chairman of Butzel Long. He is based in the firm’s Detroit office.  Mr. Rassel also is a Certified Judge Advocate having graduated from the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate School.  He practices primarily in the area of complex business litigation and arbitration with a special concentration in media law.  He has been a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1989 and is a graduate of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution Mediation and Arbitration Training Program.

Mr. Rassel is listed in The Best Lawyers in America  (Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation and First Amendment Law).  He is a Director and Secretary of the Detroit Legal News, Inc.  He is a Director of the Michigan Strategic Fund and a Trustee of William Beaumont Hospitals.

About Butzel Long
 
Established in 1854, Butzel Long is a leading law firm with offices in Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Lansing and Ann Arbor, Michigan, New York City, and Washington, D.C., as well as Alliance offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Mexico City and Monterrey.  The firm also is a member of the Washington D.C. law firm, Butzel Long Tighe Patton.  Butzel Long represents clients from diverse industries on regional, national, and multi-national levels 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.