Butzel Adds Attorneys To Growing Law Firm
Daniel V. Barnett, Tyler A. Burk and Maria T. Sesi complement multiple key practice areas
DETROIT, Mich. – Butzel is starting off 2024 with the addition of attorneys Daniel V. Barnett and Tyler A. Burk, based in the law firm’s Grand Rapids office and Maria T. Sesi, based in Butzel’s Troy office.
Daniel V. Barnett
Daniel Barnett is a Shareholder based in Butzel’s Grand Rapids office. He is a strategic litigator who regularly advises business and tribal clients in matters regarding litigation, negotiation, and general operations. His work has resulted in the enforcement of employment covenant (non-compete) clauses for employers, releasing employees from employment covenants with former employers, and the resolution of breach of contract actions.
Barnett also has experience in complex business litigation, including shareholder actions, breach of commercial and development contracts, and indemnity agreements. He appears—and has accumulated a record of success—in courts across Michigan, including the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts. He also has appeared and prevailed in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Notably, Barnett is a recipient of the 2023 Grand Rapids Bar Association 3-in-10 Award and has been named as a 2023 American Institute of Trial Lawyers Litigator of the Year in Civil Litigation.
Barnett earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from Michigan State University College of Law, J.D. He received a B.A. from Central Michigan University.
Tyler A. Burk
Tyler Burk is an Associate attorney based in Butzel’s Grand Rapids office. He represents individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and public entities in a variety of sectors, including commercial, real estate, and construction litigation. Tyler has bench and jury trial experience in numerous Michigan and federal courts in civil and criminal law cases.
His expertise includes developing case strategies from pre-litigation through trial. Outside the courtroom, Tyler has significant experience in appellate and transactional drafting. Prior to joining Butzel, he practiced at a full-service Michigan law firm in matters ranging from commercial litigation to real estate law and criminal defense.
Burk earned a J.D. from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School, summa cum laude, where he was on the Dean’s List and Honor Roll for all terms. He earned a Bachelor of Science, Sociology (concentration in Social and Criminal Justice), cum laude, from Central Michigan University.
He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and Grand Rapids Bar Association. Burk is admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan.
Maria T. Sesi
Based in Butzel’s Troy office, Maria Sesi is an Associate attorney. Her practice is focused on corporate and real estate law. She represents and counsels individuals and entities in a wide range of transactional matters, including real property acquisitions and dispositions, real property leasing, corporate structuring and reorganization, business planning, and mergers and acquisitions.
Her corporate practice includes counseling regarding entity formation and the structuring of the requisite organizational documents including partnership, shareholder, and operating agreements. Her expertise also includes counseling clients in corporate governance matters, joint venture formation and counsel, and the preparation and negotiation of various required business and transactional documents.
Prior to joining Butzel, Sesi practiced Corporate and Real Estate Law at an international full-service firm. While in law school, she served as a law clerk to general counsel at a Michigan-based commercial real estate development firm, where she gained experience facilitating commercial real estate transactions from acquisition of vacant land through development and leasing.
Sesi earned a J.D. from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2021 and a B.A. in Political Science and Art History from Wayne State University in 2018.
