Butzel expands with addition of associate attorneys specializing in media law, business and commercial litigation
DETROIT, Mich. – Butzel has added associate attorneys Erin Malone and Mostafa Shanta to the firm. Malone concentrates her practice in the areas of media law, intellectual property, cybersecurity, technology, and litigation and dispute resolution in general. Shanta focuses his practice on business and commercial litigation.
Erin Malone
Erin Malone concentrates her practice in the areas of media law, intellectual property, cybersecurity, technology, and litigation and dispute resolution in general. She focuses her practice on assisting with issues particularly in the areas of First Amendment, defamation, privacy, content-based claims, access issues, data protection, cybersecurity threat assessment, data breach and cyberattacks. She additionally assists in advising on pre-publication reviews, retraction demands, fair use analysis, licensing, entertainment contracts, and copyrights.
Malone earned a Juris Doctor degree, summa cum laude, from the Detroit Mercy School of Law and was first in her class. While in law school, she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review.
After receiving her undergraduate degree, Malone worked in advertising in Detroit in print production before shifting careers into the media realm. She became a photojournalist in local television news and worked with reporters and producers to deliver daily news for many years. Later on, she was promoted to field producer, producing her own feature segments.
Malone became certified as an FAA Part 107 drone pilot for commercial operators during her time in broadcast news and still flies her drone in her spare time. She enjoys advising and maintaining connections with media professionals as she understands the rigors of the daily life of a journalist and media professional.
She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she received her B.A. in English and a B.A. in the Program in the Environment.
Mostafa Shanta
Based in Butzel’s Detroit office, Shanta concentrates his practice on business and commercial litigation.
Shanta is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Law (J.D.). While in law school, he participated in the Alvin L. Storrs Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, representing low-income clients in disputes with the IRS and Michigan Department of Treasury. He also was a staff editor for the Michigan State Law Review. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Yale University.
