We are pleased to announce that Sarah Hartman has joined the firm as a senior attorney in the Employment and Labor Group in Kalamazoo. 

Three outstanding regional leaders will be recognized at the 13th Annual Taste of Leadership Oakland event on March 22, 2018. Each year, Leadership Oakland honors alumni who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in each of the organization’s areas of focus – personal, professional and public leadership. We are thrilled to announce that our Hiring and Diversity Chair Michelle Crockett is included in this year's honorees. 

We are excited to announce that our client Flushing Community Schools has closed on a public-private partnership (P3) project that will provide the school district with significant savings while making a long-term commitment to renewable energy to power school district buildings.

In a first-of-its-kind transaction in Michigan, Standard Solar will design, build, finance, operate and maintain eight solar arrays on-site at seven schools within the school district. The school district will then purchase the renewable energy generated on-site at a reduced rate from Standard Solar, estimated to save the school district $45,000 annually.

The legendary football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”

His quote came to mind during the past few weeks as I have been taking stock of the past year and looking forward to 2018. In particular, I have been thinking about my colleagues who have been recognized for doing the kind of excellent work they always do. They don’t expect any fanfare or special recognition, but the kudos started coming in the form of awards and rankings for individual lawyers, teams and the firm.

LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder today announced the appointment of Steve Arwood of St. Johns to the State Waterways Commission.

Housed within the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the seven-member Commission is an advisory body responsible for the acquisition, construction and maintenance of recreational harbors, channels, docking and launching facilities, and administration of commercial docks in the Straits of Mackinac.

Each year, U.S. News & World Report releases its Best Lawyers in America list, which recognizes lawyers across the nation for their excellence, based entirely on peer review. The firm was very pleased to see that once again, Miller Canfield lawyers comprised an impressive portion of the latest list, which was released last week. 

We are all especially happy to see that four of our colleagues have been named to the Best Lawyers list for the first time or have been named in new practice areas. 

Luke Polcyn is joining Miller Canfield's Real Estate Group. He previously worked as an attorney for the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

It might be hard to believe, but one of my favorite times of the year is February. It’s not because of Michigan’s winter weather. Nor is it because I’m a hopeless romantic who just loves Valentine’s Day. It’s because February is the time of year my colleagues from all over the world come to Michigan to gather for the firm’s annual meeting.

Miller Canfield, a global law firm based in Detroit, with offices in Chicago and throughout Michigan, announced today that six of its Chicago-based attorneys have been named in 2017 Illinois Super Lawyers and 2017 Illinois Rising Stars.

Miller Canfield’s Chicago attorneys named in 2017 Illinois Super Lawyers are:

• Raymond A. Fylstra, who was newly designated a Super Lawyer in the practice area of construction litigation
• Samuel H. Levine, construction litigation
• Steven J. Rotunno, business litigation
• Amy J. Zdravecky, employment and labor
• Robert T. Zielinski, employment and labor

Additionally, Jeffrey M. Drake was named a 2017 Illinois Rising Star in the practice of intellectual property law.

The Diversity Lab in collaboration with Stanford Law School and Bloomberg Law, brought together 54 high-level partners from leading AmLaw 200 law firms across the country—including Miller Canfield, a global law firm headquartered in Detroit —to develop innovative solutions aimed at advancing and retaining experienced women lawyers in law firms, and increasing gender parity in the top ranks of the legal profession. The group met over a period of six months and worked extensively with industry experts and Stanford Law students. 

Due to overwhelming interest in the innovative ideas presented at the conclusion of the Hackathon, Diversity Lab has now organized an ongoing “Hackathon Alliance” to work with 36 of those law firms to develop, pilot and implement specific plans in 2017.