Thank you to everyone who sent their news and updates to share! It's exciting to hear how our colleagues from the past are doing, both professionally and personally.

It has certainly been a memorable time for all of us. Last year's alumni newsletter was distributed just a few days before Michigan and other states issued stay-home orders in hopes of curbing the spread of COVID-19. Our first focus was keeping our attorneys and staff safe while we continued to quickly respond to our clients, who had questions about almost every aspect of doing business during a time of great and unprecedented change. We immediately assembled a Coronavirus Response Team and launched a COVID-19 Resource Center. 

As a firm, and as a community and a country, we have faced many challenges since then. We have also experienced moments of excitement and joy.

We were thrilled to announce in February that Megan Norris would be our new CEO. Last summer, we named Michelle Crockett as the Firm's Chief Diversity Officer and we were recognized by Chambers North America in the areas of pro bono and diversity. We continued to help clients carry on business that is important to them and the communities where they operate. We elected new principals and a new Managing Director, Mike Palizzi, and named a new resident director in Grand Rapids.

We are very pleased to share some news from your fellow alumni as well:

She's Still Got 'IT'

Kathy Ossian

In 2013, Kathy Ossian left Miller Canfield after 27 years to launch Ossian Law, a firm that focused on legal matters related to information technology and social media. She'll be making another big change soon. To read more about what's next for Kathy, click here.

From Private Practice to Public Service

Judge Matthew Leitman and his law clerk Scott Warheit, also a Miller Canfield alum

Matthew Leitman has fond memories of his time at Miller Canfield. He joined the firm's Commercial Litigation Group in 2004 and left us in 2014 when he was nominated by Pres. Barack Obama to serve as a judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. For more about Judge Leitman and what he's up to today, click here.

No Horsing Around

Martha and Mark in Banff in 2019

Martha and Mark Boonstra left Miller Canfield in 2010 and 2012, respectively. She left so she could focus on health care law, and ultimately landed at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, where she serves as senior vice president and general counsel for all Spectrum Health entities. He was called (quite suddenly) to fill a vacancy on the Michigan Court of Appeals. During the last year, Martha and Mark have been working from home offices and continuing to work on their side venture, Boonstra Friesians, where they breed award-winning Friesian horses. To read updates from Martha Boonstra, click here. And to read about what Mark Boonstra is up to, click here.

Working In (the) House

These three keep Noël company while she's in her home office. From left: Axe, Dakota and Loki.

Noël Goudreau left the Firm in April 2020 to go work in-house for Cresset Asset Management, one of her good clients, and due to the pandemic, she's been working remotely ever since. She reports that she's doing well, though she misses the camaraderie of working with colleagues in-person. For more about Noël's new position, click here.

Updates In Brief

Lindsay Andreuzzi reports that after she left Miller Canfield, she went on hiatus to raise her children and accommodate her husband's job transfers. In 2009, the family moved to the Philadelphia area and soon after, Lindsay went back to work and took the Pennsylvania and New Jersey bar exams. She joined Kutak Rock’s litigation practice in its Philadelphia office in an of counsel position. She focuses on insurance coverage and insurance bad faith litigation, representing insurers, and the majority of her practice is in auto policy litigation. She is pleased to report that the firm recently elevated her to partner, and she is enjoying the firm, the work and her coworkers. She says she hopes everyone is well and looks forward to attending a future reunion of her Miller Canfield colleagues. 

Michael Rataj, who was with us from 1989 to 1994, was recently admitted as a Fellow to the American Board of Criminal Lawyers.

Misbah Shahid, who is now working in-house at Kelly Services, was recently promoted to Senior Director of Employment Law & Litigation. He says one of the more exciting things he has been working on is a project at Kelly Services called Equity@Work. You can find more information about it here: https://www.kellyservices.com/global/about-us/company-information/equity-at-work/

Jim Thelen, formerly in the Firm's Employment and Labor Group, was recently promoted to serve as the University of Maine System's Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Chief Legal Officer.

Former Staff Attorney Marcella Stewart-Santos joined Stryker Corporation last year as their Manager of Information Governance. She is also pleased to announce that she married Dr. Richard Santos, an internal medicine physician at Henry Ford Allegiance Health in Jackson.

Kevin McCarthy, who left Miller Canfield in 2002, founded a boutique labor and employment firm in Portage, Michigan. He was later hired by Trillium Staffing in Kalamazoo and in September 2018, he retired from his position of General Counsel. He and his wife Denise continue to live in the Kalamazoo area, spending more time golfing and traveling as frequently as they can safely do so. 

Nancy Keppelman continues with her phased retirement from Butzel Long, still doing employee benefits. She and her husband Mike look forward to spending more time in northern Michigan, and if the pandemic ever allows, attending Detroit Symphony concerts, Stratford (Ontario) plays, and University of Michigan basketball games. She adds: Go Blue!

We heard from Webb Hecker, who was an associate at Miller Canfield from 1970 to 1972. He left for a teaching job at the University of Kansas School of Law, where he taught for 47 years before retiring in 2019, making him the second-longest serving professor in the history of the school (founded in 1878). While there, he coached transactional law teams for several years, which allowed him to reconnect with Dave Joswick at a couple of the competitions, a regional event in Chicago and the national finals in New York. He reports the capstone of his career was winning the Chancellor’s Club Career Teaching award in 2017 (pictured below).

Webb Hecker, at left, pictured with University Chancellor Douglas Girod

Contact

Carol Lundberg +1.313.496.7778
lundberg@millercanfield.com

Thank you for your suggestions and ideas to capitalize on our Miller Canfield connections! Please contact me or Marjory Basile anytime with all of your news about professional moves, awards and accolades, name changes or anything you would like to share. We are happy to make introductions to current colleagues - just ask! If you want to visit any of our offices, please let us know and we can make arrangements.

Upcoming Seminars & Events

Stay in touch! Our alumni directory offers a great way to keep in contact with our former colleagues and friends. Thank you to everyone for keeping your contact information current. If you need help reaching someone who is listed in the directory, have a change in your information or know of a former colleague who needs their information updated, please contact Carol Lundberg.

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