We are pleased to announce that attorneys Rick Braun, Michael J. Cook and Nicole E. Wilinski have been elected partners in the firm.
Rick Braun is a partner in the firm’s nationally recognized mass-tort defense group. He focuses his practice on the defense of asbestos claims, and has defended premises owners, non-manufacturing suppliers, and manufacturers of industrial equipment, friction products, and electrical components. Rick is a member of the National Coordinating Counsel team for a client in asbestos litigation, which includes the management of thousands of cases within 25 states across the country. Rick serves as Vice-Chair of the Energy, Sustainability, and Environmental Law Committee for the Oakland County Bar Association. He is a member of the Environmental Law Institute, and serves on the Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Committee, Asbestos Subcommittee, and Climate Change Subcommittee for the Defense Research Institute. Rick is on the board of directors for the American Lung Association of Midland States and serves as chairman of the Nominating Committee. Rick was named one of Michigan’s “Rising Stars” by Super Lawyers Magazine from 2012 through 2014. Rick was also selected by his peers for inclusion in the Top Lawyers 2012 and 2013 issues of DBusiness® for his work in product liability.
Michael J. Cook is a partner in the firm’s appellate group. His practice focuses on appellate litigation, which includes trial-level brief writing, especially at the summary-judgment stage. He has represented clients on a wide variety of civil-litigation matters, including professional liability (particularly medical and legal malpractice cases), contractual indemnity, business torts, the Uniform Commercial Code, and general liability. Mike is a member of the State Bar of Michigan’s Appellate Practice Section, the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel, the Association of Defense Trial Counsel, and the Oakland County Bar Association. He is also the editor of the Michigan Defense Quarterly, an MDTC publication. Mike was selected as a Michigan Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2014 and 2015. He also served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Robert P. Young, Jr. on the Michigan Supreme Court from 2007 to 2009.
Nicole E. Wilinski is a partner in the firm’s insurance coverage group. She has extensive experience representing insurance carriers in complex coverage litigation in both state and federal courts throughout Michigan and the Midwest, including in the areas of environmental and construction law. As part of her practice, Ms. Wilinski regularly provides coverage opinions and proposed coverage position letters on behalf of insurers arising out of claims for property damage, construction defects, fraud and/or misrepresentations, personal and advertising injury, and bodily injury claims. Nicole is a active in a number of organizations: she is Past Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s TIPS Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee; Council Member of the State Bar of Michigan’s Insurance and Indemnity Law Section; member and Past President of the Women’s Bar Association – Oakland Region; Member and Past Director at Large of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan; member of the Oakland County Bar Association and member of the Defense Research Institute. In 2010, Nicole was named one of Michigan’s “Rising Stars” by Super Lawyers Magazine, and was also recognized by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as an “Up & Coming Lawyer.” Nicole has been listed as a DBusiness® Top Lawyers from 2012 through 2014 for her work in insurance litigation.
