Katherine M. Szymanski

Practice Areas

Education

Valparaiso University School of Law
Valparaiso, Indiana
J.D., 2013

Aquinas College
Grand Rapids, Michigan
B.A., cum laude, 2010

Bar Admissions

Michigan


Estate Planning Attorney

Katie is a member of the Estate Planning Team. She has significant experience in estate settlement and trust administration matters. She has additional experience working with individuals and families through ongoing estate, tax, and wealth transfer planning for current and future generations. She understands that every client situation is unique, and she strives to help each client reach their goals through specific and tailored estate plans.

Katie’s background also includes review of tax compliance forms and non-traditional asset planning including strategies for real estate, and closely-held business interests. She previously served as a trust officer for a regional accounting firm and holds a Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA®) designation.

Professional Affiliations

State Bar of Michigan, Probate and Estate Planning Section

Western Michigan Estate Planning Council – Board of Directors, Next Gen Committee

Honors and Recognitions

Best Lawyers in America®, Ones to Watch, Trust and Estates, since 2024

Community Involvement

USA Gymnastics Judge, 2010 – Present

Michigan NAWGJ, Board of Directors, 2023

Spartan Nash YMCA, Board of Directors, 2016-2021

Presentations

Special Issues with Estate Planning, ICLE, 2023

Estate Planning for Athletes: Top Tips in Ten Minutes, ICLE, 2023

Drafting for Administrative Efficiency, Michigan Probate and Estate Planning Journal, Summer 2022

Institute of Continuing Legal Education Speaker, 2019

The Notice Trap: Qualified Trust Beneficiaries of Irrevocable Trusts, 2022

Cathy M. Greer

Practice Areas

Industries

Paralegal/eDiscovery Specialist

Cathy works with the Litigation and Trial Services Team and has extensive experience in all aspects of complex commercial litigation matters. She focuses her attention on the implementation of litigation support technology throughout the litigation process including electronic discovery, complex document management and trial presentation/assistance.

Cathy also manages the firm’s eDiscovery Department including data collection, processing, analytics, workflow review, document review/analysis, production of data, training and legal compliance. As part of the eDiscovery Department, Cathy helps support and guide the litigation teams in the eDiscovery process implementing best practices to maintain the highest standards of quality and accuracy.  She is experienced and very knowledgeable working in RelativityOne, the firm’s eDiscovery software.

Cathy’s experience includes assisting with various elements of case workup such as investigation, research, discovery and exhibits. In addition, she prepares court pleadings such as interrogatories, discovery responses, answers to complaints, motions and briefs. She has extensive legal and technical research experience including preparation of research memoranda.

Professional Affiliations

Grand Rapids Bar Association, Legal Assistant Section

State Bar of Michigan, Legal Assistant Section

Spectrum Health Oncology, PFAC board member

Notary Public

Maryanne S. Poll

Practice Areas

Education

Davenport University
Grand Rapids, Michigan
B.S., Paralegal Studies, 2012

 

Paralegal

Maryanne serves as a real estate paralegal working on matters with attorneys within several practice groups. She prepares a wide variety of real estate related documents and is involved with title work and survey matters. Maryanne also has experience with litigation related matters such as drafting pleadings, discovery, and offering general litigation assistance.

Community Involvement

 Lakewood Youth Football Board of Directors, Treasurer

 

Lauren M. Parker

Practice Areas

Education

University of Wisconsin Law School
Madison, Wisconsin
J.D., cum laude, 2021
Wisconsin Law Review, Managing Editor

Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
Honors College
B.A., magna cum laude, Finance, 2018

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Wisconsin

Corporate Attorney

Lauren is a member of Varnum’s Business and Corporate Team, where her focus is in business and transactional work with a strong emphasis on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity, and other commercial transactions. Lauren has experience advising clients on the legal aspects of day-to-day business issues and a wide variety of other matters, with particular expertise in securities law matters and corporate governance issues. Her client experience ranges from early stage startups to mature, publicly-held businesses of all sizes.

Professional Affiliations

State Bar of Michigan

State Bar of Wisconsin

Gage M. Selvius

Practice Areas

Education

Michigan State University College of Law
East Lansing, Michigan
J.D., summa cum laude, 2021 
Order of the Coif                   
Michigan State Law Review, Staff

University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
B.A., summa cum laude, Political Science and Economics, 2018

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Litigation Attorney

Gage is an associate attorney on Varnum’s Litigation, Trial Practice, and ADR Team.  He focuses his practice on complex commercial and environmental litigation.  Gage has experience handling large-scale class action lawsuits.  He has litigated cases in a variety of fields, including property disputes, employment issues, environmental tort claims, construction matters, and high-profile multimillion dollar family law cases.  Gage also has had success enforcing and collecting judgments for his clients, including through adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court.

Gage is a skilled legal writer and researcher who has drafted numerous successful dispositive motions to win cases for his clients prior to trial in both state and federal court.  Gage was recently the first-chair attorney in a matter in which he secured an approximately $3 million judgment for his client.  He passionately advocates for clients throughout the litigation process, and has experience handling depositions, discovery, hearings, trials, and appellate proceedings.  In addition to Michigan, Gage has litigated matters in Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Gage graduated summa cum laude from both the University of Alabama and the Michigan State University School of Law.  During law school, he was a member of the flagship law review at Michigan State University.  Gage served as a law clerk for the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Michigan before joining Varnum, which provided an opportunity for him to be extensively involved in federal court proceedings early in his career.

Experience

Successfully obtained summary disposition in defense of a products liability claim for a multi-national corporation.

Successfully obtained summary disposition in an environmental tort claim in Allegan County.

Successfully obtained summary disposition in defense of a construction dispute in Kalamazoo County.

Successfully obtained an injunction in federal court to protect his client’s business against unfair competition.

As lead counsel, successfully secured an approximately $3 million judgment in a case involving business tort claims.

As lead trial counsel, won a bench trial in Oakland County in a property dispute.

As lead trial counsel, successfully defended against over $300,000 of alleged damages in a bench trial in Ottawa County.

Negotiated a settlement in excess of a million dollars on a breach of contract claim.

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association

State Bar of Michigan

Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Michigan

Grand Rapids Bar Association

Hillman Advocacy Clinic – United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, 2022

Justin M. Wolber

Practice Areas

Industries

Education

University of Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame, Indiana
J.D., cum laude, 2021
Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy

Ferris State University
Big Rapids, Michigan
B.S., summa cum laude, Psychology, 2017

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Court Admissions

All Michigan state courts

United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

 

Litigation Attorney

Justin is member of the Litigation and ADR Team. He has experience in several areas of the law, including corporate, litigation, intellectual property, and data privacy and mobility matters. He represents clients in both state and federal courts in matters including corporate governance and contract disputes, commercial and class action disputes, and intellectual property litigation, among other types of matters.

In addition to his commercial litigation practice, Justin assists clients in corporate matters, including reviewing and negotiating supply agreements, assisting clients in intellectual property protection matters, and helping clients navigate state and federal data privacy compliance measures.

Justin has also served as in-house general counsel at a multi-national technology company and brings a unique understanding of the issues facing large company legal departments.

While in law school, Justin was a member of Notre Dame’s Jessup International Law Moot Court team and participated in Notre Dame’s London Law Program.

Experience

Successfully represented and assisted clients in intellectual property litigation, enforcement matters, and proceedings before the United States Courts and the Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution (UDRP) administrative body.

Successfully represented an individual owner in a declaratory judgment action regarding the rights and ownership in a patent.

Conducted analysis and negotiated several commercial contract and master services agreements on the supply side.

Successfully represented plaintiffs in obtaining a judgment in a construction breach of contract dispute.

Trial counsel for an individual defendant in a breach of contract and business dispute.

Represented an agricultural plaintiff in challenging the rates charged by an energy company in an administrative proceeding.

Community Involvement

Grand Rapids Bar Association, Young Lawyers Section, Secretary, 2022 – 2023

Grand Rapids Junior Chamber of Commerce, 2022 Board Member

Hillman Advocacy Clinic held by the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, 2022

Christopher A. Aguilar

Christopher A. Aguilar

Education

Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, Michigan
B.A., Accounting

Director of Finance

Chris Aguilar oversees the firm’s accounting department. He has over 18 years of public accounting and senior executive finance experience. He is a Certified Public Accountant and has experience in both industry and public accounting, including serving as audit manager for a large accounting firm and as CFO for a private company.

Certifications

State of Michigan, Certified Public Accountant

Staci R. DeRegnaucourt

Staci R. DeRegnaucourt

Practice Areas

Industries

Education

Michigan State University College of Law
East Lansing, Michigan
J.D., magna cum laude, 2011                    Michigan State Law Review, Articles Editor

Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
B.S., Civil & Environmental Engineering, 2008

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Court Admissions

All Michigan state courts

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Intellectual Property Attorney

Staci is a registered patent attorney with an engineering background, who provides a full range of intellectual property services, including trademark, copyright, and patent clearance, procurement, licensing, and enforcement; anti-counterfeiting; IP portfolio and brand management; startup consulting; IP transactions and technology transfers; and IP due diligence. She serves as co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Team.

Serving a diverse client group including Fortune 100 companies, SMEs, start-ups, and solo entrepreneurs, including a variety of well-known and famous brands, Staci maintains a business-minded, client-centric, holistic, and worldwide approach to intellectual property. Staci understands that clients invest in intellectual property in order to protect and improve their marketplace position, and she works to strategically compile intellectual property portfolios, unique to the client, that not only boast valuable brick-and-mortar intellectual property rights, but that also allow such intellectual property rights to be commercialized, enforced, and leveraged as revenue-generating and market-safeguarding tools.

Staci advises clients that operate in the mechanical, electro-mechanical, and material engineering arts and has prepared and prosecuted utility patent applications in a variety of technology areas including: OEM and aftermarket automotive systems, components, and control strategies for conventional (ICE) vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV); HVAC systems; aerospace systems; energy absorption devices; structural barriers and traffic management systems; coastline restoration products and apparatuses; industrial equipment; tooling for manufacturing systems; manufacturing systems and processes; automation systems; robotic components; medical devices; building products; consumer goods; and sporting goods and equipment.

Staci also assists clients in a broad range of market sectors, to procure and enforce design patent and trade dress rights for the ornamental characteristics embodied in, or applied to, their respective products including, unique product configurations; unique product ornamentation; ornamental product packaging; computer-generated icons; and static, dynamic, and animated graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
Staci attends to all aspects of intellectual property in the corporate and commercial contexts including IP due diligence and the evaluation of the strength and breadth of IP portfolios in the context of commercial and technology transactions, including joint ventures. Staci also routinely structures, drafts, negotiates, and advises in commercial and transactional contexts on a variety of technology agreements including joint development agreements, technology research agreements, collaboration agreements, technology supply agreements, and technology licensing and ownership agreements with regard to traditional IP in a variety of technological sectors, as well as, software, SaaS, PaaS, and the like.

Moreover, Staci routinely counsel’s clients in domestic and international trademark, trade dress, unfair competition, false advertising, and domain name matters including the selection and adoption of trademarks, the management and prosecution of trademark portfolios, and the worldwide enforcement of trademark rights related to traditional brand management strategies, anti-counterfeiting, and cybersquatting. Staci also represents clients in trademark opposition, cancellation, and appeal proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and coordinates such matters with foreign counsel internationally.

Staci has also represented clients in intellectual property litigation, enforcement matters, and proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the International Trade Commission (ITC), Copyright Claims Board (CCB), Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution (UDRP) administrative bodies, and United States courts.

Honors and Recognitions

Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Go To Lawyer for Intellectual Property Law, 2022

Michigan Super Lawyers®, Rising Star, Intellectual Property, 2017 – 2024

World Trademark Review, WTR 1000, World’s Leading Trademark Professional, 2015 – 2024

World Trademark Review, WTR 1000, Global Leaders, 2019 – 2024

DBusiness Magazine, Top Lawyers, Intellectual Property & Patent Law, 2016

Professional Affiliations

Michigan State University College of Law, Adjunct Professor of Law – International Intellectual Property

International Trademark Association, Non-Traditional Marks Committee, 2024 – Present

International Trademark Association, Designs Committee, 2020 – 2024

Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association

Michigan Intellectual Property Inn of Court

Society of Women Engineers

State Bar of Michigan

Publications

Article: “Verified or Not? The Inform Consumers Act and the Future of E-Commerce Marketplaces.” The Grand Rapids Lawyer (May 2023)

Comment, “I Can Do Bad All By Myself: A Proposal for Streamlining the Claim Construction Process in Patent Litigation,” 38 Rutgers Computer & Tech. L.J.1 (2011)

Comment, “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better & Without Consequences: The Public University Monopoly on Research Technologies and the Educational Market,” 2010 MICH. St. L. REV. 471 (2010).

Presentations

Panelist, Communicating the Importance of Brand Protection Across the Enterprise or Organization, Brand Protection Strategy Summit (2024), Hosted by the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection at Michigan State University.

Guest Speaker – IP Lawyer Lunch Series, Michigan State University College of Law (Fall 2022)

Guest Speaker – Trademark Counterfeiting and Gray Market Goods, Trademark Counterfeiting Course 533Y, Michigan State University College of Law (Spring 2021).

Panelist, E-Commerce and Counterfeits:  Evolving Consumer Behaviors, A Brand’s New World (2020), Hosted by the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection at Michigan State University.

Panelist, Distribution and Retail, World IP Day – Bridging the Intersection of Intellectual Property and Regulations (2019), Hosted by the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection at Michigan State University

Richard R. Symons

Richard R. Symons

Practice Areas

Education

Wayne State University Law School
Detroit, Michigan
J.D., 1989

Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
B.S., cum laude, 1986

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Court Admissions

All Michigan state courts

Labor and Employment Attorney

Rick is a member of Varnum’s Labor and Employment Practice Team. He focuses on the defense of employers in workers’ compensation litigation, from managing contested cases in an aggressive and efficient manner to assessing cost-containment methods. He represents employers at all levels of the court system, including the Workers’ Compensation Appellate Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court.

Rick has handled multiple Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) inspections and appeals, including appeals of citations following a complaint, serious injury or death of an employee.

Honors and Recognitions

Best Lawyers in America®, Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers, since 2005

Grand Rapids Magazine’s Top Lawyers, Workers Compensation Law, 2019 and 2020

Leading Lawyers, Employment Law – Management

Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated

Professional Affiliations

Grand Rapids Bar Association

State Bar of Michigan

Community Involvement

Certified soccer referee

Registered Michigan high school baseball umpire

Youth baseball coach

Youth soccer coach

John W. Sturgis

John W. Sturgis

Practice Areas

Education

University of Iowa College of Law
Iowa City, Iowa
J.D., summa cum laude, 2014
Order of the Coif
Iowa Law Review, Vol. 99, Managing Editor

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
B.A., cum laude, 2011
James B. Angell Scholar

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Court Admissions

All Michigan state courts

Real Estate Attorney

John is a member of Varnum’s Real Estate Practice Team. He regularly assists clients with real estate sales and acquisitions, commercial leasing matters on behalf of both landlords and tenants, and real estate financing transactions. 

Experience

Prepared and negotiated multiple leases on behalf of statewide hospital system as both tenant and landlord.

Negotiated $2 million annual office lease on behalf of large insurance brokerage client.

Drafted documents and coordinated the closing of a $20 million shopping center sale involving the assumption of existing financing.

Assisted as bank counsel in annual Public School Academy State Aid Revenue Notes program.

Honors and Recognitions

Best Lawyers in America®, Ones to Watch, Construction Law, Real Estate Law, since 2024

Grand Rapids Magazine’s Top Lawyers, Real Estate Law, since 2021

Professional Affiliations

Grand Rapids Bar Association

National Association of Bond Lawyers

State Bar of Michigan

 

Presentations

John W. Sturgis VII, Help! I Need Somebody! (Or Do I?): A Discussion of Community Caretaking and Assistance SeizuresUnder Iowa Law, 99 Iowa L. Rev 1841 (2014), cited by the Iowa Supreme Court in State v. Coffman, 914 N.W.2d 240, 258 (Iowa 2018)