Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Friday, December 23, 2011

 

Page 3

 

Dykema Appoints Local Attorneys to Leadership Posts

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

Dykema Gossett PLLC yesterday announced that the appointment of five Los Angeles office attorneys to firm-wide leadership positions.

Daniel J. Stephenson was selected as the new director of the firm’s litigation department, while Michael P. Wippler was chosen as the managing member of Dykema’s Los Angeles office and Derek S. Whitefield was elected to the firm’s seven-member Executive Board.

Tamara A. Bush was also appointed to the firm’s 10-member Pro Bono Committee and S. Christopher “Kit” Winter joined the firm’s Diversity Committee.

Dykema CEO Peter Kellett remarked that these attorneys “are key contributors to the success of the firm,” and that he has “every confidence in their ability to make important contributions.”

Stephenson was most recently a member of the firm’s Executive Board and was also the Managing Member for the Los Angeles office.

In his new position, Stephenson will have responsibility for more than 170 litigators practicing in areas including Business and Commercial Litigation, Automotive & Product Liability, Pharmaceutical & Medical Device, Financial Services, Employment and Class Action Defense, a firm spokesperson said.

He is a graduate of UCLA and attended law school at University of Michigan. Stephenson was licensed to practice in California last year.

Wippler, as Managing Member, will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Los Angeles office, the spokesperson said.

He attended UCSD and law school at UC Hastings before joining the State Bar in 1991.

Whitefield, in his new post, is being tasked with helping to guide the long-range strategic planning, policy and direction of the firm, and help oversee the firm’s economic performance, a Dykema spokesperson said.

The attorney was previously Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Automotive & Product Liability Litigation practice. 

He graduated from Michigan State University before attending law school at Wayne State University. Whitefield joined the California State Bar in 1993.

Bush is joining the committee responsible for establishing and interpreting pro bono policies and procedures and administering the firm’s pro bono activities, including providing legal assistance for children’s issues, immigrants, not-for-profit’s, and prisoner’s rights.

She is a graduate of UCSC and USC’s law school, and she was admitted to practice in 1998.

Winter will be one of 12 members who have  responsibility for the coordination of the firm’s diversity efforts including the development, implementation and monitoring of programs and activities which enhance and eliminate barriers to diversity, the spokesperson said.

He is a graduate of Yale University and UCLA’s law school. Winter was admitted to practice in 1997.

 

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