Taylor Ester

Rebecca L. Grove is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Tax Law and Trusts and Estates. Rebecca L., who practices law in Birmingham, Michigan, has been recognized since 2013. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Rebecca L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Mark Jotanovic, a registered patent attorney, practices out of the firm’s Troy office. He focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and patent prosecution involving electrical, electro-mechanical, and software matters. He has worked in a wide range of electrical and computer technologies, including artificial intelligence (focusing on image recognition, machine learning, and neural networks), autonomous vehicles, cloud computing, smart home environments, and product desig...

Mr. Contis is a shareholder in the firm’s Business Practice Group, and Real Estate Practice Group. Mr. Contis concentrates his practice in the areas of, real estate acquisition and development, construction, mortgage and end-loan lending, participation loans, commercial and industrial leasing for landlords and tenants (including master leases, ground leases and subleases) and business planning. Mr. Contis regularly works with lenders, owners and court appointed receivers in the sale of ...

Deborah (“Deb”) Grace advises private companies, non-profits, colleges, universities, and governmental entities on the complex tax and labor laws that impact the benefits that these entities offer to their employees. She counsels private companies and equity funds on the benefit plan implications of business acquisitions and dispositions, including due diligence review and advising on the integration of benefit programs based on the structure of the business deal. Her experience i...

Kara Ferrara is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Trusts and Estates. Kara, who practices law in Troy, Michigan, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Kara is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Alexandra LaCombe is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Immigration Law. Alexandra, who practices law in Birmingham, Michigan, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Alexandra is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Monica Labe is a senior member of the firm and was the Practice Department Manager of the firm's Real Estate, Environmental and Energy practices from 2008-2011. She is currently a member of the firm's Management Group, serving as Deputy CEO in Charge of Practice Management and Business Development and Marketing and the prior four years, she oversaw the Finance, Accounting and Human Resources departments for the firm. Ms. Labe has extensive experience representing large multi-national corporat...

Craig W. Hammond focuses his practice in the areas of public finance, banking and economic development law, with more than 30 years of experience representing lenders, state and local units of government, underwriters and borrowers in connection with economic development projects and tax exempt bond financings. Craig is recognized as one of the leading public finance attorneys in the State of Michigan in financings for senior housing, health care, higher education, charter schools, economic d...

Robert S. Bick possesses extensive corporate law experience, having completed hundreds of merger, acquisition, divestiture, going private, financing, and related transactions. For more than thirty years, he has represented clients of all sizes across a range of industries in corporate and business law matters. Robert counsels and represents public and private companies, entrepreneurs, venture capital and private equity groups, boards of directors and business owners on matters related to corp...

Julius H. Giarmarco, J.D., LL.M., is chair of the firm's Trusts and Estates Practice Group. Julius received his law degree from Wayne State University, and his master of laws from New York University. He is licensed to practice law in both Michigan and New York. Julius' primary practice areas include estate planning, business succession planning, wealth transfer planning, and life insurance applications. He is a former instructor in both the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Certified Fina...