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Class Note Summer 2025

Donn Meindertsma retired from Conner & Winters LLP, where he was a partner. He began his career as an associate at Winston & Strawn LLP, where he worked for 18 years before joining Conner & Winters. As an employment law counselor and litigator, he accumulated extensive experience defending discrimination and whistleblower retaliation claims. Meindertsma also authored a number of published works related to employment law and the nuclear energy industry.

Class Note Summer 2025

Peter Hardy joined Holland & Knight LLP as a partner in the firm’s litigation practice in Philadelphia. Hardy advises corporations and individuals across a range of industries against allegations of financial fraud. He also counsels financial institutions and businesses on their anti-money-laundering obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act and other compliance requirements. Hardy previously served as an assistant US attorney in Philadelphia, where he focused on fraud and financial crime cases. He also was a trial attorney for the US Department of Justice’s Tax Division.

Class Note Summer 2025

Stephen Merkel was named chairman of the board of directors for BGC Group Inc., a global brokerage and financial technology company. He has been with BGC since the company’s founding and retains his current roles as executive vice president and general counsel. Merkel is also on the board of directors of the company’s FMX Futures Exchange business and serves as the executive vice chairman, executive managing director, and general counsel for the Cantor Fitzgerald LP group of companies, which includes BGC Group Inc., Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., and Newmark Group Inc.

Class Note Summer 2025

David K. Porter was named the special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Honolulu Field Office. He most recently served as the chief of staff for the deputy director at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. Porter has held numerous roles within the FBI, including at the field offices in Detroit and Pittsburgh, the Public Corruption and Civil Rights programs, the Cyber Division, and the Counterintelligence Division’s Foreign Influence Task Force. Before joining the FBI, Porter served as counsel for the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Class Note Summer 2025

Jeffrey L. Stec recently published Humanizing Public Conversation: Building Trust and Cooperation with Your Constituents. The book is designed to offer insights from 20 years of helping local governments engage the public in civil, productive conversation. Stec is the executive director of Citizens for Civic Renewal, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit that works to build collaborative community governance by engaging citizens in public policy deliberation, government and institutional partnerships, and neighborhood empowerment projects.

Class Note Summer 2025

John I. Tsiros retired in December 2024 after practicing plaintiff’s personal injury law for more than 40 years at Hurlburt, Tsiros & Allweil PC in Saginaw, Michigan. Over the course of his career, Tsiros secured tens of millions of dollars in jury verdicts in personal injury cases, settlements in personal injury and workers’  compensation cases, and awards in social security cases.

Class Note Summer 2025

Richard P. Darke joined Dykema Gossett PLLC as a member of the firm’s litigation department in Chicago. His practice focuses on commercial litigation with an emphasis on real estate, construction, financial services, and health care. Before joining Dykema, Darke practiced at Duane Morris LLP for more than two decades.

Class Note Summer 2025

Ross A. Leisman was included in Crain’s Grand Rapids Business Notable Litigators and Trial Attorneys 2025. Leisman is chair of the litigation practice group at Mika Meyers Beckett & Jones PLC, where he has worked for more than 35 years. He focuses on commercial, banking, municipal, and land use litigation.

Class Note Summer 2025

John M. Barr Sr. retired in January. Most recently, he was the principal of Barr Anhut & Associates PC, where he focused on municipal law, estate planning and probate, real estate, and corporate law. He also served as city attorney for Ypsilanti, Michigan, for 43 years. An avid traveler throughout his career, Barr and his wife, Marlene, have boated on the Great Lakes; biked the US, New Zealand, and Europe; downhill skied in the US and Europe; and visited all seven continents and 51 countries.

Class Note Summer 2025

Hillary J. Moonay, a partner at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and co-chair of the firm’s family law group, is serving a six-year term on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s domestic relations procedural rules committee. In this role, she advises the court in developing and revising procedural rules for matters including divorce, custody, support, paternity, and protection from abuse. She is active in numerous professional organizations and currently serves as the immediate past chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association family law section and co-chair of the Bucks County Bar Association family law section.