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Class Note Winter 2025

Bethany A. Breetz, a member at Stites & Harbison PLLC, was included on the Forbes 2025 list of Best-In-State Lawyers for her appellate law practice in Kentucky. Her practice focuses on federal and state appellate advocacy as well as complex commercial litigation, including matters involving financial institutions, real estate, and trusts and estate litigation. Breetz currently serves as co-chair of the firm’s appellate advocacy group.

Class Note Winter 2025

Dina Kallay, LLM, SJD, was appointed deputy assistant attorney general for International, Policy, and Appellate at the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division in Washington, DC. Previously, she spent 12 years at the telecommunications company Ericsson, most recently as head of antitrust and competition. Kallay also has served as counsel for intellectual property and international antitrust at the Federal Trade Commission. She is grateful to longtime Michigan Law Professor Thomas Kauper, ’60, who passed away in 2025, for sparking her passion for antitrust law.

Class Note Winter 2025

Elizabeth Barrowman Gibson was appointed group vice president and general counsel for Toyota Motor North America, where she oversees the company’s legal department and is responsible for setting legal direction and strategy. Previously, Gibson was vice president and deputy general counsel at the company, with responsibility for complex litigation, product liability, government investigations, risk mitigation, intellectual property, franchise and dealer issues, and regulatory compliance.

Class Note Winter 2025

Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. has been appointed interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Gorgon has been a federal prosecutor in Detroit for 15 years and has worked on cases related to terrorism, violent crime, sex trafficking, carjacking, and immigration.

Class Note Winter 2025

Colin Owyang was appointed as a superior court judge by Vermont Gov. Phil Scott. Owyang most recently worked for Vermont Electric Power Company and Vermont Gas Systems in executive leadership roles.

Class Note Winter 2025

Wayne M. Smith was named executive vice president of the legal department at Warner Bros. Studios, where he will oversee the Warner Bros. Studios content production portfolio, including HBO, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC Studios, Warner Bros. Television, DC Comics, and Warner Bros. Consumer Products. The role also includes legal oversight of theatrical distribution and marketing, labor relations, music, and the physical studio lots in Burbank, California, and in the United Kingdom.

Class Note Winter 2025

Michael L. Simes joined Moses & Singer LLP as a partner in the firm’s litigation practice. Over more than two decades, Simes has represented clients in complex contractual disputes in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court, and other jurisdictions. In addition to contractual disputes, his practice includes bankruptcy-related litigation, investigations, and regulatory matters. He joins Moses Singer from Simes Law, which he founded in 2023. Before that, he was a partner at McGuireWoods and practiced at Mayer Brown and Davis Polk & Wardwell.

Class Note Winter 2025

Laura Sheppard Faussié has joined Butzel Long as a shareholder. She is a commercial litigator, legal analyst and strategist, and appellate attorney. Before joining Butzel, Faussié co-founded and ran a boutique-style litigation firm in downtown Detroit for more than 20 years. 

Class Note Winter 2025

The Hon. Nancy (Woodruff) Salomone has been appointed chief judge of Colorado’s 20th Judicial District (Boulder County) by Supreme Court Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez. Salomone has served as a judge in the 20th Judicial District since 2017. Previously, she was a partner at the criminal defense law firm Malkinson Salomone LLC.

Class Note Winter 2025

Cindy Cohn will step down from her role as executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in 2026 after more than 25 years with the organization. She first became involved with EFF in 1993, when she served as the outside lead attorney in Bernstein v. US Department of Justice on behalf of the organization. From 2000 to 2015, Cohn was EFF’s legal director and general counsel.