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Dave is a savvy, pragmatic problem-solver for clients involved in real estate, lending, and business.

Dave's practice covers all aspects of real estate (including financing, development and work-outs), environmental law, corporate law, and business counseling. Dave also has an extensive creditor's rights practice, representing lenders both in court and out-of-court workouts, as well as protecting creditors' interests in bankruptcy proceedings.

Dave has represented some of the area's largest real estate investors including commercial banks, life insurance companies, pension funds, as well as developers. He has also represented equipment lessors and traditional lenders in bankruptcy proceedings, including several auto supplier cases.

Dave also possesses significant court experience covering real estate-related litigation, corporate disputes, enforcing financing documents , property tax appeals, as well as litigating will contests and other probate matters.

Dave has been adjunct faculty with Ave Maria School of Law where he taught real estate transactions. Dave has been consistently listed as a Michigan Super Lawyer and listed by Best Lawyers in America in Banking and Finance, Real Estate and Real Estate Litigation.

Dave is a member of the firm's Executive Committee.
 

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

•  Acting as primary counsel to the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, the area's primary tourism and convention marketing organization. Dave's counsel includes tax, corporate governance, employment, legislative, sponsorship and intellectual property matters
• Acting as primary counsel to the Detroit Super Bowl XL Host Committee, the organization that assisted the NFL with the staging of Super Bowl XL in Detroit. Dave incorporated the Host Committee and counseled it on corporate governance, contracting, intellectual property and tax issues, in addition to negotiating sponsorship agreements with many of the Fortune 500
• Counseling a German tier-one auto supplier on its warranty and recall liabilities to the original equipment manufacturers, as well as counseling an after-market auto accessories company that manufactures authorized accessories for OEM vehicles on similar issues
• Counseling a tier-one automotive stamping company on its real estate and supplier relationships
• Represented developers in several multi-property portfolio acquisitions and sales, each totaling hundreds of millions of dollars in value
• Defeated a preliminary injunction and obtained summary judgment at the end of the hearing for a client developing a residential site condominium project.  Plaintiff's lawsuit threatened to completely stop the project after a large investment had already been made
• Assisted developer with acquisition of a brownfield from a large automotive company and negotiated indemnities and releases from environmental authorities to allow successful multi-phase re-development of the property with limited exposure for the client
• Represented a large pension fund for many of its real estate investments, providing both mortgage and mezzanine financing.
• Represented several different commercial real estate lenders in multi-property loan workouts
• Documented and closed numerous commercial loans
• Successfully defended a client against municipality's claim that contamination from client's property had migrated on to adjacent property and contaminated it
• Acting a primary counsel to a computer services company in the spin-off its major division into an offshore joint venture with a foreign partner
• Acting a primary counsel to several financial institutions in bankruptcy proceedings that included both loans secured by real estate or personal property and equipment leasing

PROFESSIONAL & CIVIC LEADERSHIP

• Wayne State University Law School Board of Visitors
• Commercial Financial Services and Banking Law Sub-Committees , Member
• American Bankruptcy Institute
• Southern Wayne County Chamber of Commerce

PRO BONO ACTIVITIES

• U-Snap-Bac, Affordable Housing Group, Pro-Bono Counsel
• St. Sarkis Armenian Church, Dearborn, Michigan
• Armenian Community Center of Greater Detroit

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

• Trustee, Allen Park Board of Education, 1991, 1993 - 1996
• Grosse Ile Youth Recreation Association

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

• Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress in the Child Custody Context 36 Wayne Law Review 125 (1990)
• The Basics of Community Convention Bureau Assessments presented at the annual meeting of the Michigan Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau, April, 2005
• Adjunct Law Professor (taught real estate transactions), Ave Maria School of Law

BAR ADMISSIONS

• Michigan