Sheldon L. Miller has defended the rights of Michigan residents as a top litigator and expert counsel for more than 40 years. Mr. Miller graduated from Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961. In 1971, he originated the idea for what is called "mediation" in the state of Michigan. As a pioneer in this area of law, Mr. Miller was asked to form a committee to put the concept into rule form. He also served as the first mediator on behalf of the Plaintiff's Bar in the State of Michigan. In 1979, Mr. Miller served as president of the newly founded Mediation Tribunal Association, a non-profit corporation, formed to oversee the mediation process in Wayne County ( Detroit ). He served as president until 1992. With the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), Mr. Miller served as a former vice-president, parliamentarian and secretary, and he was also president of the Detroit chapter of the ATLA. He also received the prestigious Champion of Justice award from the ATLA in 1998, and he has served on the Board of Governors of the ATLA since 1977. Mr. Miller served as president of the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association (MTLA) and also received the Champion of Justice award from the MTLA. As a trial lawyer, Mr. Miller introduced new concepts to the legal community. In Placek v. City of Sterling Heights, he served as trial and appellate counsel and brought pure comparative negligence to Michigan. This case was cited 13 times by the Illinois Supreme Court when it threw out contributory negligence and adopted comparative negligence as the standard. Mr. Miller is a frequent lecturer and author on trial strategies and also teaches trial practice as an adjunct professor of law. Mr. Miller's other accomplishments include testifying on Federal No-Fault before the U.S. Congress, founding Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, and authoring several well-received legal articles. Mr. Miller was profiled in the books The Million Dollar Lawyers and Detroit's Powers and Personalities, and he was also rated by the New York Law Journal as "one of the top tort litigators in the United States." To find out more about Sheldon L. Miller or any of our other personal injury lawyers, contact our firm near Detroit today.

Dondi R. Vesprini earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 1996 from Oakland University with a minor in Sociology. He earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1999 from the University of Detroit – Mercy School of Law where he was on the Moot Court Board of Directors, represented the law school in national moot court competition, and was a member of the St. Thomas More Society. He is admitted to practice law in the State of Michigan, the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to joining Buckfire & Buckfire, Dondi worked for 11 years as a trial attorney for the Law Offices of Lawrence S. Katkowsky, P.C., which specialized in motorcycle accidents. Previously, Dondi worked for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for two years where he tried felony drug cases and also worked on criminal appeals. Dondi has recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for his injured clients and specializes in issues affecting motorcyclists such as motorcycle accidents, roadway defect accidents, and Michigan No Fault claims. He also litigates wrongful death, automobile negligence, slip and fall, dog bite attacks, and other personal injury matters. In addition to trial work, he has also argued cases in front of the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dondi’s advocacy extends beyond the courtroom as he proposes legislation and meets with the Governor’s office, legislators and lobbyists regarding legislation affecting injured motorcyclists and non-motorcyclists alike, including but not limited to the Michigan motorcycle helmet law and fighting to preserve Michigan’s No Fault system and the benefits it provides to injured people. He recently drafted an amendment to MCL 500.3114, which was formally introduced as House Bill 4809 on May 6, 2021.

Andrew R. Kravis, Esq. is an attorney licensed to practice in Michigan, New York and New Jersey. He is the CEO of Kravis & Wurgaft, P.C., a full service boutique law firm he founded in 2013. He is a graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law and received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The University of Southern California. Andrew’s law practice focuses on corporate, real estate, non-profit, litigation and intellectual property law.

Bryan Hart combines his technical expertise and litigation experience to provide clients with strategic, forward-thinking patent counsel that anticipates both opportunities and challenges across a wide range of industries and technologies. Bryan Hart practices all areas of patent law, specializing in preparing and prosecuting patent applications in the mechanical, electrical, and software arts. He excels at mastering complex technical information while maintaining the big picture and communicating key concepts in a comprehensible, concise, and persuasive manner. His applications have covered artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, machine vision, object tracking for collision avoidance, seatbelt assemblies, airbag assemblies and deployment, vehicle crash testing, additive manufacturing, and automobile frames, among other areas. Bryan has extensive experience in patent litigation. He has participated in cases in federal district court, investigations before the International Trade Commission, and inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He has experience with a wide variety of technologies, including LTE (long-term evolution) standards, in-dash GPS units, textiles, enterprise storage systems, mobile-phone operating systems, lottery-ticket printing, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) equipment, lithium-ion battery packs, 2D-to-3D conversion software, cloud computing, content distribution networks, piston solid lubricants, and prosthetic knee replacements. His litigation experience helps him keep a patent’s ultimate potential outcome-enforcement-in mind throughout the prosecution process. Bryan is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, where he was an Articles Editor for the University of Chicago Review. He is also a graduate of the University of Michigan College of Engineering where he earned his B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering, highest honors. He also serves as the secretary for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and as a member of the Diversity in IP Law Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). In his free time, Bryan enjoys reading X-Men comics and taking his daughter to the local children’s science museum.

Matt Jakubowski is a multi-faceted patent attorney with extensive experience in IP portfolio management, patent preparation and prosecution, IP agreement drafting and negotiation, and patent litigation. Matt is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and serves as the firm’s treasurer and CFO. He counsels clients in a wide range of intellectual property matters, including, IP portfolio management, freedom-to-operate opinions, cybersecurity, litigation, agreement drafting and negotiations, and due diligence projects. Matt has broad experience in patent preparation and prosecution in various technologies, including alternative fuel systems, polymer composites, medical products, consumer products, and alarm monitoring software. Matt has extensive experience with IP-related disputes and litigation, including patent litigation. His representative patent litigation cases have involved technologies from a variety of fields, including automotive telematics, display systems, data processing systems, computer software, monitoring systems, textile chemical treatments, automotive glass, encryption technology, online and mobile financial service apps and computer systems, and health and wellness consumer products. Matt has experience assessing a client’s current cybersecurity and data privacy protocols and developing a comprehensive incident response plan to ensure compliance with applicable laws. In addition to his deep experience with IP enforcement, litigation and portfolio management matters, he has an active practice counseling clients on patent freedom-to-operate projects and the negotiation and preparation of different types of agreements, including license agreements, joint venture agreements, and development and supply agreements. Matt received a Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School. He graduated with honors from the University of Michigan with a degree in chemical engineering. He also holds an MBA from Wayne State University. In his spare time, Matt has coached his three children in Destination Imagination and Grosse Pointe Park Little League Baseball for several years. He describes coaching as a very rewarding and fun experience. Matt also enjoys boating on Lake St. Clair during the summer months with his wife and children. They have even boated to Cedar Pointe on several occasions!

For more than 40 years, Euel W. Kinsey, has focused his practice in representing victims of medical malpractice and auto negligence. His practice includes representing children and their families who sustained injuries during the birthing process as a result of negligence. Over the years, he has recovered millions for his clients. Thus far, Mr. Kinsey’s largest verdict was more than $21 million for a child injured at birth in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Mr. Kinsey has also had extensive experience and success representing military service members, veterans and their families who have been victims of medical malpractice. He has also successfully represented many victims of medical malpractice who were treated at Federally Funded Qualified Health Centers. Mr. Kinsey earned a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Michigan, with a Minor in Economics (1981), and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Detroit School of Law (1984). He is an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy Law School where he regularly teaches Medical Malpractice. Mr. Kinsey is a member of the Michigan and American Associations of Justice and is an active member of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group. He is also a member of the Negligence Section for the State Bar of Michigan and has served on the council for the State Bar of Michigan, Aviation Law Section, and is currently serving as the Chair. Mr. Kinsey is an accomplished Pilot and is very interested in aviation related issues. He was appointed to the National Advisory Board for the AOPA, ASN Program and currently serves as the Chair of that group. In 2005, Mr. Kinsey was awarded the Laurence A. Sharples Perpetual Award, a National recognition by the AOPA in recognition of his advocacy and work to preserve the Coleman A. Young International Airport. He routinely participates in Operation Good Cheer, an annual event where Christmas Presents are delivered. Over the years, Mr. Kinsey has given back to his community in many ways. He served as a Trustee for the Chippewa Valley School Board, and has sat on various other Non-Profit Boards, including serving many years as a Board Member of Lifeline Pilots, an organization dedicated to providing free transportation for patients who require distant medical treatment. He served as the Chair of Lifeline for two years. He has lectured to EMTs, paralegals and firefighters.

Ardiana Culaj joined Thurswell Law in 2009. She specializes in medical malpractice and birth injury litigation. Ms. Culaj is a second-generation attorney, following her parents, who served as a prosecutor and a judge in their native Kosovo. She earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in political science from Oakland University in 2003 and a law degree from Wayne State University in 2007. While in law school, she interned for Justice Marilyn Kelly of the Michigan Supreme Court and served as a student attorney in the Wayne State Disability Law Clinic. In 2015, Ms. Culaj was recognized as one of the top 30 women lawyers in Michigan, following her victory in the Court of Appeals on a wrongful death case involving a non-viable fetus (< 24 weeks gestation). Her determination and zealous representation resulted, for the first time in Michigan history, in the legal recognition of a wrongful death action on behalf of a non-viable fetus. Her major success in Simpson v. Pickens, et al, 311 Mich. App. 127 (2015) has helped pave the way for parents who seek justice and accountability for the loss of their non-viable fetus resulting from negligence. As a result of her efforts, families can seek damages such as the loss of love, affection, society, and companionship for the death of their loved one. Fewer than 10 other states recognize such claims.