It may interest you to know that we have an active Armenian Bar Association here in the metro Detroit area. If you look through the listings in the yellow pages, you will be impressed by the sheer number of attorneys whose names end in “ian,” male and female alike.
The exciting news is that the Armenian Bar Association will be holding its Mid-Year Meeting in downtown Detroit from Sept. 22-24. Plans have been made to assure that those attending will always remember Detroit as a city that treats its guests in a warm and welcoming Mid-Western fashion. You’ll be happy you decided to attend.
According to attorney Kathryn Ossian, a Bar Association Board member, the official kickoff reception will be held on Friday evening at the firm of Miller Canfield on Jefferson Ave. Guests will dine on delicious Middle Eastern cuisine with continuous entertainment by the Les Williams Trio playing Motown favorites. Jazz violinist, the incomparable Harry Hovakimian, will be offering sweet Armenian melodies.
On Saturday, the business meeting will take place at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, located on the Detroit River with Windsor, Ontario just across the river—a really lovely sight, particularly in the evening with thousands of lights reflecting off the river. The Renaissance Center is also General Motors’ world headquarters.
The first panel of the day will focus on “Birthright Armenia,” a non-profit organization that offers diasporan young adults the opportunity for true cultural immersion in Armenia. Panelists Linda Yepoyan, the executive director, and Mandy Ani Messer, a 2009 participant, will enlighten the audience about the organization and share their experiences in Armenia.
The second panel will be on “The Use of Economic Experts in Litigation.” Panelists Mick Kahayian, director of Stout Risius, will present the expert perspective, and attorney Richard Apkarian, partner, Dickinson Wright, will offer the litigator perspective on the topic. The final panel will discuss corporate compliance and the foreign corrupt practices act. Panelists Richard Hartunian, U.S. attorney, Albany, N.Y., Joe Papelian, deputy general counsel, Delphi Corporation, and Tom Cranmer, principal and managing director, Miller Canfield, will offer varying perspectives from the corporate, prosecutorial, and defense side of this important topic.
Saturday night’s optional dinner will be held at Fishbone’s in Detroit’s popular and colorful “Greektown.” Other optional events are also planned. On Thursday night, for example, you’ll be able to join the group in Miller Canfield’s Comerica Park suite to see the Detroit Tigers take on the Baltimore Orioles. On Friday, the group will take a tour of the historic Ford Motor Rouge factory, always an exciting and educational opportunity where visitors can see F-150 Trucks being assembled in a state-of-the-art plant.
Downtown Detroit offers three casinos for trying your luck, fine restaurants, a world-class art institute, and other cultural venues should one wish to extend his/her visit.
Registration is now open. Don’t miss out on the 2011 Mid-Year Meeting in Motown. For more information, go to www.armenianbar.org/events/details/135.
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Kathryn Ossian provided me with information on this upcoming event. She is currently the only Board member from Michigan, serving since May 2010. She is also chairing the planning committee for this meeting, assisted by eight Armenian attorneys located in southeast Michigan and one in Toronto, an associate in her firm’s Toronto office.
Ossian is a principal and leader of Miller Canfield’s Information Technology Team, as well as deputy leader of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group, with over 25 years of extensive experience negotiating and drafting software licensing agreements, distribution, maintenance and other information technology agreements, computer law, and intellectual property dispute resolution.
She is a certified faculty member at the University of Phoenix, teaching graduate-level business law courses. She is listed in the information technology law Section of “The Best Lawyers in America,” as well as in “Michigan Super Lawyers.” Ossian is a frequent speaker and has published several articles relating to her areas of practice. She graduated magna cum laude from the Detroit College of Law and has been a licensed attorney since 1984.
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The Armenian Bar Association was formed in 1989 to provide an arena for lawyers of Armenian heritage and other interested individuals to come together socially and professionally to address the legal concerns of the Armenian community.
Based in southern California are Edvin Minassian, Armenian Bar Association chair, and Jackie Boyadjian, executive director.
To receive the special room rate of $104 per night, available Thursday through Sunday, reference the Armenian Bar Association group code “abmabma.” Call the hotel at (313) 568-8000 or
(888) 236-2427. The deadline for reservations is Thurs., Sept. 1.
My thanks to Krista Lacata Haroutunian of Bingham Farms law firm of Haroutunian, Lacata, Haroutunian for introducing me to Kathryn Ossian of Miller Canfield, so that I could inform Weekly readers of the accomplishments of our fellow Hyes in the world of law.
Betty Apigian-Kessel
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