Ballenberger awarded legal association’s ‘Golden Gavel’

The Michigan Defense Trial Counsel (MDTC) recently announced that Plunkett Cooney medical malpractice attorney, Emily M. Ballenberger, was named as a 2009 recipient of the Young Lawyers’ Section – Golden Gavel Award.

A member of the firm’s Mount Clemens office, Ballenberger received the Golden Gavel during the MDTC Awards Banquet on Saturday, June 13 at Boyne Highlands in Harbor Springs, Michigan.

“Emily is an outstanding attorney and a quality person,” said D. Jennifer Andreou, Plunkett Cooney’s Medical Liability Practice Group Leader, who along with Plunkett Cooney partner Peter W. Peacock, nominated Ballenberger for the award. “She has obtained some great results for her clients, so this award is really well-deserved.” 

The MDTC was established in 1979 to enhance and promote the Defense Bar. It is a statewide association of attorneys representing individuals and corporations in civil litigation. The MDTC serves to facilitate a greater exchange of views and advance the interests of civil defense.

Golden Gavel candidates were selected from applications submitted this year and from the previous years that were automatically resubmitted. Nominees do not have to be a current member of the MDTC, however, each attorney must be a member in good standing with the State Bar of Michigan and serve as defense counsel. Key criteria for nominating an attorney for the Golden Gavel award include:

• Practicing law for less than 10 years
• Demonstrating significant contribution to professionalism and courtesy in the practice of law
• Demonstrating significant achievement to charitable endeavors, community involvement or pro bono representation
• Demonstrating significant achievement in the area of advancing “young attorneys” by way of mentoring, awards, civic leadership or otherwise
• Significant achievement within their area of practice as evidenced by their knowledge, skill and oral advocacy

A member of the Medical Liability Practice Group, Ballenberger focuses her practice primarily on the defense of physicians, physician’s assistants, hospitals and other healthcare professionals involved in medical malpractice. She also defends section 1983 litigation.

A magna cum laude graduate from Wayne State University Law School in 2004, she received her undergraduate degree, with highest honors, from Michigan State University James Madison College in 2001.

Admitted to practice in both state and federal courts, Ballenberger is a member of the Macomb County and American bar associations and the Healthcare Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan. She also actively supports the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and Wayne State University Law School’s Journal of Law and Society.

Established in 1913, Plunkett Cooney employs more than 150 attorneys in nine Michigan cities, Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana. The firm has achieved the highest rating (AV) awarded by Martindale-Hubbell, a leading, international directory of law firms and has received several awards naming the firm a top place to work in the legal industry.

For more information regarding Emily M. Ballenberger’s receipt of the MDTC “Golden Gavel,” contact the firm’s Practice Development Manager John Cornwell at (248) 901-4008.

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