09.21.2015

Bloomfield Hills, MI — September 21, 2015 — A comprehensive book that guides young defense lawyers through their earlier years of practice was recently published by the DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar (DRI) and features a chapter co-authored by Plunkett Cooney attorneys Mary Massaron and Olivia M. Paglia.

Targeted to associates and law clerks who are beginning their practice, the book, titled: “A Young Lawyer’s Guide to Defense Practice,” provides practical guidance and insights into virtually every area of trial practice and procedure. The Guide also addresses such important considerations as ethics and life in a law firm. Massaron and Paglia co-authored the chapter on persuasive writing.

“This was a tremendous opportunity for us to be involved in a resource that can help law clerks and new associates get their careers off to a successful start,” said Massaron, who serves as Appellate Law Practice Group Leader at Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s largest and most accomplished law firms. “The book is an insider’s guide that will give attorneys the foundation onto which they can solidly build their practice.”

The 27-chapter book provides tips on law firm life, ethics and conflicts, defending a claim, expert witnesses, discovery, evidence at trial, and various litigation topics, including motion practice, voir dire, opening statements and closing arguments, arguing motions and appeals, and writing an appellate brief.

A member of the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, Massaron served as President of the DRI in 2012 to 2013. She is a past chair of the Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of Michigan, DRI’s Appellate Advocacy Committee, and the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Council of Appellate Lawyers, a division of the Appellate Judges Conference. A member of the prestigious American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, Massaron co-chairs the Michigan Appellate Bench Bar Conference Foundation, an organization of Michigan appellate judges and lawyers. She is also a former chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs, a five-member committee that oversees preparation of ABA briefs for filing in the U.S. Supreme Court.

An active member of the DRI, the organization has named an award after Massaron, who has built a reputation as a mentor to new lawyers. The “Mary Massaron Award for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession” is conferred on someone each year at the DRI’s Women in the Law Seminar who has made significant efforts to advance women in the legal profession.

A member of the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, Olivia Paglia concentrates her practice in the area of insurance law. She routinely represents several major property and casualty insurance companies in coverage cases throughout the Midwest. Her coverage work includes handling a variety of issues, including environmental contamination, construction defect and high-exposure product liability claims.

Paglia is a member of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association (DMBA), the DMBA American Inns of Court, the Women Lawyers Association and the Young Lawyers Section of the State Bar of Michigan.

Plunkett Cooney is one of the few Midwest law firms with a dedicated team of appellate attorneys, who routinely handle cutting-edge appeals involving issues of first impression and seek to reverse adverse judgments. In addition to representation before state and federal appellate courts, the firm’s appellate attorneys provide a broad range of specialized services, including counsel during trial designed to optimally position cases for possible appeal.

Plunkett Cooney is recognized as one of the nation’s leading law firms for insurance coverage litigation. Several members of the firm’s Insurance Law Practice Group have been awarded the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. In addition to their litigation expertise, Plunkett Cooney attorneys work with their clients to develop new insurance products and to address emergent theories of legal liability.

Established in 1913, Plunkett Cooney employs 150 attorneys in nine Michigan cities and one each in Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana. The firm, which provides a range of transactional and litigation services, has achieved the highest rating (AV) awarded by Martindale-Hubbell, a leading, international directory of law firms.

For more information about the contributions of Massaron and Paglia to the DRI’s Young Lawyers Guide, contact Plunkett Cooney’s Director of Marketing and Business Development John Cornwell at (248) 901-4008; jcornwell@plunkettcooney.com.

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