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Plunkett Cooney elects officers to board of directors

04.30.2019

At a recent meeting of the board of directors of Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s oldest and largest law firms, three members were elected to officer positions. Partners Michael S. Bogren, Michael P. Ashcraft Jr. and Audrey J. Forbush were elected to one-year terms as chairman, secretary/treasurer and senior vice president, respectively.

Ashcraft, who serves as a co-leader of Plunkett Cooney’s Professional Liability Practice Group, is one of the state’s leading professional liability attorneys. He concentrates his practice primarily on the defense of attorneys, accountants, and their firms on professional liability and responsibility matters. A partner in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, he also represents insurance brokers and agents, securities brokers, real estate brokers and agents, investment advisors, officers and directors, and notaries public in professional liability cases in state and federal courts.

Admitted to state and federal courts in Michigan and Nebraska, Ashcraft graduated, cum laude, from Michigan State University College of Law in 1992. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1987. Ashcraft is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Oakland County Bar Association’s Negligence Section, the State Bar of Michigan’s Professional Ethics Committee and the American Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Liability.

Bogren, who is the managing partner of Plunkett Cooney’s Kalamazoo office, has been a member of the firm’s board of directors since 2003, serving as chair since 2012. He is a member of Plunkett Cooney’s Governmental Law Practice Group, and he focuses his practice in the areas of municipal law, civil rights and labor and employment law.

A 1982 cum laude graduate of University of Detroit School of Law, Bogren has extensive experience representing municipalities in both state and federal court claims involving police liability, due process matters, first amendment issues, Michigan Open Meetings and Freedom of Information Act violations, zoning disputes and employment law.

The managing partner of Plunkett Cooney's Flint office, Audrey J. Forbush focuses her practice primarily in the area of municipal liability with particular expertise in police pursuits, excessive force, civil rights, whistleblower claims, labor and employment issues, zoning and personal injury. In addition to her municipal practice, Forbush has extensive experience in the area of professional liability where she routinely defends physicians and hospitals in malpractice claims.

Forbush is a member of the public corporation section of the Michigan and the Genesee County bar associations, and s serves as legal advisor to the Law Enforcement Action Forum, an organization consisting of select law enforcement executives throughout the state of Michigan. Forbush received her law degree, magna cum laude, from the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in 1988 and her undergraduate degree from Central Michigan University in 1984.

Established in 1913, Plunkett Cooney is a leading provider of transactional and litigation services to clients in the private and public sectors. The firm employs approximately 150 attorneys in eight Michigan cities, Chicago, Illinois, Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana. Plunkett Cooney has achieved the highest rating (AV) awarded by Martindale-Hubbell, a leading, international directory of law firms. The firm was also recently selected by Crain’s Detroit Business as its inaugural Law Firm of the Year.

For more information about Plunkett Cooney’s newly-elected board officers, contact the firm’s Director of Marketing & Business Development John Cornwell at (248) 901-4008 or via email at jcornwell@plunkettcooney.com.

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