11.03.2009

Mary Massaron, a partner of Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s oldest and largest law firms, was recently elected Second Vice President of the Defense Research Institute (DRI).

Massaron , who currently serves as Plunkett Cooney’s Appellate Law Practice Group Leader and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors, was elected to the executive post during the DRI annual meeting in Chicago on Oct. 7-11. Her selection took place in Chicago at DRI's Annual Meeting, which was planned by a steering committee that she chaired. In keeping with the DRI’s leadership protocol, Massaron will become the organization’s president in 2012.

“Mary’s election to this DRI leadership position is significant and well deserved,” said Plunkett Cooney’s President and CEO Henry B. Cooney. “It’s a testament to Mary's leadership skills, years of dedication to the DRI and her national reputation as a leading appellate attorney.”

Known as “the Voice of the Defense Bar,” DRI is an international organization of attorneys dedicated to the defense of the interests of businesses and individuals in civil litigation. DRI provides educational and informational resources to its members and offers many opportunities for liaison among defense trial lawyers, corporate America and state and local defense organizations.

Massaron, who previously served as a law clerk to former Michigan Supreme Court Associate Justice Patricia J. Boyle, practices in Plunkett Cooney’s Detroit office. One of the firm’s top appellate attorneys, Massaron Ross has over 50 published opinions to her credit.

The Best Lawyers in America® (Copyright 2009 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.) has honored Massaron with its “Best Lawyer” title for three consecutive years. Michigan Super Lawyers magazine has also honored Massaron for three consecutive years and included her among its top 100 attorneys and its top 50 women lawyers in Michigan. Her other significant honors include membership in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and designation by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as a 2008 “Lawyer of the Year.” 

Massaron serves as First Chair of the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society Advocates Guild, Co-Chair of the Michigan Appellate Bench Bar Conference Foundation, Chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Appellate Practice Section and Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs, the five-member committee that oversees preparation of ABA briefs for filing in state and federal appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

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, they provide a broad range of specialized services, including counsel during trial designed to optimally position cases for possible appeal.

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

For more information about Mary Massaron’s election as Second Vice President of the Defense Research Institute, contact the firm’s Practice Development Manager John Cornwell at (248) 901-4008.

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