Plunkett Cooney partner and appellate attorney Mary Massaron was recently named a 2026 John P. Jacobs Appellate Advocacy Award winner by the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel (MDTC).

Massaron will receive the award during an MDTC awards ceremony on March 19 at The Gem Theatre in Detroit. She is one of two attorneys who were selected to receive the award, which was established in 2017 and named after one of the state’s most accomplished appellate attorneys and MDTC members.

The John P. Jacobs Appellate Advocacy Award honors civil appellate attorneys who are considered among the best appellate advocates practicing in Michigan’s state and federal courts. Candidates are selected based on their integrity, professionalism, experience, intelligence, creativity, judgment, personality, sensitivity, civility, writing and advocacy skills. Additional considerations include community involvement efforts to educate young attorneys, support for the defense bar, involvement with the less fortunate in society, and vigorous ethical representation of clients both in and outside the courtroom.

A former law clerk to Justice Patricia J. Boyle of the Michigan Supreme Court, Massaron has handled or supervised the handling of over 400 appeals, resulting in approximately 150 published opinions, including over 100 appeals in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Massaron’s appellate advocacy is widely known. She has won numerous victories before the Michigan Supreme Court for public- and private-sector clients, overturning multi-million-dollar judgments and establishing new legal principles. 

In addition to this honor, Michigan Lawyers Weekly selected Massaron as one of its 2023 Influential Women of Law and a Leader in the Law in 2009. She has twice received the Western Michigan Cooley Law Review Distinguished Brief Award for the best briefs filed in the Michigan Supreme Court. She has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Appellate Law and has been repeatedly acknowledged as one of Michigan’s top 100 lawyers, top 50 business lawyers, top 25 women business lawyers, top 50 female lawyers, and top appellate law practitioners by Michigan Super Lawyers. She was recognized as the Best Lawyers 2017 and 2021 Appellate Practice “Lawyer of the Year” in Bloomfield Hills, and DBusiness magazine named her top appellate lawyer for five years.

Established in 1913, Plunkett Cooney is a leading provider of business law and litigation services to clients in the private and public sectors. The firm employs attorneys in seven Michigan cities, Chicago, Illinois, Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana.

Plunkett Cooney’s Appellate Law Practice Group consists of attorneys who practice exclusively in this complex and high stakes area of law. Their experience includes serving as lead counsel in more than 1,500 cases decided by state and federal appellate courts, including all appellate courts in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Connecticut, Iowa, and California, as well as numerous federal circuit courts of appeal.

Plunkett Cooney has achieved the highest rating (AV) awarded by Martindale-Hubbell, a leading, international directory of law firms. Plunkett Cooney has also received national recognition by Best Lawyers^® as one of the 2026 “Best Law Firms” in the nation.

For more information about Mary Massaron’s selection as a 2026 John P. Jacobs Appellate Advocacy Award winner, contact John Cornwell of the firm’s Practice Development Department at (248) 901-4008; jcornwell@plunkettcooney.com.

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