03.10.2026

The members of the Board of Directors of Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s oldest and most accomplished law firms, recently elected partners Audrey J. Forbush, Michael P. Ashcraft, Jr. and Jeffrey S. Hengeveld to board leadership positions.

During the firm’s February board meeting, Forbush was elected chair with Hengeveld taking over the role of senior vice-president, a position previously held by Forbush. Ashcraft was reelected secretary/treasurer. All three will serve one-year terms.

The managing partner of Plunkett Cooney's Flint office and member of the firm’s Governmental Law Practice Group, Forbush focuses her busy trial practice in the areas of employment and municipal litigation with particular expertise on the defense of municipalities in police liability, discrimination and harassment matters. 

Forbush is a member of the State Bar of Michigan’s Governmental Law Section and the Genesee County Bar Association’s Public Corporation Section. She serves as legal advisor to the Michigan Law Enforcement Action Forum, an organization consisting of select law enforcement executives throughout the state. Forbush is also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), which is an invitation-only national association of over 7,000 highly experienced trial lawyers and judges, and she is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society limited to 3,500 members nationwide.

Forbush received her law degree, magna cum laude, from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in 1988 and her undergraduate degree from Central Michigan University in 1984.

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 judges, attorneys, accountants and their firms in professional liability and responsibility matters. A partner in the Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office, Ashcraft also represents insurance brokers and agents, securities brokers and dealers, real estate brokers and agents, investment advisors, officers and directors, and notaries public in complex litigation in state and federal courts.

Ashcraft graduated, cum laude, from Michigan State University College of Law in 1992 and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1987. He is a member of several professional organizations, including ABOTA, the State Bar of Michigan’s Professional Ethics Committee, the American Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Liability and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers.

A member of Plunkett Cooney’s board of directors since 2016 and co-leader of the Professional Liability Practice Group, Hengeveld has a diverse law practice. He primarily represents attorneys and accountants in complex litigation and ethics matters. Hengeveld also handles class action lawsuits and a variety of commercial litigation in both state and federal courts.

Hengeveld, a partner in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, received both his law and undergraduate degrees from Michigan State University in 2003 and 1999, respectively. Hengeveld is member of the Oakland County, American and Federal bar associations, as well as the State Bar of Michigan, ALFA International and the members’ attorney program of the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.

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 eight Michigan cities, Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; and Indianapolis, Indiana.

Plunkett Cooney has received the highest rating (AV) awarded by Martindale-Hubbell, a leading peer review service, and has been recognized for many consecutive years by Best Lawyers as one of the nation’s leading law firms.

For more information about Plunkett Cooney’s new board officers, contact John Cornwell of the firm’s Practice Development Department at (248) 901-4008; jcornwell@plunkettcooney.com.

####