Jeffrey Schroder Cannabis Healthcare Governmental Law Attorney Plunkett Cooney Bloomfield Hills: business law and litigation defense services

Bio

Jeffrey M. Schroder is a partner in Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office who maintains a wide ranging business, regulatory and litigation practice that includes the representation of numerous public- and private-sector clients.

A member of several substantive legal practice groups within the firm, Mr. Schroder serves as the leader of Plunkett Cooney’s Cannabis Industry Group. He has extensive experience advising municipalities, public authorities and private clients on complex regulatory, governance and litigation issues involving cannabis regulation, election law, municipal law, public‑private partnerships and health care compliance.

Mr. Schroder’s governmental law practice includes routine and specialized matters on behalf of municipalities such as drafting city charter amendments approved by voters and municipal election commission reform. He has also authored key ordinances including one city’s first anti‑discrimination, open government and responsible contractor ordinances, as well as an ordinance establishing a veterans’ advisory and memorial commission.

Since 2020, Mr. Schroder has served as special legal counsel to the city council in Warren, Michigan, attending every council meeting and guiding the elected officials through budget enforcement, charter interpretation, election law and policy development. He negotiated the intergovernmental agreement establishing the Warren Land Bank Authority for which he later became its general counsel. Mr. Schroder has also drafted workforce and housing ordinances and resolutions, enabling pilot redevelopment of vacant residential lots in Warren.

Mr. Schroder also serves as General Counsel to the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (Huntington Place), where he provides general corporate legal services involving all aspects of state and local regulatory compliance and related business issues. This includes license approvals, transactions, real estate and litigation. He negotiated a landmark public‑private partnership on behalf of the Authority for a connected 600‑room JW Marriott hotel with an equity stake for the entity.

In the area of cannabis law, Mr. Schroder serves as Cannabis Legal & Policy Advisor to the city of Detroit. In this role, he collaborates with the administrative team that oversees licensing and policy for Michigan’s largest municipal cannabis market. He has also handled dozens of licensing violations and related administrative hearings with the Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) at the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Review (MOAHR).

Representative Client Work

Successfully obtained a temporary restraining order to enforce a city‑adopted budget (Mich. Ct. App. Dkt. 361288)
Granted writs of mandamus compelling ballot changes and enforcing charter term limits (Dkts. 354663, 365488)
Successfully defended a city council president in a quo warranto action, verifying the president had the legal right to exercise the power of the office (Dkt. 365681)
Prevailed in a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that involved a federal civil‑rights claim arising from a city charter term‑limits amendment, which prevented a former mayor from running for a fifth term (Case No. 23‑1826)
Assists clients with the procurement, administration and regulation of government contracts; examples include contracts between a nonprofit organization and municipalities for community media services and contracts between a waste hauler and municipalities for waste collection services.
Assists clients with municipal and state applications for cannabis business licenses
Successfully defended two elected officials against recall petition language before County Elections Commission
Assists cannabis industry clients with land use and zoning approvals
Assists clients with hemp grower registration and hemp processor-handler licenses with the Michigan Department of Agriculture
Advocates for cannabis business licenses and land use approvals before state and municipal boards and agencies
Litigation of cannabis industry disputes, including zoning and land use denials
Prosecuted complex felony health care fraud and embezzlement cases; examples include conviction of county mental health official for fraud by approving bogus consulting agreements and conviction of Oakland County nursing home worker for embezzling over $460,000 from patients
Represents health care providers and pharmacies in audits and investigations by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG)
Represented the state in complex global civil litigation involving allegations of health care fraud; negotiated, drafted, and recommended settlements to the Department of Health and Human Services; represented the state in dozens of civil fraud cases that produced over $40 million in recoveries
Under the Medicaid False Claims Act, produced Michigan’s first monetary recovery for civil damages suffered by a Managed Care Organization (MCO) as a result of provider fraud
Experienced in health care provider fraud cases in numerous areas, including hospitals, pharmacies, mental and behavioral health, dental, nursing homes and providers with potential Stark and Anti-Kickback violations
Served on municipal RFP committees and negotiated contracts; examples include a $9.1 million contract for new automated water meters, a banking services contract and a contract for performance management and citizen response software
Represented Planning Commission; assisted successful adoption of a zoning ordinance enabling the multi-use development of large parcel of land, and drafted a zoning ordinance that heightened development standards for used car lots
Represented Brownfield Redevelopment Authority; worked with petitioner to obtain state approval for a tax exemption certificate to redevelop dilapidated hotel into a modern independent and assisted living facility
Represented Library Commission; assisted with consolidation of libraries and sale of library property with successful rezoning condition
Handled municipal water and sewer issues; reviewed engineering contracts and easement agreements; negotiated 30-year contract extension with Detroit Water and Sewerage Department; provided advice on water shutoffs and revised job descriptions for union employees that enabled cross-training and greater efficiency
On behalf of municipality, successfully petitioned Michigan Department of Corrections to relocate sex offenders from a halfway house near a female youth volleyball academy
On behalf of municipality, assisted successful appeal of HUD denial to spend Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) grant funds on a proposed community center in an economically depressed area
Extensive experience with Election Law matters related to candidate eligibility and providing advice to Election Commission
Prosecuted thousands of municipal criminal and ordinance violations; extensive experience drafting ordinances and prosecuting violations related to zoning, blight, and property maintenance

Professional Development

NAMFCU Health Care Fraud Annual Training Program, Salt Lake City, UT, 2014
Immigration Training by ICE Agents in Detroit, 2013
NAMFCU Health Care Fraud Global Case Training Program, Kansas City, KS, 2013
ICLE Annual Health Law Institute, Plymouth, MI, 2011, 2013
American Bar Association National Institute on Health Care Fraud, Miami, FL, 2011
National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU) Medicaid Fraud 101 Training Program, Santa Fe, NM, 2011

Professional Affiliations

Incorporated Society of Irish-American Lawyers
State Bar of Michigan (Health Care Law Section - Appointed to Governing Council, 2017 - 2020; Legislative Committee, Chair, 2017 - 2018; Marijuana Law Section)

Community Involvement

Elks Lodge #1588, Ferndale, MI
Volunteer for Election Day integrity efforts (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2012)

Publications/Articles and Lectures

"Smoker on the Water," Presenter, ALFA International's 2025 International Client Seminar, Tucson, Arizona, March 7, 2025
"Ballots, Polling, Firearms Oh My! A Primer on New Laws along with Old Issues Plaguing our Clerks and Election Officials," Presenter, State Bar of Michigan Government Law Section Annual Winter Education Seminar, Feb. 9, 2024
“Ask the Experts,” MiCIA magazine, Volume 5 #2 2023
"Can the Cannabis Industry Continue to Stay the Same?" Panelist, Turnaround Management Association West Michigan Annual Luncheon Series, Feb. 21, 2023
"Find Your Funding," Panelist, Detroit Regional Chamber's Cannabusiness Series, Jan. 13, 2022
"Marijuana Retail: The Struggle is Real(ty)," Presenter, Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants Cannabis Summit, Troy, Michigan, Dec. 7, 2021
"Cutting Through the Haze: Marijuana in Michigan," Presenter, Institute of Continuing Legal Education 25th Annual Health Law Institute, March 8, 2019
"Cannabis - From Cradle to Grave," Presenter, Risk Management Association West Michigan Chapter seminar, Grand Rapids, Michigan, May 15, 2018
"Medical Marijuana in Michigan: Navigating State and Local Regulations,” Presenter, State Bar of Michigan, Health Care Law Section webinar, May 3, 2017
"The Latest in Health Care Fraud Enforcement," Featured Speaker, Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants Anti-Fraud Conference, May 21, 2013