Chris is a Senior Principal and Co-Founder of Ellis Porter with over thirteen years of experience practicing immigration law.  Prior to forming Ellis Porter, Chris managed a successful immigration practice specializing in corporate immigration law and also directed the immigration department for one of the largest law firms in Michigan.  He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association ("AILA") and has served as the Department of Labor Liaison for the Michigan AILA Chapter.  He also previously served as the Michigan AILA Chapter Treasurer.  He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan International Law Committee and the Oakland County Bar Association Immigration Law Committee.  Chris is also an Adjunct Professor at Oakland University, where he teaches Immigration Law for the Legal Assistant Program.  Chris was recently named to The Best Lawyers in America 2007 list in recognition of his expertise in immigration law. He got his undergraduate education at University of Detroit Mercy, and he received his Law School Education at Tulane University; New Orleans, Louisiana.

Deborah M. Barno, Administrative Judge, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Judge Barno has been with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission since 1994.   Prior to her appointment as judge, Barno was senior trial attorney for the commission.  She is currently responsible for adjudication of federal sector complaints of discrimination.  Judge Barno is a graduate of Oakland University and Detroit College of Law.  She teaches Employment Law for the Legal Assistant Program and is a frequent lecturer on the law as it relates to the employment relationship.

Walter Bieber, Attorney, Bieber & Czechowski, P.C.
Walter Bieber graduated With Distinction from the University of Michigan in 1973   and  Cum Laude from the Detroit College of Law in 1976.  With over 23 years of experience in private practice, his specialties are personal injury and litigation in all areas.  He has 10 years of teaching experience where his goal is to provide a lively setting to learn exactly what to do in the real world of law.

Eric T. Carver, Attorney, Dykema Gossett, P.L.L.C.
Eric is a resident of the Tax and Estates Group at Dykema Gossett, where  he specializes in estate and tax planning, including corporate and partnership tax transactions.  He has an undergraduate degree in finance and accounting from Wayne State University, a Masters in Business Administration and Juris Doctorate from University of Detroit and his LL.M. in Taxation from Wayne State University.  He teaches Estate Planning and Documents and Taxation of Estates and Trusts for the Legal Assistant Program and has published articles for Michigan Tax Lawyer and Michigan Bar Journal.

Ronald R. Fenwick, Attorney, UAW-Ford Legal Services Plan
Ron Fenwick teachers Probate Administration for the Legal Assistant Program  He is Staff Attorney for UAW-Ford Legal Services Plan where he specializes in administering   complex decedent's estates and estate planning.  His experience also includes working as Appeals Officer and Estate Tax Attorney for the Internal Revenue Service.   Ron has his undergraduate degree in business from Michigan State University, his law degree from University of Detroit, and his Master of Laws in Taxation from Wayne State University.

Suzanne K. Schultz, Legal Assistant, Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, P.C.
Suzanne is a graduate of the Paralegal Program at Oakland University and a legal assistant currently specializing in commercial litigation.  She has eighteen years in the legal profession, including six years of teaching continuing education courses for legal assistants.  She teaches Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALR) for our OU Paralegal Program. where her goal is to introduce students to the wealth of legal and law related information available on the internet and to help them evaluate its usefulness in specialized research.

Mark L. Gantz, Attorney, Hurwitz & Gantz, P.C.

Mark received his B.A. from Wayne State University in 1968, and his J.D., also from Wayne State in 1971. He has over 36 years of experience in private practice, concentrating his efforts primarily in Probate and Family Law. He is rated "A.V." by the Martindale Hubbell Law Directory. Mark has taught Legal Research and Writing in the Oakland University Legal Assistant Program for more than 32 years. He has also taught courses in Real Estate, Business Associations and Litigation, and has been a presenter at various seminars. Mark invites you visit his web site at:  Hurwitz & Gantz PC

J. Scot Garrison, J.D.  Scott is currently a Judicial Staff attorney for the Honorable Rae Lee Chabot at the Sixth Circuit Court in Oakland County. A partial list of his areas of research & writing include business, civil, premises liability, domestic/family and criminal law.  He also was in private practice in a variety of areas, including litigation, insurance and mass tort liability.

Ernest I. Gifford, Attorney, Gifford, Krass, Groh, Sprinkle, Patmore, Anderson & Citkowski, P.C.
As senior partner in the law firm Gifford, Krass, Groh, Sprinkle, Patmore, Anderson & Citkowski, Ernie Gifford has had a long and distinguished career as an intellectual property law practitioner.  Author and lecturer, he has been active in the Michigan Patent Law Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association and is a past Chair man of the Patent Section of the State Bar of Michigan.  He earned an undergraduate degree from Michigan  State University and a Juris Doctor degree (with high honors) from Wayne State University.  Ernie teaches Intellectual Property and Business Organizations for the Legal Assistant Program.

 Allan Gordon, Attorney-at-law
Allan Gordon has been a trial attorney in Michigan and Federal Courts since 1973.  An instructor/facilitator since 1979, he teaches courses in auto accident law, litigation, contract law, business law, intellectual property management, and employment law for Oakland University and University of Phoenix.   He is author of Manual for Auto Accident Law and Cases, currently in its 12th edition, and a contributing writer to Trial Handbook for Michigan Lawyers by  H. M. Philo.

Thomas J. Lynch, Attorney, General Motors.

Prior to his joining Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS) in 1998, Tom Lynch was a sole practitioner specializing in criminal proceedings and contract negotiation.  He is a graduate of John Carroll University and Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University.  In 1994 he was a participant in the National Criminal Defense College, an intensive small group workshop covering all aspects of the preparation and trial of a criminal defense case, taught by the leading practitioners of Criminal Defense in the United States.  For our OU Paralegal Program Tom teaches Criminal Law and Procedure, Issues in Domestic Violence, and Constitutional Law.

Fred M. Mester, Judge, 6^th Circuit Court
The honorable Judge Fred Mester has many awards and accolades to his name, including:

Recipient: Earl W. Kintner Award, Federal Bar Association; Michigan Corrections Association Judicial Award; John N. O'Brien Memorial Award for Distinguished Community Activities; Centennial Award; Honorary doctor of Laws Degree, Central Michigan University; NAACP 1997 Humanitarian Award.
He is President of the Central Michigan University Alumni Association; President of Board of Directors of William Booth Legal Aid Clinic  (Salvation Army); Chairman, Oakland County Community Corrections Board; National Council on Alcoholism, Detroit Board; Multiple Sclerosis Board; Founder, Reading to Reduce Recidivism. Fred teaches Substantive Law: Torts as well as several other courses and we are honored to have him teaching in our program.

Armando Ozuna, Attorney, UAW-Ford Legal Service Plan
Armando is an attorney with UAW-Ford Legal Service Plan where he specializes in real estate, bankruptcy and consumer litigation.  He began his legal career serving as law clerk for Wayne County Neighborhood Legal Services and Michigan Legal Services and later as staff attorney for Lakeshore Legal Services.  He graduated from Saginaw Valley State University and Wayne State University School of Law.  He also holds a Michigan Real Estate Broker license.  He currently teaches Real Property Transactions for the Paralegal Program.

P. David Palmiere, Attorney, Law Office of P. David Palmiere.
Dave Palmiere is an attorney in private practice.   He has been engaged in general litigation for over 30 years.  He currently teaches Introduction to the Law and Litigation III: Anatomy of a Lawsuit.  An instructor in the Paralegal Program for more than twenty years, Dave earned his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School.  

John Norris Stone, Miller Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC.

In 2007 we welcomed John N. Stone to the paralegal program faculty. John is currently a Manager of Trust and Estate Services at Miller Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC (on the web at: www.millercanfield.com) He is a graduate of  Wayne State School of Business Administration, and has also taught classes at Davenport University. John is a founding Member and Past Chair of the Legal Assistant Section of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, Past Chair of the State Bar of Michigan Legal Assistants Section, a Former Member of Paralegal Advisory Board, Davenport University, and we are delighted to have him teaching here at Oakland University.

Linda D. Wallace, Legal Assistant, Program Coordinator
Linda is a graduate of the Legal Assistant Program and has taught the Ethics class since 1986.  She has an undergraduate degree in Communications/English and a secondary teaching certificate from Western Michigan University.  Her career has taken her from teaching English in public and private schools to working as a real estate legal assistant for Miro, Miro and Weiner and a litigation legal assistant for Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen and Freeman.  Currently she is the Oakland University Paralegal Program Coordinator. 

Cynthia Whitcomb, Legal Office Administrator, Einhorn, Farrell & Ulanoff  PLC.

Cynthia Whitcomb is currently Legal Office Administrator for Einhorn, Farrell & Ulanoff  PLC., a former Staffing Manager for Plunkett & Cooney, P.C. and former Assistant Vice-President/Paralegal Analyst for Michigan National Corporation Legal Department. Cynthia received her Bachelor of Science degree at Rochester College, she is an OU Paralegal Program Graduate, she has her certificate in Human Resources from University of Phoenix and she received a graduate degree in Human Resources from Eastern Michigan University. We are pleased to welcome Ms. Whitcomb to the Paralegal Program Faculty and are pleased that she is teaching our Law Practice Management Course.

Paula M. Zimmer, J.D. Attorney, Michigan Poverty Law Program

Paula is currently a Staff Attorney/ Family Law Specialist at Michigan Poverty Law Program in Ann Arbor.  Before that, she was the executive director of Legal Aid of Central Michigan; her abiding interest in family law came from the four years she spent as a family law attorney in the Lansing legal aid program. During that time, Paula also taught family law to paralegals at Lansing Community College, which led to her teaching family law at Cooley Law School. She graduated from Detroit College of Law. Domestic violence legislation and Friend of the Court reform have been the two major focuses of her advocacy. Her experience in representing clients, and in teaching and supervising family law cases, have given her extensive credibility before legislative and administrative bodies as well as the State Bar of Michigan.

  Return to Home Page