Maddin Hauser Forms Success Through Empowerment and Engagement (SEE) Committee to Support Firm Diversity and Inclusion
Maddin Hauser is pleased to announce that its attorneys have formed its new committee, the Maddin Hauser Success through Empowerment and Engagement (“SEE”) Committee, which will be focused on promoting diversity and inclusion at the firm. The mission of the SEE Committee is to maintain and enhance a law firm environment and culture where attorneys from diverse backgrounds can succeed, achieve and lead internally at the firm and externally in the community, to improve recruitment, retention and advancement of attorneys from diverse backgrounds, and to promote business and personal development, business connections and networking activities. As an initial initiative, the SEE Committee has activated its women attorneys, who have been engaging in conversations that are building community, leadership and business – in line with the goals of the SEE Committee. The SEE Committee is chaired by Michelle C. Harrell, Esq. and Kaitlin A. Brown, Esq.
The announcement was made by the firm’s President and CEO Steven D. Sallen: “As part of our firm’s long-standing efforts to support societal equity and fairness, we remain committed to increasing and honoring the diversity of our attorneys and other employees, and supporting initiatives for inclusion in the legal community and in society. The formation and activities of our SEE Committee are an action step forward towards honoring our commitment.”
Michelle C. Harrell, Esq., is an equity shareholder, Executive Committee member and Chair of the firm’s Complex and General Litigation Practice Group. She received her J.D. from Wayne Law School in 1993. Harrell has been recognized as a Michigan Leading Lawyer in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Land Use, Zoning & Condemnation Law and Real Estate Law: Commercial, and was named a Top Lawyer by DBusiness Magazine for successive years since 2010 in the areas of Real Estate and Litigation. She has also been named one of the 2017 Most Notable Women Lawyers in Michigan by Crain’s Detroit Business, and has been recognized among Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Women in the Law” for 2020 and Leading Lawyers (2016 – 2021), and Corp! Magazine’s Most Valuable Professionals in 2021. Harrell obtained one of the largest Jury Verdicts & Settlements in Michigan in 2018 as reported by Michigan Lawyers’ Weekly. She is an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, and a case evaluator and ADR provider in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne Counties. Harrell is also active with community social organizations such as The Arc, Living Arts Detroit, American Red Cross for Southeastern Michigan, and the Hydrocephalus Association.
Kaitlin A. Brown, Esq., is a shareholder in the firm’s Corporate and Employment practice group and member of the Executive Committee. Specializing in employment law, Brown focuses primarily on counseling employers to take proactive measures to prevent more costly claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and improper payment of wages. She was recognized in the Oakland County Executive’s Elite 40 Under 40 Class of 2020, was named the 2018 Regeana Myrick Outstanding Young Lawyer by the State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section, has been recognized among Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s 2016 Up and Coming Lawyers, and named a Michigan Super Lawyers® Rising Star from 2014 to 2020. As Chair of the Oakland County Bar Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Brown has coordinated a series of monthly presentations on topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and also worked with a team of attorneys to develop a series of three upcoming workshops to increase awareness of unconscious bias, micro-aggressions and allyship.
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