Foster Swift Announces 2009 New Shareholders

The law firm of Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith, P.C. is pleased to announce the appointment of Pamela C. Dausman, Joseph E. Kozely, Jr., Kirsten M. McNelly, and Andrew C. Vredenburg to income shareholders. All were previously associates with the firm.

Pamela Dausman was a summer associate with Foster Swift in 2001. After graduating magna cum laude from Michigan State University, Detroit College of Law, Pamela joined the firm’s General Litigation Practice Group in the Lansing office. She also received her undergraduate degree from Michigan State University.

Ms. Dausman practices primarily with the General Litigation Practice Group, with experience handling a variety of insurance defense matters, commercial litigation matters, and employment litigation matters. Pamela’s experience in insurance defense includes first and third party no-fault claims, insurance coverage disputes, and property defense claims. She is admitted to practice in Michigan, and is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the American Bar Association, the Ingham County Bar Association, U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan and U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Joseph Kozley, Jr. joined Foster Swift’s General Litigation Practice Group in 2002. He received his bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from the University of Detroit and his M.S.W. and J.D., cum laude, from Wayne State University. His practice areas include medical malpractice defense, general liability litigation, and third party audits, as well as health care, mental health, and child advocacy law. He is a member of the Detroit, Oakland County and American Bar Associations and the State Bar of Michigan.

Kirsten McNelly is a member of Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith P.C.’s General Litigation Practice Group. Her practice consists of general litigation, focusing on environmental law, (including litigation under CERCLA, NREPA and the Michigan Environmental Protection Act); health care; medical malpractice defense; and family law, (including custody, adoption, and termination of parental rights). Ms. McNelly completed both her undergraduate studies and her law degree at Brigham Young University.

Ms. McNelly is admitted to practice by the State Bar of Michigan, along with the Eastern and Western Federal Districts of Michigan. She is a member of American Bar Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association, the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association, and the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel. She is an active participant with the Ingham County Bar Association (where she has served on the Board of Directors), and has served as President of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan: Mid-Michigan Region. Ms. McNelly has been a member of the State Bar of Michigan’s Character and Fitness Committee, the Ingham County Bar Association’s Bench/Bar Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors of Highfields, an organization dedicated to bettering the lives of at-risk youth and their families.

Andrew Vredenburg is a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group, where he practices primarily in the areas of Bankruptcy, Creditor Rights and Receiverships, Business Entity Selection, Organization and Planning, Collections, Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Environmental Law, Municipalities, Real Estate Development and Transactions, Trade Secret and Non-compete Contracts, and Zoning and Land Use. He received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in Multi-Disciplinary Studies and his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Detroit School of Law. Andrew is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the American Bar Association and the Grand Rapids Bar Association. He is admitted to practice law in Michigan and in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan. He currently serves as Vice-Chair to the Cannon Township Planning Commission, and is the Chairman of the Cannon Township Zoning Board of Appeals.

Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith, P.C. is a law firm founded on the 107 year-old tradition of high quality service based on experience, performance and results. With offices in Lansing, Farmington Hills, Grand Rapids, Detroit and Marquette the firm’s attorneys provide general, local and special counsel to businesses and individuals throughout the Midwest.