Gage M. Selvius

Practice Areas

Education

Michigan State University College of Law
East Lansing, Michigan
J.D., summa cum laude, 2021 
Order of the Coif                   
Michigan State Law Review, Staff

University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
B.A., summa cum laude, Political Science and Economics, 2018

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Litigation Attorney

Gage is an associate attorney working primarily with the Litigation and Trial Practice and Family Law Teams. He has experience in a variety of litigation issues including antitrust matters, property disputes and environmental claims. Gage is a skilled researcher with additional experience in tax disputes, divorce, child custody, and parenting time matters.

Gage served as a law clerk for the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Michigan while in law school. He received a full tuition Presidential Scholarship to the University of Alabama, earning President’s or Dean’s list honors for all eight semesters. 

Justin M. Wolber

Practice Areas

Industries

Education

University of Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame, Indiana
J.D., cum laude, 2021
Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy

Ferris State University
Big Rapids, Michigan
B.S., summa cum laude, Psychology, 2017

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Court Admissions

All Michigan state courts

United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

 

Litigation Attorney

Justin is member of the Litigation and ADR Team. He has experience in several areas of the law, including corporate, litigation, intellectual property, and data privacy and mobility matters. He represents clients in both state and federal courts in matters including corporate governance and contract disputes, commercial and class action disputes, and intellectual property litigation, among other types of matters.

In addition to his commercial litigation practice, Justin assists clients in corporate matters, including reviewing and negotiating supply agreements, assisting clients in intellectual property protection matters, and helping clients navigate state and federal data privacy compliance measures.

Justin has also served as in-house general counsel at a multi-national technology company and brings a unique understanding of the issues facing large company legal departments.

While in law school, Justin was a member of Notre Dame’s Jessup International Law Moot Court team and participated in Notre Dame’s London Law Program.

Experience

Successfully represented and assisted clients in intellectual property litigation, enforcement matters, and proceedings before the United States Courts and the Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution (UDRP) administrative body.

Successfully represented an individual owner in a declaratory judgment action regarding the rights and ownership in a patent.

Conducted analysis and negotiated several commercial contract and master services agreements on the supply side.

Successfully represented plaintiffs in obtaining a judgment in a construction breach of contract dispute.

Trial counsel for an individual defendant in a breach of contract and business dispute.

Represented an agricultural plaintiff in challenging the rates charged by an energy company in an administrative proceeding.

Community Involvement

Grand Rapids Bar Association, Young Lawyers Section, Secretary, 2022 – 2023

Grand Rapids Junior Chamber of Commerce, 2022 Board Member

Hillman Advocacy Clinic held by the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, 2022

Christopher A. Aguilar

Christopher A. Aguilar

Education

Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, Michigan
B.A., Accounting

Director of Finance

Chris Aguilar oversees the firm’s accounting department. He has over 18 years of public accounting and senior executive finance experience. He is a Certified Public Accountant and has experience in both industry and public accounting, including serving as audit manager for a large accounting firm and as CFO for a private company.

Certifications

State of Michigan, Certified Public Accountant

Staci R. DeRegnaucourt

Staci R. DeRegnaucourt

Practice Areas

Industries

Education

Michigan State University College of Law
East Lansing, Michigan
J.D., magna cum laude, 2011

Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
B.S., Civil & Environmental Engineering, 2008

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Court Admissions

All Michigan state courts

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Intellectual Property Attorney

Staci is a registered patent attorney with an engineering background, who provides a full range of intellectual property services, including trademark, copyright, and patent clearance, procurement, licensing, and enforcement; anti-counterfeiting; IP portfolio and brand management; startup consulting; IP transactions and technology transfers; and IP due diligence. She serves as co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Team.

Serving a diverse client group including Fortune 100 companies, SMEs, start-ups, and solo entrepreneurs, including a variety of well-known and famous brands, Staci maintains a business-minded, client-centric, holistic, and worldwide approach to intellectual property. Staci understands that clients invest in intellectual property in order to protect and improve their marketplace position, and she works to strategically compile intellectual property portfolios, unique to the client, that not only boast valuable brick-and-mortar intellectual property rights, but that also allow such intellectual property rights to be commercialized, enforced, and leveraged as revenue-generating and market-safeguarding tools.

Staci advises clients that operate in the mechanical, electro-mechanical, and material engineering arts and has prepared and prosecuted utility patent applications in a variety of technology areas including: OEM and aftermarket automotive systems, components, and control strategies for conventional (ICE) vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV); HVAC systems; energy absorption devices; structural barriers and traffic management systems; coastline restoration products and apparatuses; industrial equipment; tooling for manufacturing systems; manufacturing systems and processes; automation systems; robotic components; medical devices; building products; consumer goods; and sporting goods and equipment.

Staci also assists clients in a broad range of market sectors, to procure and enforce design patent and trade dress rights for the ornamental characteristics embodied in, or applied to, their respective products including, unique product configurations; unique product ornamentation; ornamental product packaging; computer-generated icons; and static, dynamic, and animated graphical user interfaces (GUIs).

Staci also attends to all aspects of commercial agreements and technology transfers involving technology
or intellectual property, and routinely structures, writes, negotiates, and advises in commercial and transactional contexts on a variety of technology agreements including joint development agreements, technology research and collaboration agreements, technology supply agreements, and technology
licensing agreements with regard to traditional IP, software, SaaS, PaaS, and the like.

Moreover, Staci routinely counsels clients in domestic and international trademark, trade dress, unfair competition, false advertising, and domain name matters including the selection and adoption of trademarks, the management and prosecution of trademark portfolios, and the worldwide enforcement of trademark rights related to traditional brand management strategies, anti-counterfeiting, and cybersquatting. Staci also represents clients in trademark opposition, cancellation, and appeal proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and coordinates such matters with foreign counsel internationally.

Staci has also represented clients in intellectual property litigation, enforcement matters, and proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the International Trade Commission (ITC), Copyright Claims Board (CCB), Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution (UDRP) administrative bodies, and United States courts.

Honors and Recognitions

Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Go To Lawyer for Intellectual Property Law, 2022

Michigan Super Lawyers®, Rising Star, Intellectual Property, 2017 – 2023

World Trademark Review, WTR 1000, World’s Leading Trademark Professional, 2015 – 2024

World Trademark Review, WTR 1000, Global Leaders, 2019 – 2023

DBusiness Magazine, Top Lawyers, Intellectual Property & Patent Law, 2016

Professional Affiliations

Michigan State University College of Law, Adjunct Professor of Law – International Intellectual Property

International Trademark Association, Non-Traditional Marks Committee, 2024 – Present

International Trademark Association, Designs Committee, 2020 – 2024

Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association

Michigan Intellectual Property Inn of Court

Society of Women Engineers

State Bar of Michigan

Publications

Article: “Verified or Not? The Inform Consumers Act and the Future of E-Commerce Marketplaces.” The Grand Rapids Lawyer (May 2023)

Comment, “I Can Do Bad All By Myself: A Proposal for Streamlining the Claim Construction Process in Patent Litigation,” 38 Rutgers Computer & Tech. L.J.1 (2011)

Comment, “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better & Without Consequences: The Public University Monopoly on Research Technologies and the Educational Market,” 2010 MICH. St. L. REV. 471 (2010).

Presentations

Panelist, Communicating the Importance of Brand Protection Across the Enterprise or Organization, Brand Protection Strategy Summit (2024), Hosted by the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection at Michigan State University.

Guest Speaker – IP Lawyer Lunch Series, Michigan State University College of Law (Fall 2022)

Guest Speaker – Trademark Counterfeiting and Gray Market Goods, Trademark Counterfeiting Course 533Y, Michigan State University College of Law (Spring 2021).

Panelist, E-Commerce and Counterfeits:  Evolving Consumer Behaviors, A Brand’s New World (2020), Hosted by the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection at Michigan State University.

Panelist, Distribution and Retail, World IP Day – Bridging the Intersection of Intellectual Property and Regulations (2019), Hosted by the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection at Michigan State University

Richard R. Symons

Richard R. Symons

Practice Areas

Education

Wayne State University Law School
Detroit, Michigan
J.D., 1989

Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
B.S., cum laude, 1986

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Court Admissions

All Michigan state courts

Labor and Employment Attorney

Rick is a member of Varnum’s Labor and Employment Practice Team. He focuses on the defense of employers in workers’ compensation litigation, from managing contested cases in an aggressive and efficient manner to assessing cost-containment methods. He represents employers at all levels of the court system, including the Workers’ Compensation Appellate Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court.

Rick has handled multiple Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) inspections and appeals, including appeals of citations following a complaint, serious injury or death of an employee.

Honors and Recognitions

Best Lawyers in America®, Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers, since 2005

Grand Rapids Magazine’s Top Lawyers, Workers Compensation Law, 2019 and 2020

Leading Lawyers, Employment Law – Management

Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated

Professional Affiliations

Grand Rapids Bar Association

State Bar of Michigan

Community Involvement

Certified soccer referee

Registered Michigan high school baseball umpire

Youth baseball coach

Youth soccer coach

John W. Sturgis

John W. Sturgis

Practice Areas

Education

University of Iowa College of Law
Iowa City, Iowa
J.D., summa cum laude, 2014
Order of the Coif
Iowa Law Review, Vol. 99, Managing Editor

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
B.A., cum laude, 2011
James B. Angell Scholar

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Court Admissions

All Michigan state courts

Real Estate Attorney

John is a member of Varnum’s Real Estate Practice Team. He regularly assists clients with real estate sales and acquisitions, commercial leasing matters on behalf of both landlords and tenants, and real estate financing transactions. 

Experience

Prepared and negotiated multiple leases on behalf of statewide hospital system as both tenant and landlord.

Negotiated $2 million annual office lease on behalf of large insurance brokerage client.

Drafted documents and coordinated the closing of a $20 million shopping center sale involving the assumption of existing financing.

Assisted as bank counsel in annual Public School Academy State Aid Revenue Notes program.

Honors and Recognitions

Best Lawyers in America®, Ones to Watch, Construction Law, Real Estate Law, 2024

Grand Rapids Magazine’s Top Lawyers, Real Estate Law, since 2021

Professional Affiliations

Grand Rapids Bar Association

National Association of Bond Lawyers

State Bar of Michigan

 

Presentations

John W. Sturgis VII, Help! I Need Somebody! (Or Do I?): A Discussion of Community Caretaking and Assistance SeizuresUnder Iowa Law, 99 Iowa L. Rev 1841 (2014), cited by the Iowa Supreme Court in State v. Coffman, 914 N.W.2d 240, 258 (Iowa 2018)

Fredric A. Sytsma

Fredric A. Sytsma

Practice Areas

Education

University of Michigan Law School
Ann Arbor, Michigan
J.D., 1968

Michigan State University
Lansing, Michigan
B.A., 1964

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Court Admissions

All Michigan state courts

United States Tax Court

Estate Planning Attorney

Fred is a member of the Estate Planning Practice Team. He has been assisting his clients with their estate planning needs since he first began his practice, and during that time has handled a wide variety of estate settlements and estate settlement issues. His particular focus is counseling clients on techniques to minimize estate and gift taxes, and drafting documents to accomplish that objective. Fred is also a trusted personal advisor to many of the families he has worked with over the years.

Honors and Recognitions

American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, fellow

Best Lawyers in America®, Trusts and Estates, since 1987

Grand Rapids Magazine’s Top Lawyers, Trusts and Estates, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023

Leading Lawyers, Trust, Will & Estate Planning Law

Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated

Michigan Super Lawyers® since 2011

Professional Affiliations

State Bar of Michigan, Probate and Estate Planning Law Section

Western Michigan Estate Planning Council, past president

Dawn S. Stephenson

Dawn S. Stephenson

Education

Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, Michigan
B.S., Psychology/Sociology 1983

Webster University
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Human Resources Management

Director of Human Resources

Dawn is an experienced human resources professional at Varnum, where she oversees the day-to-day activities related to staff. She is responsible for providing strategic direction for HR functions including employee relations, training and development, staff recruiting, onboarding, evaluations, HR database, budgeting and safety initiatives.

Professional Affiliations

Association of Legal Administrators

Gerald R. Ford Job Corps Center, 2012 – 2013

Society for Human Resource Management

Community Involvement

Fifth Third River Bank Run, volunteer

Harbor Humane Society, Board of Directors, 2019 – present

Humane Society Bark in the Dark Fundraiser, participant

United Way Campaign, leader

Certifications

Adult Mental Health First Aid

 

 

Hilary F. Snell

Hilary F. Snell

Practice Areas

Industries

Education

University of Michigan Law School
Ann Arbor, Michigan
J.D., 1959

Colgate University
Hamilton, New York
A.B., magna cum laude, 1956

Bar Admissions

Michigan

Court Admissions

All Michigan state courts

Estate Planning Attorney

Hilary’s practice focused on estate planning with an emphasis on entire families and three generational planning often coupled with a closely-held family business. In the past three decades, he served twice as the firm’s managing partner. In this capacity, Hilary acted as the firm’s CEO and chaired the Management Committee.

Honors and Recognitions

Leading Lawyers: Closely & Privately Held Business Law; Trust, Will & Estate Planning Law

Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated

Professional Affiliations

Grand Rapids Bar Association

Republican National Lawyers Association

State Bar of Michigan

Community Involvement

Priority Health: Board of Directors, 2000 – 2009; chairman, 2004 – 2007

Willard G. Pierce and Jessie M. Pierce Foundation, president and trustee, 1996 – present

Gregory K. Smith

Gregory K. Smith

Practice Areas

Education

Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, Michigan
M.B.A., Finance, 1995

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
B.A., Economics major, 1988

Professional Trustee

Greg is a member of Varnum’s Estate Planning Practice Team. With 20 years of trust banking experience, he is highly skilled in all aspects of relationship management and trust administration.

Certifications

American Bankers Association, Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA) designation, 1998

National Association of Estate Planners & Councils, Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) designation, 2010

Professional Affiliations

West Michigan Estate Planning Council: current member; past board member, 1997 – 2000

Community Involvement

Junior Achievement, volunteer

Rosewood Reformed Church, treasurer, 1999 – 2002

Third Reformed Church, treasurer, 2005 – 2008