Mary Massaron, a partner of Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s oldest and largest law firms, was recently installed as President of the DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar (DRI).

Massaron, who currently serves as Plunkett Cooney’s Appellate Law Practice Group Leader and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors, became President of DRI for a one-year term during the DRI annual meeting on Oct. 24-28 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

To serve as president is the culmination of Massaron’s long-time service to DRI, an international organization based in Chicago with more than 22,000 members including attorneys defending businesses and individuals in civil litigation as well as many corporate and insurer in-house attorneys. Massaron has served in a number of leadership positions, including chair of DRI’s Appellate Advocacy Committee, serving as a member of its Amicus Committee, and serving for three years on the board of directors. 

“We are extremely proud of Mary,” said Plunkett Cooney’s President and CEO Henry B. Cooney. “DRI is an outstanding organization, and Mary’s election stands as a testament to her leadership skills, years of dedicated service, and national reputation as a leading appellate attorney.”

Known as “the Voice of the Defense Bar,” DRI has existed for more than 50 years. During that time, DRI has provided outstanding educational and informational resources to its members. DRI also offers many opportunities for liaison among defense trial lawyers, corporate America, and state and local defense organizations.

Massaron, who previously served as a law clerk to former Michigan Supreme Court Associate Justice Patricia J. Boyle, practices in Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office. She has handled literally hundreds of appeals in state and federal appellate courts, including having appeared in the Michigan Supreme Court, the Indiana Supreme Court, and the Ohio Supreme Court. She has handled over one hundred cases in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and has also appeared in the Third and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeal.

The Best Lawyers in America^® (Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.) has honored Massaron with its “Best Lawyer” title for seven consecutive years. Michigan Super Lawyers magazine has also honored Massaron Ross for seven consecutive years, including inclusion among its top 100 attorneys and top 50 women lawyers in Michigan. Her other significant honors include membership in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and designation by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as a 2008 “Lawyer of the Year.”  

Massaron is a past chair of the Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of Michigan and the American Bar Association (ABA) Council of Appellate Lawyers (CAL), a division of the Appellate Judges Conference. A member of the prestigious American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, Massaron Ross co-chairs the Michigan Appellate Bench Bar Conference Foundation, an organization of Michigan appellate judges and lawyers. She is also a former chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs, the five-member committee that oversees preparation of ABA briefs for filing in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Plunkett Cooney is one of the few Midwest law firms with a dedicated team of appellate attorneys.  The firm’s appellate lawyers frequently handle cutting-edge appeals involving issues of first impression. They also regularly guide appellate strategy in the wake of adverse judgments seeking a reversal or pursuing a settlement strategy. In addition to representation before state and federal appellate courts throughout the country, the firm’s appellate attorneys provide a broad range of specialized services, including counsel during trial designed to optimally position cases for possible appeal.

Established in 1913, Plunkett Cooney employs over 160 attorneys in nine Michigan cities and one each in Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana. The firm, which provides a range of transactional and litigation services, has achieved the highest rating (AV) awarded by Martindale-Hubbell, a leading, international directory of law firms.

For more information about Mary Massaron’s election as President of the DRI, contact the firm’s Practice Development Manager John Cornwell at (248) 901-4008.

– End –