02.24.2014

Attorneys Charles W. Browning, Audrey J. Forbush and Scott K. Lites were recently elected to the Board of Directors of Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s oldest and largest full-service law firms.

Long-time board members, Browning and Lites were re-elected to their trustee positions while Forbush joins the board as a trustee for the first time. All will serve three-year terms.

A co-chair of the firm’s Insurance Coverage Practice Group, Browning is known nationally for his experience and expertise in the area of insurance coverage litigation. He has the distinction of serving as coverage counsel for several major property and casualty insurance companies and appears in courts throughout the country.

Browning, who is a partner in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, is annually listed among The Best Lawyers in America and Michigan Super Lawyers as a top practitioner in his area of expertise. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan; numerous federal courts; the DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar (Insurance Law Committee); International Association of Defense Counsel (Casualty Insurance Committee (Chair 2006 to 2008) and Reinsurance and Excess and Surplus Lines Committee); Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (Insurance Committee) and the American Bar Association (Litigation Section and Torts and Insurance Practice Section).

A recently-elected Fellow of the American College of Coverage and Extra Contractual Counsel, Browning received his law degree from University of Detroit School of Law in 1981 and his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in 1978.

Chair of Plunkett Cooney's Finance Committee, Scott K. Lites is a partner in the firm’s Business Law Practice Group who focuses his practice in the areas of corporate law, banking and finance, real estate and healthcare law. He has extensive experience representing clients in all aspects of commercial transactions, including negotiating and drafting complex real estate, franchise and financing agreements.

Lites is a member of the Michigan and Texas bar associations and the American Health Lawyers Association. He is also a certified player agent with the National Hockey League Players' Association. He received his law degree from the University of Detroit School of Law in 1985. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1982.

A partner in the firm's Flint office, Audrey J. Forbush focuses her practice primarily in the area of municipal liability with particular expertise in police pursuits, excessive force, civil rights, whistleblower claims, labor and employment issues, zoning and personal injury. In addition to her municipal practice, Forbush has extensive experience in the area of professional liability where she routinely defends physicians, hospitals and attorneys in malpractice claims. 

Forbush is a member of the public corporation section of the Michigan and Genesee County bar associations. She was also has the distinction of serving as legal advisor to the Law Enforcement Action Forum, an organization consisting of select law enforcement executives throughout the state of Michigan.

Forbush received her law degree, magna cum laude, from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1988. She received her undergraduate degree from Central Michigan University in 1984.

Established in 1913, Plunkett Cooney employs approximately 160 attorneys in nine Michigan cities, 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. Fortune magazine also recently named Plunkett Cooney among the top commercial firms in the United States.

For more information about Plunkett Cooney’s newly-elected board members, contact the firm’s Practice Development Manager John Cornwell at (248) 901-4008 or jcornwell@plunkettcooney.com.

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