Brooks Kushman President, Mark A. Cantor, was recently named a 2008 “Power Lawyer” by Crain`s Detroit Business. According to the business publication, “Power Lawyers” are the best-in-class legal professionals who are leading the charge on current or recent cases of significance, shaping regional issues or growing their firm`s legal business in important new ways. Only 12 lawyers were honored in the publication`s inaugural feature.
“I am honored to be named a Crain`s Detroit Business Power Lawyer,” Cantor said. “While I am responsible for navigating the direction of the law firm, it takes the entire organization`s commitment and dedication to achieve the successes we have had in the past year. I am proud to be leading a law firm that has shown such allegiance to our shared goal of quality service and strategic expansion.”
Cantor, one of the five founding lawyers of the firm, was honored for his leadership in driving the firm to further diversify and expand its client base beyond Detroit and the automotive industry. Capitalizing on the firm`s rich experience, Brooks Kushman has worked to transfer and apply its intellectual property (IP) knowledge into non-automotive growth industries and to help companies in such industries protect, manage and leverage their IP.
As a result, Brooks Kushman has enjoyed recent success in leveraging its experience and attracting clients from across the country in a variety of non-automotive industries – such as high-tech, consumer products, biotech and pharmaceuticals. This has been made easier, in part, by the firm`s ability to provide expert IP service at competitive Midwest legal rates and the recent opening of its Los Angeles office.
To facilitate this growth, Cantor is committed to ensuring Brooks Kushman employs legal professionals with the precise skills needed to best serve these clients. Within the past year, Brooks Kushman increased the numbers of legal professionals within the firm (from 53 to 71), with many of the new professionals specializing in areas the firm would like to grow. Additionally, with the appointment of the firm`s first chief diversity officer, Brooks Kushman has notably raised the number of diverse legal professionals on staff and currently employs the highest percentage of female legal professionals (26 percent) in firm history.
In addition to leading Brooks Kushman`s strategic expansion efforts, Cantor is also involved in a majority of the litigation handled by the firm, directs Brooks Kushman`s litigation practice and is one of the principal lawyers involved in acquiring new business.
Cantor earned a juris doctor degree with honors from the University of Detroit, as well as a Master of Science degree and a Bachelor of Science degree, both in civil engineering, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the American Bar Association, the Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
