Detroit Regional Chamber > Member News > Newly-minted Attorneys Join Plunkett Cooney

Newly-minted Attorneys Join Plunkett Cooney

December 17, 2018
After they recently passed the Michigan Bar exam, Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s oldest and largest law firms, has added the talents of four new attorneys.

Taher K. Ali, Matthew J. High, Celeste C. Kinney and Kelly J. Shefferly have joined the firm as associates. They will handle matters involving insurance coverage, employment law, business law and torts and litigation.

Ali is a member of the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office who practices primarily in the area of insurance law. He represents major property and casualty insurance companies in coverage cases throughout the Midwest. His coverage work includes research and coverage opinions regarding general liability policy issues.

Ali received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School. While there, he worked as a certified student attorney for the Environmental Law Clinic. He also served as a summer intern at the Wisconsin Department of Justice – Office of the Solicitor General in Madison, Wisconsin. Ali received his undergraduate degree with distinction from the University of Michigan in 2015.

A member of the firm’s Torts & Litigation and Labor & Employment Law practice groups, High handles matters involving premises liability, employment law and general negligence, including allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, breach of contract and civil rights claims. An associate in the Bloomfield Hills office, he also assists with municipal law matters, including zoning issues, telecommunications matters, charter revisions and annexations issues on behalf of municipalities.

High recently received his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. While there, he worked as a student attorney with the State Appellate Defenders Office Criminal Advocacy Clinic. He also served as a summer intern for a Fortune 100 Company. He received his undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University in 2015.

A member of the firm’s Detroit office, Kinney will spend approximately the next two years working as a judicial law clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. She will return to Plunkett Cooney in September 2020.

Kinney is a member of the Detroit Bar Association, the Wolverine Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan. Admitted to practice in Michigan, she graduated earlier this year, cum laude, from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. While there, she worked as a student attorney with the State Appellate Defenders Office Criminal Advocacy Clinic. Kinney received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 2015.

The final associate to join the firm is Kelly J. Shefferly who is a member of the Banking, Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights and Transactional Law practice groups. Shefferly handles contracts and litigation, including collections and breach of contract claims. He also represents business clients in mergers and acquisitions and real estate law.

Shefferly is a former judicial extern for the Hon. Wendy Lynn Potts in the Business Court at the Sixth Circuit Court in Pontiac, Michigan. He also worked as a judicial extern for the Hon. Deborah L. Thorne of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. A 2018 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, Shefferly received master’s degrees from The George Washington University in 2014 and DePaul University in 2010. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 2007.

Established in 1913, Plunkett Cooney is a leading provider of transactional and litigation services to clients in the private and public sectors. The firm employs approximately 150 attorneys in eight Michigan cities, Chicago, Illinois, Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana. Plunkett Cooney has achieved the highest rating (AV) awarded by Martindale-Hubbell, a leading, international directory of law firms. The firm was also recently selected by Crain’s Detroit Business as the business publication’s first ever Law Firm of the Year.

For more information about Plunkett Cooney’s newest associate attorneys, contact the firm’s Director of Marketing and Business Development John Cornwell at (248) 901-4008; jcornwell@plunkettcooney.com.

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