Overview

A practitioner for nearly 32 years, Julie Fershtman represents clients in a broad range of business, personal injury, contract, and insurance coverage litigation pertaining to several industries. Her clients range from major insurance companies and businesses to individuals. Her work includes trials, arbitrations/ADR and appeals.  Julie serves on the firm's Executive Committee as Vice President of the Southeast offices.

Additionally, she is widely considered one of the nation's leading practitioners in equine law. She has handled matters for a national clientele involving contract disputes, fraud, association liability, partnership disputes, and personal injury liability. She has also helped draft and advocate for legislation impacting the industry. Her peers selected her to become a Fellow of the American College of Equine Attorneys, one of about 20 lawyers in the country to achieve this distinction. 

She has achieved numerous courtroom victories and successfully tried cases before juries in four states. Clients have retained her to serve as pro hac vice (specially admitted out-of-state) counsel in state and federal courts in Florida, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Illinois, Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

In addition to her law practice, Julie is active in bar associations. She was the 77th President of the State Bar of Michigan, a 45,000-member mandatory bar, and was only the fifth woman in the bar’s history to be elected to this role. The State Bar recently selected her to serve on the ABA House of Delegates, representing Michigan. She is well-known to judges and lawyers across Michigan through her bar leadership and her co-chair work in 2015 and 2016 for the State Bar of Michigan’s 21^st Century Practice Task Force.  She is a trustee of the Michigan State Bar Foundation, Director of the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society and a fellow of the American, Michigan, Oakland County and Detroit bar foundations. Fellow membership is typically reserved to approximately 1 percent of lawyers.

A frequent author on legal issues, she has written more than 400 published articles, six ABA law journal articles (co-authored), three books, and two blogs. The ABA is publishing her newest book in 2020. A highly sought-after national speaker in 29 states, her topics cover issues involving law, liability, agribusiness, insurance, equine law, and risk management.  Her speaking engagements include a law school commencement address, panels at three ABA Annual Meetings, Property & Liability Resource Bureau National Claims Conferences in three states, as well as conferences of the State Bar of Michigan, New York State Bar Association and Washington State Bar Association.

Books and Websites:

• Julie's personal website: http://www.fershtmanlaw.com
• Julie's State Bar President blog: http://www.sbmpres2012.com
• Equine Law Website and Blog: www.equinelaw.net and www.equinelawblog.com (Equine Law Blog)
• Contributor, The Road to Independence, ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, ABA Publishing, 2011.  ISBN 978-1-61632-084-3.
• Co-author, co-editor, Litigating Animal Law Disputes: A Complete Guide for Lawyers, ABA Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-1-60442-001-02.
• Author, MORE Equine Law & Horse Sense, Horses & the Law Publishing, 2000, ISBN 0-9648430-1-3.
• Author, Equine Law & Horse Sense, Horses & the Law Publishing, 1996, ISBN 0-964-8430-0-5.
• Contributor, Marketing Success Stories, ABA Law Practice Management Section. ABA Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1-57073-399-6.
• Contributor, Marketing Success Stories, Second Edition. ABA Law Practice Management Section. ABA Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-59031-251-1
• Contributor, American Bar Association Legal Guide for Dog Owners, ABA Publishing, 2014. ISBN 978-1-62722-915-9.
• Contributor, Horse Industry Handbook, American Youth Horse Council, 2008.

Honors & Recognitions

Affiliations

Memberships & Affiliations

Legal Affiliations:

• American Bar Association
  • Michigan Delegate, ABA House of Delegates, 2010-2012
  • Vice-Chair, ABA-TIPS Animal Law Committee, 2005-2014
• American Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
• American Agricultural Law Association
• American College of Equine Attorneys, Director and Fellow, 2008-
• State Bar of Michigan
  • President, 2011-2012
  • 21st Century Practice Task Force, Co-Chair, 2015-2016
  • Task Force on State Bar Scope of Operation, Structure, and Governance (2019-)
  • Chair, Representative Assembly, 2001-2012
  • Chair, Young Lawyers Section, 1995-1996
  • Board of Commissioners, 1994-1997, 1999-2002, 2003-2012
• Michigan State Bar Foundation
  • Board of Trustees 2003-present 
  • Fellow
• Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society, Board of Directors, 2015-
• Michigan State Bar Foundation, Fellow
• Oakland County Bar Association
  • Board of Directors, 2001-2008
  • Secretary, 2007-2008
  • Professionalism Committee 1995-2002, Chair, 1998-1999
  • Inns of Court Committee, Secretary/Barrister, 1995-1999
• Oakland County Bar Foundation, Fellow

Community Activities:

• Advisory Board, American Riding Instructors Association, 1998-present
• Advisory Board, Equine Land Conservation Resource, 2008 – present
• Director, American Youth Horse Council, 2003-2007
• Director, Equine Land Conservation Resource, 2004-2007
• Commissioner, Franklin Village Planning Commission, 1993-1995
• Appointee, Franklin Village Charter Committee, 1993-1994

Experience

Representative Matters

• Representing plaintiff in sales fraud/Uniform Commercial Code/Deceptive Trade Practice trial. Won on all counts and won 100% attorney fee award for clients.
• Co-counsel at trial on adverse possession/quiet title lawsuit, resulting in ruling in clients' favor.
• Secured summary judgments for insurers in defense of complex first-party property insurance coverage cases in Illinois federal court.
• Won directed verdict for insured defendant at jury trial in defense of personal injury case in Michigan.
• Won directed verdict for insurer at jury trial in defense of first-party insurance coverage case in Ohio.
• Won a unanimous defense (no cause) verdict in equine liability case in Illinois after four-day jury trial.
• Successfully representing plaintiff in a nine-day trial for breach of contract against non-paying buyer and defeating buyer’s counterclaim asserting defamation.
• Secured summary judgments for equine, sporting and recreational business operators in personal injury cases. 
• Won appeals in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
• Won bench trial defending premises owner against claims of intentional injuries to patron by security staff.  

Communications

Publications

• The Art of Mentoring, DBusiness, February 2019
• Who Signs a Liability Release at Your Facility?, Riding Instructor Magazine: Spring 2019 issue, February 25, 2019
• When the Hoof Meets the Road, January 2019 Agricultural Law News, January 23, 2019
• Equine industry liability releases: are fewer words better?, Lexology, The Riding Instructor, March 28, 2016
• Stable Liability: How Expert Witnesses can Make or Break an Equine Lawsuit, Lexology, March 10, 2016
• Can You Repossess a Horse When the Buyer Fails to Pay?, Miniature Horse News, October 19, 2015

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News & Events

Speaking Engagements

• Equine Activity Liability Acts and the Courts—What You Need to Know, Emmett J. Vaughan Agribusiness Conference-Richmond, VA, June 19, 2019
• Fun on the Farm: Managing the Evolving Risks of Agritainment, Emmett J. Vaughan Agribusiness Conference-Richmond, VA, June 19, 2019
• Livestock Mortality Insurance—Battleground Areas for Legal Disputes and Options To Avoid Disputes, Emmett J. Vaughan Agribusiness Conference-Richmond, VA, June 19, 2019
• State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section Annual YLS Summit, State Bar of Michigan, May 17, 2019
• Equine Activity Liability Act Update, National Conference on Equine Law— Lexington, KY, May 1, 2019
• Legal Issues in Hosting an Equine Clinic on your Farm, National Conference on Equine Law—Lexington, KY, May 1, 2019

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News

• Foster Swift Announces Women in Leadership, Michigan Business Network, June 5, 2019
• Firm Elects Executive Committee Members for 2019, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, March 7, 2019
• Nationally Recognized Agricultural and Equine Law Authority to Speak in Six States, January 21, 2019
• Fershtman Earns Highest Honor from State Bar of Michigan, Lansing Regional Chamber, September 25, 2018
• 31 Foster Swift Attorneys Selected to 2018 Michigan Super Lawyers and “Rising Stars” Lists, September 10, 2018
• 45 Foster Swift Attorneys Listed in Best Lawyers in America© 2019, August 15, 2018
• WLAM to Present Fershtman with the 2018 Jean King Leadership Award, April 10, 2018