- Adoption(she/her/hers) is a life-long resident of Ann Arbor, Michigan and a licensed attorney since 1996. Mara’s practice areas include estate planning, probate and trust administration, elder law and long-term care planning, special needs planning, estate planning for surrogacy, same-sex adoptions and step-parent adoptions, and prenuptial agreements.
- Premarital Agreement
- GuardianshipThe probate court also may become involved when there is no plan for disability or incapacity or the planning fails. The court may be asked to appoint a guardian to make personal decisions or a conservator to handle finances. We handle all aspects of guardianships and conservatorships.
- Child AbuseNicole was an assistant prosecuting attorney in Livingston County, Michigan, from 1995 to 1999, focusing on juvenile delinquency, domestic violence, and child abuse and neglect. She was a full-time attorney with our firm from 1999 to 2008, when she was invited to join the full-time faculty at the Law School. Nicole is a Washtenaw County-approved civil mediator, former chair of the Practice and Procedure Committee of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of Michigan, and served as co-chair of the Taxation Section of the Washtenaw County Bar Association.
- Business FormationA graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Karen has practiced law in Ann Arbor, Michigan for over 30 years. Her practice focuses primarily on real estate and small business transactions. Karen has worked extensively with people buying, selling, exchanging, optioning, financing, developing, building, and leasing property. She has experience in handling a broad range of issues of concern to small business owners, including business formation, contract negotiations and disputes, and employment matters. In addition to her law practice, for more than 20 years, Karen has owned and operated Property Exchange Company, which serves as a qualified intermediary in 1031 exchanges.
- Business DisputesAll businesses, from small, closely-held businesses to nonprofits and major corporations, have employment, tax and business law concerns. Relatively few businesses, though, have in-house counsel for the inevitable legal needs that arise.
- Business TransactionsA graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Karen has practiced law in Ann Arbor, Michigan for over 30 years. Her practice focuses primarily on real estate and small business transactions. Karen has worked extensively with people buying, sel... Read More View Karen's Profile
- Trade Secrets
- Employment ContractNadia practices in the areas of employee benefits and employment law. She focuses on health and welfare benefits, including drafting cafeteria and medical reimbursement plans, as well as COBRA and Health Care Reform compliance. In the retirement plan area, Nadia helps businesses resolve issues that arise in plan document compliance and plan operation. She counsels employers in developing policies, drafting employee handbooks, handling reductions in force, and FMLA compliance. Nadia works with both businesses and individuals in drafting employment agreements. She focuses on finding solutions to avoid employment litigation and achieve results consistent with the best interests of each client.
- Employment LitigationMARK A. HOPPER has over 30 years of experience in civil trial practice in State and Federal courts. He also works in arbitration, mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution and concentrates his work in the areas of complex contract, commercial and other business and real estate matters. Mark also engages in specialized constitutional litigation between public school districts and local units of government as well as enforcement and defense of post-employment claims regarding non competition, trade secrets and confidential information, non solicitation and other business torts, along with business dissolution dispute resolution. Clients and past clients include businesses (large and small), banks, professionals (physicians, lawyers, engineers and architects) and public school districts. Mark is an approved Case Evaluator for the Washtenaw County Circuit Court is a trained mediator and holds a superior Martindale Hubbell peer review rating of AV, where his legal ability has been rated as “very high to pre-eminent” with “very high” ethical standards.
- Real Estate LitigationPeter was born and raised in Ann Arbor and deeply values his ties to the local community. In 2018, Peter merged his Ann Arbor law firm, The Law Offices of Peter C. Clark, PLC, into Ferguson Widmayer & Clark PC where he now operates as a Principal/Shareholder. Peter practices in the areas of estate planning (to include high-value taxable estates), trust and estate administration, business law, and real estate law. Peter also devotes a large amount of time to special needs estate planning, both in the representation of families with members who have special needs and also through educating other professionals involved in special needs services. Peter is a highly skilled and trusted counselor who chose his areas of practice based on his love for building relationships with clients, helping to simplify complicated situations, and providing clients with peace of mind.
- Construction LitigationIn addition, Mark has represented tier 1 and tier 2 automotive suppliers in litigation and has had extensive experience working with engineers on technical construction issues.
- Land Use and Zoning
- Estate PlanningEstate planning is about more than the transfer of assets. It’s about protecting the people you care about, the business you’ve built, and the security of their future. Regardless of the size of your estate, Ferguson Widmayer & Clark... Read More
- WillsWills: A Last Will and Testament is a fundamental building block of your estate plan, but most estates require more.
- TrustsTrust Administration: After death, we assist the successor trustee with the process of locating and taking control of trust assets, allocating estate assets to trusts, complying with income and estate tax requirements, and distributing trust assets according to the trust document.
- Power of AttorneyPlanning for incapacity: Holding your assets in a "living" trust allows for the smoothest transition when you become incapacitated. For assets not held in trust, a Financial Durable Power of Attorney is a standard part of our estate plans. A Medical Durable Power of Attorney appoints a Patient Advocate to make medical decisions when you cannot. Advance Directives provide guidance for your Patient Advocate, family members, and medical personnel.
- ProbateWalt was a gracious, gentle, thoughtful, funny, and principled man who helped hundreds of clients navigate legal issues during his career in real estate, estate planning and probate law. He was our good friend and a loving and devoted husband, stepfather and grandfather to his family. We all are very sad to have lost him at such a young age.
- Tax LawNicole is currently Clinical Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she runs the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic and other clinical programs. She also handles select tax matters for the firm as her schedule allows. Her research and teaching interests focus on the legal issues involved when vulnerable populations are caught up in systems beyond their experience and meaningful control—thus the intersection of tax law with other specialties such as poverty, disability, immigration, domestic violence law, the empowerment of adversaries through mediation, and the developing legal status of animals.