ANN ARBOR OFFICE
Before joining the Firm, Mr. Bernard served as a United States Marine Corps officer for eight years, including service in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and was honorably discharged from active duty in 1996 after attaining the rank of Captain.
Mr. Bernard represents and counsels business and municipal clients in complex commercial litigation matters, and routinely advises clients regarding contract and statutory issues. He has litigated a wide variety of cases at the trial court and appellate level, with particular experience in class action defense, ERISA litigation defense, defense of actions under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), lender liability defense, and bankruptcy adversary proceedings (nondischargeability and preference actions). He has extensive experience in matters related to supplier/distributor rights and obligations under the Michigan Liquor Control Code, and has successfully resolved a wine wholesaler case after securing partial summary judgment on an issue of first impression regarding wholesalers’ rights under the Code. He has filed briefs in the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court, and the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and drafted the appellate brief resulting in the first published Michigan Court of Appeals decision setting the standard for motions to decertify a class, Tinman v Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, 264 Mich App 546 ; 692 N.W.2d 58 (2004).
In law school, Mr. Bernard was a senior articles editor of the Wayne Law Review and was president of the Wayne State University Law School Student Board of Governors.