Who We Are
Meet the hard-working people in the Office of the City Attorney.
You can read about us in detail below, or for an overview, select our Organization Chart:
Brig Smith, City Attorney
Jack Roberts, Chief Deputy City Attorney
Don Kulhanek, Acting Deputy City Attorney
Billie O'Berry, Assistant City Attorney/District Court Supervisor
Mark Leonard, Assistant City Attorney/District Court Prosecutor
Brandie Ekren, Assistant City Attorney/BWL General Counsel
Whitney Ezis, Assistant City Attorney/BWL Associate Attorney
Michael Mathis, Assistant City Attorney/LPD Legal Advisor
Yolanda Bennett, Neighborhood Specialist
Sara Sturing, Special Assistant City Attorney
Mary Jo Powell, Legal Assistant
Sue Podleski, Litigation Assistant
Tammy Sjolund, Senior Legal Secretary/District Court Assistant
Ericka Kahler, Legal Clerk
What We Do
Brig Smith
City Attorney
bsmith@lansingmi.gov
Brig Smith became one of the youngest City Atorneys in Lansing's history when Mayor Bernero appointed him on March 13, 2006. In that time, he has moved to modernize and digitize the Office of the City Attorney so that it equals or exceeds the capabilities of the leading private law firms in the City, if not the State. Shortly after taking over as City Attorney, he was named the first annual Young Public Lawyer of the Year by the International Municipal Lawyers Association. He has also twice been named a Rising Star by SuperLawyers, which recognizes outstanding attorneys in each of the 50 states, as nominated by their peers, as well as one of "Ten Over the Next Ten" by the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce. Prior to becoming City Attorney, Mr. Smith was a partner at the leading firm of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, where he specialized in managing complex litigation.
Mr. Smith is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. There he won the Williston Prize for outstanding negotiation skills in the One L class and later went on to teach negotiation through the Harvard Program of Instruction for Lawyers. Mr. Smith received his undergraduate degree Phi Beta Kappa and with highest distinction from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Smith also teaches Complex Civil Litigation as an Adjunct Professor at Michigan State University College of Law. Before entering law, Mr. Smith served as a White House staffer. Prior to that, he worked as a professional DJ at "Rock 103" FM in Ann Arbor. Mr. Smith lives in Lansing with his wife, Janice, and their son, Kai.
Jack Roberts
Chief Deputy City Attorney
jroberts@lansingmi.gov
Mr. Roberts has twice been Acting City Attorney and has served under 11 different City Attorneys and 6 different Mayors. He is a 1965 graduate of Michigan State University and a 1969 graduate of Wayne State University Law School.
Don Kulhanek
Acting Deputy City Attorney
dkulhane@lansingmi.gov
Mr. Kulhanek is currently Acting Deputy City Attorney, following Margo Vroman's retirement to become a professor at Northern Michigan University.
Mr. Kulhanek focuses on complex litigation and development for the Office of the City Attorney. He helped broker and close several major deals, including the recently opened Stadium District, and Potter Park Zoo, which remains City-owned but is now County-managed and funded. He is currently lead attorney on the Market Place and Ball Park North projects.
Mr. Kulhanek received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from Wayne State University, and is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court. He staffs the Intergovernmental Relations and Public Services Committees.
Billie O'Berry
Assistant City Attorney/District Court Supervisor
boberry@lansingmi.gov
Ms. O'Berry supervises District Court operations, attorneys, and staff for the Office of the City Attorney. An experienced and respected prosecutor, Ms. O'Berry has undertaken several recent initiatives to increase efficiency among the Office of the City Attorney, the 54-A District Court, and the Lansing Police Department. Most notably, she spearheaded the Office's new policy of offering zero-point pleas to traffic defendants prior to their Court date, but seeking stiffer penalties if defendants wait until their Court date to plea or actually take the matter to trial. This has resulted in police officers spending less time waiting to testify in Court and more time patrolling our streets.
Ms. O'Berry is a member of the Thomas M. Cooley Manning Class of 1984 and received her B.A. from Michigan State University.
Mark Leonard
Assistant City Attorney/District Court Prosecutor
mleonard@lansingmi.gov
Mark Leonard comes to the Office from private practice, with statewide experience in criminal and business matters, including substantial experience in Lansing's 54-A District Court. Mr. Leonard serves primarily in the area of District Court prosecution with additional responsibilities in collections and neighborhood issues.
Mr. Leonard received his B.A. from the University of Illinois and graduated from Michigan State University Law School in 2000.
Brandie Ekren
Assistant City Attorney/BWL General Counsel
bfe@lbwl.com
Brandie Ekren serves as General Counsel to the Lansing Board of Water and Light. Ms. Ekren served as Associate Counsel since 2004.
Prior to joining BWL in 2004, Ms. Ekren served as in-house counsel for Benefit Services at Hantz Group, Inc. in Southfield, Michigan, where she advised department heads and the group benefits specialist on employee laws relative to health and welfare plans.
BWL is a City agency and is Michigan 's largest public utility, serving more than 97,000 electricity customers and more than 55,000 water customers.
Whitney Ezis
Assistant City Attorney/BWL Associate Attorney
ezis@lbwl.com
Whitney Ezis was named Associate Attorney in May, 2006, succeeding Brandie Ekren in the position when Ms. Ekren became General Counsel.
Previously, Ezis practiced litigation and transactional work with a Lansing-area law firm. An Ohio native, Ezis received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University. She is a 2006 graduate of Lansing’s Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
BWL is a City agency and is Michigan 's largest public utility, serving more than 97,000 electricity customers and more than 55,000 water customers.
Michael Mathis
Assistant City Attorney/LPD Legal Advisor
mmathis@lansingmi.gov
As Police Legal Advisor, Mr. Mathis has primary responsibility for the various legal issues facing the LPD, and acts as a liaison with the Office of the City Attorney for major or overlapping legal issues. He also oversees subpoenas and FOIA requests processed through LPD and staffs the Police Board.
Yolanda Bennett
Neighborhood Specialist
ybennett@lansingmi.gov
A 2005 graduate of Cooley Law School, Ms. Bennett continues the outstanding tradition of first-rate Neighborhood Specialists. The Specialist handles all neighborhood issues that come directly into the Office, and frequently the most difficult issues that other Departments refer. Ms. Bennett also prosecutes District Court matters and staffs the Public Safety Committee.
Special Assistant City Attorneyssturing@lansingmi.gov
Ms. Sturing is on assignment to the Office of the City Attorney on a special project. She graduated, magna cum laude, from Michigan State University College of Law in 2007, and with honors from MSU in 2004.
Mary Jo Powell
Legal Assistant
mjpowell@lansingmi.gov
Ms. Powell serves as legal assistant to the City Attorney. She is a designated FOIA Officer and coordinates the Office's FOIA and subpoena operations, assists with administration of the office, as well as keeps track of the Office's burgeoning caseload. Mary Jo has been employed with the Office of the City Attorney since August of 1999.
Prior to coming to work at the City, Ms. Powell was a legal assistant and office manager for several private practice law offices in the Lansing area. She has worked in the legal field since 1988, and during that time has received experience and training in various areas of legal practice and law office administration. She has 2+ years of collegiate studies in business administration, and has obtained a license as a real estate professional. Before entering the legal field, Ms. Powell was employed in the medical/dental fields.
Sue Podleski
Litigation Assistant
spodleski@lansingmi.gov
Ms. Podleski, a certified paralegal, has primary responsibility for the Office of the City Attorney's litigation operations.
Tammy Sjolund
Senior Legal Secretary/District Court
tsjolund@lansingmi.gov
Ms. Sjolund coordinates the Office's District Court operations, including managing a docket of several thousand cases a year and acting as a liaison among the Office of the City Attorney, 54-A District Court, and LPD.
Ericka Kahler
Legal Clerk
ekahler@lansingmi.gov
Ms. Kahler serves as Legal Clerk, with primary responsibility for the Office's Driving While License Suspending function. Ms. Kahler has an impressive background in securities and financing, having obtained her Series 7 and 66 licensure. She holds a B.A. from the University of West Florida and a certificate in bookkeeping from Auburn University. She has also recently published her first book, an anthology entitled "Stories and Poems? We're all Forum: The Best of the Northwest Ohio Writers' Forum"
What We Do
What do we do? The better question may be: "What don't we do?"
Our service as General Counsel to a flagship Municipal Corporation
The Office of the City Attorney is Lansing's public "law firm." We handle everything under the sun, from criminal prosecution to civil litigation, and from collections and bankruptcies to multi-million dollar real estate deals. You can get a full sense of what we do in our Year End Report.
Under the Charter, the City Attorney is responsible to both the Mayor and the City Council, but at the end of the day the client is truly the City of Lansing.
We are therefore general counsel to a municipal corporation of over 1100 employees, with a budget of over $200 million-- a municipal corporation that also happens to be our State's capital. Our goal is to equal or exceed the legal abilities of any respected private law firm in the State and to be the best possible "law firm" to the City.
