Clark Hill Attorneys Milton S. Karfis and Barry B. Sutton to Present at the 2011 Treestand Manufacturer’s Association Member Conference

DETROIT, MI — Clark Hill attorneys Milton (Mel) Karfis and Barry B. Sutton will jointly address the general assembly of the Treestand Manufacturer's Association (TMA) as key note speakers, during the TMA's annual convention. The presentation will cover treestand safety, loss prevention, litigation responses, and other hot topics of litigation that are arising within the hunting industry in cases throughout the country. The edifying assembly will take place May 4-6, 2011 at the Henry Horton State Park in Chapel Hill, TN. For more information, please visit http://www.tmastands.com/ .

With the dawn of the newly revised and approved 2011 budget, additional revenue will be used to assist DNR agencies with funding for training and accident investigation as it relates to treestand safety. As a result, Mel and Barry will collaboratively offer audiences timely advice and practical solutions to this growing industry.

Milton (Mel) Karfis is a Member in the Litigation Practice Group in Clark Hill’s Detroit office. Mel specializes in product liability matters and serves as national counsel for numerous companies in different fields throughout the United States.

Mel has successfully defended clients in products liability matters in a wide variety of industrial and consumer products, including, but not limited to: airplanes, asbestos, automated doors, automobiles, bicycles, boats, boilers, office chairs, furniture, child car seats, compactors, conveyor lines, directional boring machines, flammable fabrics, flammable liquids, garbage trucks, gasoline fuel dispensers, gasoline nozzles, guns, hair care products, helmets, industrial chemicals, industrial machinery of all types, industrial paint lines, kerosene heaters, lawn mowers, power presses, radiant heaters, robotic equipment, rope/cables, semi trucks, sludge pumps, snow blowers, snowmobiles, treestands, water heaters, and windows.

Mel also specializes in representing product manufacturers and retailers in hunting product cases, especially treestands, guns and bows, crossbows, arrows, and safety harnesses. As a specialist in complex product liability cases, Mel has handled matters throughout the country, including: Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Maine, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, and Washington. As lead trial counsel, Mel has successfully represented client’s interests throughout the country in state and federal courts. As a trial and appellate attorney, Mel has also briefed and/or argued in the Michigan Court of Appeals, Michigan Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Barry Sutton is a Member in the Detroit office of Clark Hill, practicing in the firm’s Litigation group.

Barry specializes in product liability, and serves as national trial counsel for numerous companies, in product liability and other disputes throughout the country. Barry has been repeatedly successful in obtaining both appellate and trial judgments on behalf of those clients. As principle drafter of the successful appellate briefs in Gregory v. Cincinnati, Peck v. Bridgeport Machines and Hollister v. Dayton Hudson Corporation, Barry has helped to define and structure Michigan’s law of product liability. Barry's involvement in the defense of hunting product manufacturers and large, automotive component part suppliers on a national basis has allowed him to help shape the trends in product liability throughout the United States. In this capacity, Barry is one of the pioneers in defending component part suppliers in product liability suits.

Barry also specializes in commercial litigation, and currently serves several clients in commercial disputes arising within the automotive field. Barry has successfully defended companies in commercial disputes alleging breach of contract, intentional interference with business relations, breach of warranty, misrepresentation, failure to compensate for sales commissions and breach of exclusive sales contracts. In addition, Barry has obtained numerous restraining orders in cases preventing sub-component manufacturers from refusing to ship on “just in time” requirements contracts due to the alleged rise in raw material costs.

Barry also handles complex litigation and insurance coverage. Barry was one of the lead trial counsel in the Dow Corning Breast Implant Coverage Litigation, an over $2 Billion dispute that still stands as one of the largest and most complex insurance coverage dispute in American History.