Julie I Fershtman

Ms. Fershtman is an equity shareholder and a vice president of the 105-lawyer firm of Foster Swift as well as managing shareholder of its Southeastern Michigan office. She serves a nationwide clientele of businesses, individuals, and insurers on a broad range of civil matters, including insurance coverage, insurance defense, premises liability, contract disputes, sporting and recreational liability, construction, agribusiness, equine law, fraud matters, and intentional torts. Her experience includes trials, arbitrations, mediations/facilitations, and appeals. She is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading lawyers in the area of equine and agribusiness law.

Ms. Fershtman has successfully tried cases before juries in four states (Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and Connecticut) and has been admitted as pro hac vice (out-of-state) counsel in state and federal courts in 20 jurisdictions.

Ms. Fershtman is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, 2013–2022, for commercial litigation and insurance law. Michigan Lawyers Weekly honored her as its 2016 "Woman of the Year" in the legal profession. She has been listed in Michigan Super Lawyers® from 2008 to 2021 as well as its lists of "Top 100 Lawyers in Michigan" and "Top 50 Women Lawyers in Michigan." She is rated "AV" 5.0/5 (highest rating) by Martindale-Hubbell. For decades, she has been listed in Best's Directory of Recommended Insurance Attorneys and Adjusters.

For her contributions to the legal profession, Ms. Fershtman received the State Bar of Michigan's Roberts P. Hudson Award, its highest honor. The American Bar Association (ABA) awarded her its "Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law" Award. She also received the "Jean King Leadership Award" from the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan. Crain's Detroit Business recognized her as a "Notable Woman Lawyer" and a "Woman To Watch" and named her among its "40 under 40" business leaders. DBusiness Magazine has named her a "Top Lawyer" for several years, most recently in 2021.

Ms. Fershtman is a past president of the 46,000-member State Bar of Michigan and only the 5th woman in 77 years to be elected to that position. She now serves on the ABA House of Delegates. She is a Fellow of the ABA, Michigan, Detroit, and Oakland County Bar Foundations. She is also a Senior Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society comprised of less than 1/2 of 1 percent of American lawyers.