Dalton & Tomich, PLC delivers on the one clear goal that drove its formation: to provide our clients with the guidance and resources needed to succeed in resolving their legal issues at costs that represent an exceptional value.  Our firm has met and exceeded that goal for many of our clients, including governmental bodies, religious institutions, businesses, banks, communities, major corporations, non-profit entities and individuals.  In essence, we pride ourselves on providing inside counsel from the outside through a practical knowledge of the law gained through decades of experience gained inside state and federal courtrooms around the country.

We have diverse legal backgrounds with varying religious, business and practical experiences to go along with personal and professional interests that have made us leaders in our own communities.  These backgrounds give us a better appreciation for the myriad of legal problems that banks, businesses, individuals, and religious organizations such as churches, temples, synagogues, mosques and other religious organizations confront on a daily basis.

Daniel P. Dalton

Daniel P. Dalton, named one of the top 25 lawyers in the State of Michigan in 2010, focuses his practice on banking, business and land use and zoning law with an emphasis on Religious Land Use and RLUIPA actions. Corporations, religious entities and individuals around the nation call on him to assist with complex banking issues, business transactions, commercial litigation and land use and zoning issues. He is a frequent author, lecturer and litigator on behalf of religious entities concerned with religious land use matters and is called upon to advise corporations when involved with significant litigation matters.

Mr. Dalton received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Michigan University and his law degree from the University of Detroit School of Law. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Dalton clerked for Chief Justice Dorothy Comstock Riley of the Michigan Supreme Court. He was admitted to practice in the State of Michigan in 1990; the federal District Court and Eastern District of Michigan in 1992; the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1994, and the United States Supreme Court in 1995. He is also admitted in the Western District of Michigan, the Western District of Texas, the Central District of Illinois, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Colorado Federal District Court, the Southern District of California, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Daniel Dalton is rated AV, the highest ethical and skill rating available from Martindale-Hubbell and rated 10.0, superb by AVVO, the highest skill and ethical rating available. He has been a Michigan Super Lawyer with respect to Land use and Zoning since 2009; one of dbusiness Magazine's Top Lawyers of 2009; one of Hour Detroit's Top Lawyers in 2010; and has been a Corporation Counsel Super Lawyer since 2010. He is a founding member of Dalton & Tomich, PLC, an arbitrator of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and actively serves on several boards and committees including the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Dean's Advisory Board; the Plymouth First United Methodist Church, Board of Trustees, the MORE Program and Cabrini Clinic. Currently, Mr. Dalton is the Chair of the Religious Land Use Committee of the American Bar Association's State and Local Government Law Section and is on the section Council. He is a life member of the American Bar Foundation, a member of the American and Michigan Planning Associations.

 

Zana Tomich

Zana Tomich focuses her practice on business law, banking and financial law, as well as general governance matters involving businesses and religious organizations. She regularly counsels corporations, limited liability companies, and nonprofit organizations in business planning, operational and contractual matters. Ms. Tomich also has experience in advising employers in employment-related matters, including confidentiality and non-competition issues, discrimination/harassment claims, FMLA compliance issues, wage-hour issues, disability accommodation requirements. She has successfully negotiated and drafted employment agreements, in addition to assisting employers in drafting and revising employment policies and handbooks.

Ms. Tomich is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School (J.D., cum laude, 2002) and University of Michigan (B.A., with distinction, 1998). Ms. Tomich is admitted to practice in the State of Michigan and in the United States Eastern and Western District of Michigan. She is currently a member of the American Bar Association, Risk Management Association, Turnaround Management Association, and the Oakland County Bar Association. Most recently, Ms. Tomich was named one of twenty Up & Coming Lawyers by Michigan Lawyers Weekly 2011 and a Rising Star by Michigan Superlawyers in 2010 and 2011.  Ms. Tomich is also a graduate of Leadership Detroit XXXII.

Daniel Cortez

Daniel Cortez focuses his practice on land use, business, and banking law involving the representation of corporations, religious entities, as well as individuals. Mr. Cortez is a former reporter for the Detroit Free Press and the Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel. His assignments included local government, federal courts, and the War on Terror in Afghanistan in 2004, for which his editors nominated him for a Pulitzer Prize.

Mr. Cortez has worked with the partners of Dalton & Tomich on a number of complex legal matters since May 2010 in federal courts located throughout the country, including Pennsylvania, California, and Michigan. He is a graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 2011), where he was a recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship and a member of the Dean’s Honor Society. Mr. Cortez also was an associate editor of the University of Detroit Mercy Law Review, and a member of the school’s Jessup Moot Court Team. Mr. Cortez received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University in 2002 (Journalism and Political Science).

Katharine Brink

Katharine Brink is currently a third year student at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and will be joining the firm as an attorney after graduation and the July 2012 Bar Exam. 

While attending UDM Law, Ms. Brink has received Book Awards for earning the highest grade in Legal Writing, Civil Procedure, and Law and Religion.  Ms. Brink is also a Title Editor on UDM’s Law Review, a member of the Dean’s Honor Society, and a recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship.  Her Law Review Note, entitled “Denying Due Process Rights in the Southwest: A Critique of Operation Streamline,” will be published in an upcoming issue of the University of Detroit Mercy Law Review.

During law school, Ms. Brink completed internships with Judge Kathleen Jansen of the Michigan Court of Appeals and with the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review in Detroit.  She is also involved with the St. Thomas More Society and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan.
Ms. Brink graduated in 2008 from Albion College with a B.A., cum laude, in Psychology and Spanish.  During that time, she was involved with Delta Gamma Fraternity and also spent a semester studying abroad at the Universidad de Alicante in Alicante, Spain.

To schedule a consultation, please call us at 248-971-2400 or email us today.

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