Mission
The mission of the Business Law Section is to foster the highest quality of professionalism and practice in business law and to enhance the legislative and regulatory environment for conducting business in Michigan. To fulfill this mission, the Section shall: (1) expand the resources of business lawyers by providing educational, networking and mentoring opportunities; (2) review and promote improvements to Michigan's business legislation and regulations; and (3) provide a forum to facilitate service and commitment and to promote ethical conduct and collegiality within the practice.
Become Active in the Section
It is easy to become active in the Business Law Section. As is true with many volunteer organizations, the time and effort put into the Section by its officers, Council members, Committee chairs, and other active members directly correlates to the viability of the Section and its worth to all Section members. Volunteer Today
South Lyon Resident Jim Carey is the 2025 Recipient of the Stephen H. Schulman Outstanding Business Lawyer Award
Jim Carey, managing partner of Carey Law and Professor Emeritus at Cooley Law School (where he has taught for roughly two decades) has been named the recipient of the 19th Annual Stephen H. Schulman Outstanding Business Lawyer Award by the State Bar of Michigan’s Business Law Section.
This prestigious award honors Michigan business lawyers who consistently exemplify the characteristics the Business Law Section seeks to foster and facilitate: the highest quality of professionalism, the highest quality of practice, and an unwavering dedication to service, ethical conduct, and collegiality within the practice of law.
A South Lyon resident, Carey runs his own practice providing chief legal officer services for businesses and estate planning for families. He formerly worked as Of Counsel for the Business Transactions Group of Dickinson Wright PLLC Ann Arbor. Before that Jim was an associate with the Corporate Group and the Insurance Services Group of Sidley & Austin in Chicago.
Carey joins other experienced and accomplished business law attorneys who received the Schulman Award, including many leading business law attorneys in Michigan that he has worked with in practice or as a member of the Business Law Section.
“There are so many amazing people and lawyers who have been honored with this award, luminaries in law really,” Carey said. “They’ve been very active in making a difference in the business law community in the state. I’m humbled and surprised to be named (the Schulman Award recipient).”
Carey first became a member of the Business Law Section in 2005 after moving his family and career from Illinois to Michigan. Carey was raised in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, but moved to Chicago following his graduation from the University of Michigan Law School. Upon joining Dickinson Wright, and joining the Michigan Bar, Carey started was has become a 20-year relationship with the section.
Once he became a member, Carey quickly became involved in leadership positions and educational roles with the Business Law Section. He served as the section’s chair in 2014 and held all positions on the council over the years. He has also served as the chair of the limited liability committee and currently is the section’s nomination director.
Joining the section gave Carey “a chance to meet great people and see various lawyers in different settings,” he said. That ability to interact with lawyers in both formal and informal settings allows him to get to know colleagues in the legal field, which is a significant advantage for attorneys of all ages and experience levels.
Carey has been actively involved with other section members in updating and revising the state’s Limited Liability Act and Business Corporation Act. He is an annual presenter at the Business Law Institute (BLI) and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), presenting the legislative update for nearly 15 consecutive years.
“You think you may be well versed in an area and then the process you go through to present on it just teaches you even more,” Carey said. ‘It helps you to better understand the law.”
One of the parts to his section involvement that Carey is most proud of is that is has created a stronger connection between Michigan’s business lawyer community and the judiciary.
“Developing that relationship has been a big focus of the (BLS),” Carey said. “We’ve provided materials, training and other resources to the judiciary, business law community, clients and more.” That has helped judges who may not have a business background become more familiar with the transactional and business law side.
‘We can be proud of what we’ve accomplished in helping to keep the legal climate here first-rate,” Carey said.
That has included building a strong relationship with business regulators at LARA as well. The section has a long history of working with state regulators as part of the business structure.
“The goal is for our businesses to be as productive, ethical and successful as possible,” Carey said.
Jim has been honored as a Super Lawyer In 2025. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He and his wife Lori have two sons.
Carey was introduced at the Schulman Award Ceremony during the Annual Meeting of the Business Law Section during lunch at the Business Law Institute on September 12, 2025 at the JW Marriott Grand Rapids. He was introduced by Douglas Toering, a partner with Mantese Honigman, PC in Detroit, who was the Schulman Award recipient in 2021.
The Business Law Section established the Stephen H. Schulman Outstanding Business Lawyer Award in 2006, to be presented annually. Past recipients of the Schulman Award include Cy Moscow, Martin Oetting, Hugh Makens, and Jim Bruno in 2006; Charlie McCallum and Verne Hampton in 2007; Ann Baker in 2008; Justin Klimko in 2009; Alex DeYonker in 2010; Jim Cambridge in 2011; Jeff Ammon in 2012; Dan Minkus in 2013; Diane Akers in 2014; Larry Schultz in 2015; Timothy Damschroder in 2016; John Trentacosta in 2017; Dee Dee Fuller in 2018; Eric Lark in 2019; Toering in 2021; Mark High in 2022, Michael Khoury in 2023, and Marguerite Donahue in 2024. (There was no recipient in 2020 because of COVID-19).
About the Business Law Section:
The Business Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan provides education, information, and analysis about issues of concern through meetings, seminars, its website, public service programs, legislation, and publication of a professional journal. Visit www.michbar.org for more information.
About Professor Stephen H. Schulman:
Professor Schulman had a significant impact on the lives and careers of thousands of future attorneys during his tenure at Wayne State University Law School. There, he taught courses on corporations, business planning, administrative law, and more. In addition to receiving the Donald H. Gordon Award for Excellence in Teaching, his students selected him multiple times as the school’s Professor of the Year. Schulman served as faculty advisor and regular contributor to The Wayne Law Review for several decades and was co-reporter for the Business Law Section’s Subcommittee on the Revision of the Michigan Business Corporation Act. Schulman was also instrumental in drafting much of Michigan’s corporate law that is still in place today. Schulman passed away in 2000.
Michigan’s “New Expanded” Receivership Act Webinar
Set forth is a link to the October 23rd webinar on the new expanded Michigan Receivership Act enacted and immediately effective on October 15, 2020. The link contains the audio presentation and the written materials utilized for the presentation. We hope that they will provide you with resource materials to better understand the new recently enacted legislation.
Updates on Michigan Uniform Securities Act (MUSA) Rule-Making
The Michigan Uniform Securities Act (2002), Public Act 551 of 2008, MCL 451.2101 et seq. (“MUSA”) became effective on October 1, 2009, and thereby superseded the 1964 version of this largely uniform state law. On September 1, 2016, the Corporations, Securities, and Commercial Licensing Bureau (“Bureau”) of the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (“LARA”) published for public comment a new rule set (“Proposed Rules”). These Proposed Rules would implement various regulatory changes made by the new MUSA. If adopted, the Proposed Rules will replace six transition orders that implemented a limited number of the statutory changes made by the new MUSA. The Proposed Rules would make a significant number of further changes in Michigan’s regulation of securities, including important public policy changes directly impacting small business capital formation, securities offerings, private funds, securities brokerage, and investment advisory services. For more information, please see the following resources: