Ms. Brazzil is of counsel to the firm concentrating her practice in the areas of corporate law, business formation, business transactions, exit planning, elder law, estate planning, and mediation. Ms. Brazzil has developed an expertise in many types of business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, business purchases and sales, bringing a new partner into a business or getting rid of a partner (called a “corporate divorce”). With the advent of business courts, Ms. Brazzil became a certified Mediator to take advantage of her business law expertise.
Ms. Brazzil also has substantial experience in business planning concepts, including choice of entity, the formation of limited liability companies and other business entities, the negotiation of stockholder/member buy/sell agreements, and the qualification of businesses as minority business enterprises. Ms. Brazzil excels at developing creative methods to help achieve each client’s goals and objectives and because she counsels many family business owners, she has developed a particular expertise in addressing the special needs of family businesses.
In her elder law practice, Ms. Brazzil has a passion for helping seniors and their family members make informed decisions about their future and welfare. She maintains an “AV” peer review rating with Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest peer review rating for attorneys and was listed by DBusiness Magazine’s 2010 Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit. She has been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2023 in the field of Corporate Law (Copyright 2021 by Woodward/White, Inc., of SC).
Education
J.D., Wayne State University, 1984
Member Wayne State University Moot Court Board (1983-1984)
Semi-finalist in the Dayton Administrative Law Competition (1983)
B.A., University of Michigan, 1981
B.S., Central Michigan University
Bar and Court Admissions
State Bar of Michigan, 1984
Memberships
State Bar of Michigan – Life Fellow
Member of Corporation, Banking and Business Law Section
Member of Elder Law Section
Hearing Panelist for the State of Michigan Attorney Discipline Board (2011 to 2016)
Committee Member of Unincorporated Enterprises (2006 to present)
District I Character and Fitness Committee (2002-2007)
Oakland County Bar Association – Sustaining Member
Member of the ADR Committee (Chair 2016-2017)
Member of Membership Committee (Vice Chair 2007)
Ad Hoc Committee on Due Process (2006)
Circuit Court Committee (2003)
Oakland County Bar Foundation – Life Fellow
Emeritus Trustee (2012 to present)
Current Member of Planning Committee
Trustee (1996-2012)
President (2000-2001)
Co-chair of Event Committee (2006-2007)
Former Member of Event, Projects and Finance Committees
OCBA Professionalism Award (June 2009)
OCBA Distinguished Service Award (June 2006)
OCBA Committee of the Year (2005, Membership Committee)
Volunteer of the Week, Detroit Free Press (week of April 2004)
OCBA Committee of the Year (2000, Ad Hoc Committee to Recreate the Foundation)
WDIV Due Process Television Show
94.7 Smooth Jazz, Motor City Review
Speaker at ICLE and NBI Seminars and MACPA Speaker
Guest on Biz Chat on Metro Chicks Radio
The Academy of Strategic Business Solutions –
Webinar Seminar Series
Women Business Owner Seminar Series
Family Business Owner Seminar Series
Volunteer Mediator, Civil Early Intervention at Oakland County Circuit Court
Kemp Klein Foundation, Board Member (1994-2005)
2006 Fashion Justice Committee, Child Abuse & Neglect Council
2001 Merry Go Round Committee of the Child Abuse and Neglect Council
Franklin Family Business Awards, Judge (October 2000)
Elder Law Series
ADR Provisions in Business Agreements—So Many Choices—So Little Time; Michigan Bar Journal, Summer 2016
Reaching for the Sky: The Ascendency of Mediation; Commentator, Summer 2014
Don’t be “penny wise and pound foolish”; Commentator, Spring 2009
Qualify a spouse or parent for Medicaid paid nursing care; Commentator, Winter 2008
Seniors keep life-long homes in the family; Commentator, Fall 2008
Why not convert? Selecting the right business structure; Commentator, Summer 2007
The rebirth of a business; Commentator, Winter 2006
A step by step guide to selling your business; co-authored with Ralph A. Castelli, Jr., Commentator, Summer 2006