Dykema has elected 10 attorneys to membership, with the promotions taking effect January 1, 2026. The newly elected members span multiple offices and practices, including corporate finance, product liability and class action litigation, commercial litigation, real estate, intellectual property, and taxation and estates.
The new members include Evan Atkinson in Austin, who focuses on healthcare-related corporate transactions for buyers, sellers, and private equity-backed sponsors, including acquisitions, mergers, recapitalizations, and divestitures. In Los Angeles, Samantha Hughes and Nicholas von der Lancken were elected in product liability and class action litigation, with practices that include high-exposure product and personal injury matters, toxic torts, and consumer warranty actions.
In Dallas, Tara Kern was elected in commercial litigation, where her work includes complex product liability cases, catastrophic personal injury matters, and business disputes, as well as insurance defense matters involving alleged violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Texas Insurance Code. In San Antonio, Ryan Landry was elected in commercial litigation, focusing on contract disputes, business torts, class actions, and first-party insurance matters in Texas state and federal courts.
In Bloomfield Hills, Samuel Kilberg was elected in real estate, advising clients on land use and zoning, landlord-tenant matters, eminent domain, and real estate transactions and financing, including projects involving renewable, storage, and transmission assets. Also in Bloomfield Hills, Victoria Remus was elected in taxation and estates, where her practice includes estate and gift planning, probate and complex trust administration, tax-exempt entity formation, and business succession planning.
The firm also named new corporate finance members in Milwaukee and Chicago. In Milwaukee, Robin Lehninger works on corporate transactions and governance, including M&A, strategic partnerships, and financing in private and public markets, and advises clients on capital-raise transactions. In Chicago, Lauren Quigley advises financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, and fintech companies, on deposit and payment products, documentation and disclosures, regulatory compliance, data privacy and security matters, and M&A support through due diligence and conversion planning.
In Washington, D.C., Karen Poppel was elected in intellectual property, with a litigation practice spanning patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret disputes, as well as related commercial litigation, including matters before federal courts and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Several of the newly elected members have held clerkships or externships, including Atkinson, who served as a judicial clerk in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas, and Remus, who served as a judicial extern in the U.S. Tax Court. Kilberg also holds leadership roles with the State Bar of Michigan’s Real Property Section, including service on its council and as chair of the Membership Committee.
