Thomas M. Sullivan

Detroit Office

Tel: (313) 496-1200

Fax: (313) 496-1300

Email:

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Practice Areas

Business Law

Mergers and Acquisitions

Nonprofit Law

Employment Law

Education

B.A., Western Michigan University

J.D., cum laude, Wayne State University

Admitted

State Bar of Michigan

Biography

A substantial portion of Mr. Sullivan's time is spent acting in the capacity of general counsel for clients who do not have lawyers on staff. In that function, he regularly negotiates and drafts contracts, provides counsel with respect to business, employment, real estate and insurance matters, leases, corporate governance, succession planning, bank and private financing, business "start-ups," business workouts, executive compensation, employment contracts, mergers and acquisitions and litigation matters.

Mr. Sullivan offers a unique perspective and experience to both his profit and nonprofit business clients. For more than 30 years, he has been associated with Vista Maria, a nonprofit agency caring for troubled young women between the ages of 11 and 18, first as an Advisory Board Member, then as a Director, and finally as its President for four years, he continues to serve as a member of the Advisory Board and its Finance Committee. He has also served for many years on the Board of Directors of Boys Hope-Girls Hope Detroit, a nonprofit agency providing housing and educational opportunities to youth; he is currently a member of its Finance and Program Committees and is a member of its Advisory Board. He is a member of the Detroit Athletic Club and currently serves as its General Bowling Chairman. From 1994 through 2000 he served as a Director of the Club and was also the Club's Secretary in 1997 and 1998. These experiences, together with those gained during more than 30 years of practicing law, gives him a special understanding of the unique missions and visions which are the heart of the operations of each of his profit and nonprofit business clients. They also provide him a strong foundation upon which to offer counsel on not only legal issues but also to offer perspective on the other difficult issues his clients encounter.

Mr. Sullivan is a member of the American Bar Association and the Michigan Bar Association, where he served as a Council Member of the Business Law Section for 6 years, and as a Council Member of the Law Practice Management Section and Chair of its Lawyer and Staff Compensation for 5 years. He taught corporate reorganizations as well as federal and state securities regulations for 9 years as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Detroit-Mercy Law School. Mr. Sullivan has been peer review rate by Martindale-Hubbell as AV, he has been selected as one of Michigan's Super Lawyers for the years 2006 through 2010 and he has been selected by dbusiness magazine as a 2010 Top Rated Lawyer in Metropolitan Detroit in the areas of Corporate Law and Nonprofit and Charitable Organizations Law. He is also a member of Bayview Yacht Club and served as Chair of its Legal Committee.

Publications

Nonprofit Benefits-The Current IRS Target (May, 2011)

What Can A Nonprofit Entity Do With Designated Charitable Donations? (July, 2009)

Sixth Circuit Finds Qualified Immunity Available to Non-Profit Child Care Agencies (March, 2001)

Excessive Salaries at Nonprofits Become a Target (June, 1997)