Thomas Rheaume Jr. Email and Phone Number

Member of the Litigation, Appellate Law and Insurance practice groups and representing business clients in commercial litigation matters. Representative experience includes:• Represented a Catholic church and members of its clergy in a defamation matter. On remand from the Michigan Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of our clients, holding in a published opinion that a false accusation of simple battery will only constitute defamation per se if the crime of battery… Show more Member of the Litigation, Appellate Law and Insurance practice groups and representing business clients in commercial litigation matters. Representative experience includes:• Represented a Catholic church and members of its clergy in a defamation matter. On remand from the Michigan Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of our clients, holding in a published opinion that a false accusation of simple battery will only constitute defamation per se if the crime of battery subjects the plaintiff to involves “moral turpitude” or “infamous punishment,” which did not exist in this case. Lakin v. Rund, No. 323695, 2016 WL 7022886 (Mich. Ct. App. Dec. 1, 2016).• Represented one of the state's largest health care insurance companies against a series of lawsuits alleging violations of the Sherman Act and state antitrust laws. Show less

Member of the Litigation, Appellate Law and Insurance practice groups and representing business clients in commercial litigation matters. Representative experience includes:• Represented an employer before the Michigan Court of Appeals regarding whether a state circuit court had subject matter jurisdiction over the employee's workers' compensation claim. Bessinger v. Our Lady of Good Counsel/Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, No. 316143, 2014 WL 4347508 (Mich. Ct. App. Sept. 2… Show more Member of the Litigation, Appellate Law and Insurance practice groups and representing business clients in commercial litigation matters. Representative experience includes:• Represented an employer before the Michigan Court of Appeals regarding whether a state circuit court had subject matter jurisdiction over the employee's workers' compensation claim. Bessinger v. Our Lady of Good Counsel/Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, No. 316143, 2014 WL 4347508 (Mich. Ct. App. Sept. 2, 2014), appeal denied, 497 Mich. 973 (2015).• Represented a health insurance provider before the Michigan Supreme Court, where it held that an injured motorist was not entitled to recover from both his own health insurer and the other motorist's automobile insurer for the same injuries incurred in an accident. Harris v. Auto Club Ins. Ass'n, 835 N.W.2d 356 (Mich. 2013).• Represented appellee-debtor on appeal before a U.S. District Court related to a creditor's contention that the bankruptcy court erred in its calculation of litigation fees and costs that the debtor owed to the creditor after years of contentious and costly litigation. John Richards Homes Building Co., LLC v. Adell, No. 15-10007, 2015 WL 5121359 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 31, 2015).• Appeal of a contractual dispute over the amount paid by appellant-mortgagor when it redeemed a property on which appellee-Fannie Mae had foreclosed. Royal Manor Apts, LLC v. Fed. Nat'l Mortgage Ass'n, 614 Fed. App'x 228 (6th Cir. 2015). Show less

Law Clerk to Hon. Stephen J. Markman, now Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.