Dykema Elects Nine New Members

Dykema, a leading national law firm, announced today that its Executive Board elected nine new members to the firm effective January 1, 2025. Dykema’s new members, their resident office, and practice descriptions are listed below.

Charlotte Carne – Labor & Employment; Ann Arbor

Carne’s practice focuses on litigation and counseling with an emphasis on management-side employment issues for both private and public employers, including discrimination, wage and hour matters, and leave laws. She regularly appears before both state and federal courts as well as administrative agencies. Carne defends employers against charges filed with the EEOC and state and local fair employment agencies, and class and collective actions in the wage and hour context. In addition, she regularly counsels employers on personnel matters arising under the ADA, ADEA, FMLA, and other state and federal employment laws.

She earned a J.D. from Pepperdine University and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Kevin Connor – Business Litigation; Chicago

Connor’s litigation experience and background span all phases of business and commercial litigation, including premises liability defense, class action defense, commercial contract disputes, torts, and government compliance matters. He is a member of Dykema’s construction litigation team and regularly handles matters involving product liability, breach of warranty, consumer fraud, subrogation, premises liability, technology, and intellectual property. Connor specializes in analyzing and developing novel issues of law oral advocacy.

He earned a J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law and a B.A., cum laude, from Boston College.

Paulina Garga-Chmiel – Financial Services Litigation; Chicago

Garga-Chmiel helps lenders and other businesses enforce loan obligations and recover commercial debts. She represents commercial lenders, loan servicers, and banks in various litigation and loan enforcement matters. Garga-Chmiel’s practice mainly involves loan workouts, commercial foreclosures, UCC liquidations, breach of contract actions, landlord-tenant disputes, bankruptcy and loan restructuring, and complex post-judgment collections. She is a preferred partner for handling SBA loan workouts and litigation.

Garga-Chmiel earned a J.D. from the Chicago-Kent College of Law and a B.A., cum laude, from DePaul  University.

Dean Gould – Corporate Finance; Dallas

In his practice, Gould offers comprehensive corporate and M&A guidance to healthcare industry clients and Dental Service Organizations (DSOs). He has served as lead legal counsel on several successful transactions for firm clients. Gould supports clients on strategic transactions and negotiations, including acquisitions, mergers, recapitalizations, and divestitures. He also helps clients form regulatory-compliant physician practice management structures and establish equity incentive options for key employees. Gould has experience drafting purchase agreements, merger agreements, operating agreements, management agreements, and employment agreements.

He earned a J.D., cum laude, from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and a B.A., summa cum laude, from Texas Tech University.

Kristin Ornstein – Corporate Finance; Dallas

Ornstein represents private equity sponsors, institutional investors, asset managers, and established businesses in connection with advanced fund formations and sophisticated mergers and acquisitions transactions in healthcare and other highly regulated industries. Her private funds and M&A practice spans nearly every phase of a client’s lifecycle, such as: fund structuring and formation, including co-investments, feeder funds and FoF, secondaries, carried interest arrangements, and principal incentivization; raising capital, including preparing private placement memorandums, subscription materials, and securities filings; portfolio transactions, including leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and restructurings, roll-ups, spin-offs, asset and equity transactions, and mergers; and ongoing fund and portfolio company management, operation, and governance. In 2022, she was named Chief Legal Officer of Women in DSO, Inc., an international non-profit organization aimed at advancing women’s leadership in the dental industry. Ornstein was recognized in Best Lawyers 2025 “Ones to Watch,” as well as Texas Super Lawyers 2024 “Rising Stars.”

She earned a J.D., with honors, from the University of Houston Law Center, an M.B.A. from the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business, and a B.A. from the University of Colorado Denver. Ornstein holds an executive certification in private equity from Wharton Online and a certification in business consulting from the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business.

Mickey Stevens – Product Liability and Class Action Litigation; Minneapolis

Stevens is an experienced litigator who represents a broad range of companies across multiple industries, with a focus on defending automotive manufacturers in complex product liability litigation. Stevens regularly handles case dispositive motions and has represented clients through all phases of litigation in both state and federal courts. Minnesota Lawyer recognized him as an “Up & Coming Lawyer” in 2022.

Stevens received a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Andrew VanEgmond – Commercial Litigation; Ann Arbor

VanEgmond is a litigator with substantial experience in three areas: (1) automotive class actions, (2) appeals (especially administrative appeals for healthcare clients and Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness denials), and (3) healthcare litigation, particularly False Claims Act cases. His skill set in those matters ranges from drafting the most critical of dispositive briefs to leading complex discovery management.

VanEgmond earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. from Michigan State University.

Connor Walby – Product Liability and Class Action Litigation; Bloomfield Hills

Walby is a seasoned litigator who defends automotive manufacturers and corporate entities in complex product liability, general liability, and commercial litigation. He represents Fortune 100 companies and their complex products across the country with a focus on the design and manufacture of motor vehicles. Through his past trial experience, he understands how to mount a rigorous defense for his clients, from case inception to trial and appeal. Walby also coordinated consumer warranty and discovery matters across several jurisdictions, including California, represented the world’s largest franchisor in leasing, real estate, and franchising disputes, and defended a large waste management corporation in various environmental matters.

He earned a J.D., cum laude, from Wayne State University Law School and a B.A., cum laude, from James Madison College at Michigan State University.

Ryan Warsh – Real Estate; Bloomfield Hills

Warsh’s practice focuses on a broad range of real estate matters, including acquisitions and dispositions, financing, and commercial leasing. Her clients are made up of lenders and borrowers, buyers and sellers, landlords, tenants, and real estate developers. Warsh has experience in a variety of transactional areas, including industrial, retail, multifamily, office, and healthcare. She also advises members of the firm’s corporate practice group on the real estate components of mergers, acquisitions, and other similar types of transactions.

Warsh earned a J.D. and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.