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Before they formed their professional corporation in 2001, Tom Koernke and Jeff Crampton were privileged to work with some of the finest law firms and lawyers in America, including both Warner, Norcross & Judd and Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt & Howlett here in West Michigan.

Tom Koernke has served the legal system throughout his successful career. Following his graduation from the University of Michigan Law School in 1974, Tom began his career by serving in Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio, as law clerk to the late Judge Anthony J. Celebrezze of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Tom moved to Grand Rapids in 1976 to accept employment with Warner, Norcross & Judd as a litigator.

In 1980, Tom co-wrote Comparative Negligence in Michigan, a treatise published by Michigan's Institute for Continuing Legal Education. Tom has twice been appointed by Presidents of the Michigan Bar Association to serve on the State Bar's Standing Committee on Judicial Qualifications. Tom has also twice been selected by federal judges to serve as lead plaintiff's counsel in major class action matters.

In 1996, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan selected Tom Koernke and a small group of other experienced litigators to be trained and serve as the Court's approved facilitative mediators in a special alternative dispute resolution program which has been extremely successful and has served as a model for similar programs in countless federal and state courts across the country. Tom has been recertified by the Court each year and continues to be regularly selected by the parties to contract, securities, construction, intellectual properties, tort and other actions to mediate their disputes.

Jeff Crampton, like Tom, a graduate of Michigan State University, attended MSU's Detroit College of Law, graduating at the top of his class in 1990. As Editor-in-Chief of the Detroit College of Law Review, Jeff authored Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics: Dispelling Some Myths Surrounding the United States Census, 1990 Det. C.L. Rev. 70.

After graduation, Jeff came back home to Grand Rapids to join Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt & Howlett as a litigator. As a partner at VRSH, Jeff developed a diversified litigation practice, with specialties in representing parties involved in complex civil litigation, real estate disputes, and condemnation proceedings. Because Jeff served as the prosecuting attorney for the City of Grandville, he also developed a robust practice representing individuals charged with white-collar and environmental criminal law violations.

Tom and Jeff have been friends since 1986, when Tom served as Campaign Chairperson and Jeff served as Campaign Coordinator for the nonpartisan campaign of prominent Detroit attorney, Dorothy Comstock Riley, for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court. Not only was that campaign successful, it remains the only time in modern history that a challenger for a seat on Michigan's Supreme Court has unseated an incumbent justice.

Since that time, Tom and Jeff have served together on a number of charitable and community activities, including the preparation of materials for and presentation at continuing legal education seminars on a variety of civil litigation topics. After years of trading jokes, legal analysis and college sports gossip, they decided that a partnership made good sense. Koernke & Crampton, P.C. was formed in 2001. The new litigation-only firm has already received the Martindale-Hubbell organization's highest rating for both legal ability and legal ethics. If you want your litigation matter handled promptly, cost-efficiently, effectively, and with client sensitivity, Koernke & Crampton awaits your referral, your call or your e-mail.

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