Michael A. Stone, attorney and a major general in the Michigan National Guard, has joined the Grand Rapids’ Warner Norcross and Judd LLP as senior counsel. He will practice in the firm’s Southfield office.
At Warner, Stone will serve in the firm’s cybersecurity, privacy, and government contracting practice groups. He brings nearly 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining Warner, Stone had a military career culminating in his position as assistant adjutant general, deputy director, and commanding general of the 46th Military Police Command of the Michigan National Guard. As part of his service, Stone was deployed overseas for two combat tours in the Persian Gulf War and one for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He was chair of the National Guard Association of U.S. Cyber Task Force and is a former member of the Michigan Governor Cyber Executive Team. Stone served as a military police brigade fiscal officer, initiating more than $900 million in contracts to support combat zone operations.
Over the past several years, Stone was the CEO of Stone IP LLC, an intellectual property firm where he licensed rights to filtration and alternative energy technologies. He previously served as president to Carew Filtration Systems and its related companies and was general counsel and corporate secretary at Eastman Outdoors. He also spent time as corporate counsel at Plastipak Packaging, Absopure Water Co., and also worked as a litigation attorney at Kell and Lynch as well as a trial attorney with Secrest, Wardle, Lynch, Hampton, Truex, and Morley.
“Mike will be an excellent addition to our Warner team,”says Linda Paullin-Hebden, executive partner of the firm’s Southfield office. “Warner leverages interdisciplinary practice groups to provide comprehensive legal counsel to our clients. Mike’s military values of service and putting others first will make him an ideal complement to our already strong teams.”
Stone earned the Bronze Star, National Guard Association of Michigan’s Soldier of the Year-Army, General George C. Marshall Leadership Award, and the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award-Michigan. He has also been recognized for his work through the National Defense Industrial Association silver medal, Merit Networks – Innovation in Networking and Information Technology Award, and he was the 2018 recipient of the Governor’s Energy Excellence Award as the innovator of the year.
Stone earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Detroit. He completed his juris doctorate from Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University. Stone also received a master’s degree from the U.S. Army War College.
Warner is a corporate law firm with 230 attorneys practicing in eight offices throughout Michigan, located in Grand Rapids, Southfield, Midland, Clinton Township, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Lansing, and Holland.
