DETROIT – Zhiguo Du, James A. Sheridan and Laura E. Tedesco have joined Butzel Long as associate attorneys. Du focuses on International Business Transactions, Tax Planning and the China Practice. Sheridan concentrates his practice on business litigation and Tedesco’s practice focuses on corporate law.

Based in Butzel Long’s Detroit office, Du’s practice focuses on International Business Transactions, Tax Planning and the China Practice. Prior to joining Butzel Long, Du interned at the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. He was a teaching assistant at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in numerous courses.

Du is admitted to practice in Michigan and in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association. He is a native Mandarin Chinese speaker and is fluent in English.

Du graduated from Wayne State University Law School (J.D., 2007) where he was a recipient of Barrister?s Scholarship, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Ph.D., 2004) and Fudan University (B.A., 1998) where he was a recipient of the Tung OOCL Scholarship, awarding students with outstanding academic achievement and active participation in extracurricular activities.

Based in Butzel Long’s Bloomfield Hills office, Sheridan concentrates his practice on business litigation.

Prior to joining Butzel Long, Sheridan assisted staff attorneys at the Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. and served a judicial externship with the Honorable Michael Warren at the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Pontiac.

Sheridan is admitted to practice in Michigan State Courts and the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, the Oakland County Bar Association and serves on the Delta Chi Fraternity Alumni Board of Trustees (2004-Present).

Sheridan’s non-legal experience includes working at Campbell-Ewald Advertising as a Senior Account Executive managing the execution of General Motors national direct marketing campaigns. He also was the Owner/Partner and Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Designshirts.com Inc. & Versatrans Inc., where he implemented a strategic business plan resulting in annual sales growth from $50,000 to $850,000. Sheridan also was an Account Executive on the Chrysler account at InterOne Marketing Group (BBDO Detroit).

Sheridan is a graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2009). His honors include the Frank Murphy Honor Society (2008-09) and the Dean’s Honor Society (2007-09). He was an Associate Editor, Law Review (2006-09); Member, Moot Court Board of Advocates, Corporate Law Team (2007-08); and Recipient of the Rex E. Schlaybaugh, Jr. Scholarship (2007-08) and the Dean’s Academic Scholarship (2008-09).

Sheridan’s undergraduate degree is from Michigan State University, James Madison College (B.A., Political Economics, 1999). He also studied in Hungary, The Czech Republic, Slovenia and Turkey. His memberships included James Madison College Student Senate (Member, 1997-99, and Secretary, 1998-99); and Delta Chi Fraternity Member (1996-99, and Vice President-Recruitment, 1997-98).

Tedesco is an associate based in Butzel Long’s Detroit office, practicing in the area of corporate business matters.

Prior to joining Butzel Long, Tedesco worked as a law clerk in the office of the General Counsel for DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas where she researched, drafted, and established company-wide policies on security breaches and identity theft. She also reviewed and assisted in the creation of transactional, electronic, and vendor contracts for the separation between Chrysler Financial and Mercedes Financial.

Tedesco also had several positions with the DFCU Federal Credit Union. As a Training and Development Intern, she conducted research on recently enacted banking and credit union laws and regulations, and led and managed extensive training programs covering the Truth in Lending Act and branch security. As a Branch Administration Intern, she directed a team of 20 people in the transfer of files and databases to new software and created reports for records pertaining to the clean-up of over 50,000 accounts. As a Legal Services Intern, she aided in the processing of bankruptcies by evaluating members’ expenditures and debts, including Bankruptcy Court attendance. She also researched and presented data on IRAs, bounce protection, and electronic signatures.

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