Aaron Burrell is a business lawyer who focuses his practice in the areas of appellate law, complex commercial litigation, labor and employment law, and minority business enterprises.

As a member of the firm’s litigation practice, he has prevailed in numerous complex, commercial-litigation cases in a number of state and federal trial courts and courts of appeals. As a member of the firm’s labor and employment practice, he has successfully defended clients in a wide range of discrimination and unfair-labor-practice claims in state and federal courts and administrative agencies, and he has counseled clients on all aspects of the employment relationship, including hiring; discipline; diversity, equity, and inclusion matters; and the creation and enforcement of employment agreements. Aaron has further advised entertainment and minority business enterprise clients on a wide array of corporate matters.

At Dickinson Wright, Aaron serves as co-chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and co-chair of Litigation Training.  Aaron also serves as a lateral recruiter for the firm.

Aaron has demonstrated leadership in the legal profession throughout his career. He is a Commissioner on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. He has served as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the State Bar of Michigan; chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Representative Assembly; co-chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Equal Access Initiative; president of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association; vice president of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Foundation; and affiliate representative of the National Bar Association. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and the Oakland County Bar Association. He is a fellow of the Oakland County Bar Foundation, Michigan State Bar Foundation, and the American Bar Foundation.  Aaron is an active member of the Wolverine Bar Association, the Detroit Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.

Aaron has been named an “Up and Coming Lawyer” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly; a “40 Under 40 Honoree” by Crain’s Detroit Business and National Black Lawyers; a “Top Lawyer” in Labor and Employment Law by DBusiness Magazine; a “Black Leader Worth Watching™” by Profiles in Diversity Journal; a “Top 100 Under 50 Emerging and Executive Leader” by Diversity MBA Magazine; a Michigan Top 100 Bet-the Company-Litigator®; and a “Rising Star” by Michigan Super Lawyers. He is the author of the Commercial Torts chapter of Torts: Michigan Law and Practice (ICLE 2017), a co-author of the Business Torts and Related Actions chapter of Michigan Causes of Action Formbook (ICLE 2020), and a contributor to Employment Discrimination Law (BNA, 2017).

Acknowledgements

• National Action Network of Michigan
  • Freedom Award Recipient, June 2022
• Michigan Chronicle
  • “40 Under 40,” 2022
• National Bar Association 
  • “40 Under 40” Honoree, 2021
• DBusiness Magazine
  • Top Lawyer, Labor & Employment Law, 2020-2023
• Diversity MBA Magazine
  • Top 100 Under 50 Emerging and Executive Leaders, 2020
• Crain’s Detroit Business
  • 40 Under 40 Honoree, 2019
• Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association
  • Barristers President’s Award
• Michigan Lawyers Weekly
  • “Up & Coming Lawyer”
• Michigan Super Lawyers®
  •  Business Litigation, 2022
  • “Rising Star,” Business Litigation, 2015, 2017-2020
• Thomas M. Cooley Leadership Achievement Award Winner, 2009
• Straker Bar Foundation Scholarship Award Winner, 2008

Publications/Presentations

• Presenter, “New Lawyer Boot Camp,” Detroit Bar Association, July 2023
• Speaker, “Motions for Summary Disposition,” Great Lakes Legal Conference, State Bar of Michigan, June 2023
• Speaker, “Toolbox for Running Effective Meetings,” Great Lakes Legal Conference, State Bar of Michigan, June 2023
• Panelist, “Taking DEI in the Legal Profession to New Heights,” Michigan Lawyers Weekly Webinar, April 2023
• Speaker, “Employment Law School for Legal Aid Leaders,” Committee on Regional Training (CORT) and MIE, Supervising Legal Work Training, November/December 2022
• Author, “Growing Union Interest in the Cannabis Growing Business—What Employers Can Do Under the NLRA.” Dickinson Wright All Things HR Blog, September 2022
• Author, “Don’t Delay, Arbitrate Today—Supreme Court Removes Requirement to Demonstrate Prejudice in Asserting Waiver of Right to Arbitration,” Dickinson Wright All Things HR Blog, June 2022
• Presenter, “HR’s Role in Government Diversity and Inclusion Strategy,” Lorman, May 2022
• Keynote Speaker, The Recent, Relevant, and Recurring Reality of Remote Working 7 Key Rules for Implementing Remote-Work Polices, Michigan Self Insurance Association, April 6, 2022
• Panelist, “The 2%: A Panel of Black Partners,” Wayne State University Law School, February 2022
• Co-Author, “U.S. Supreme Court Splits the Baby as It Stays the Private Employer Vaccine or Test Mandate but Keeps the Healthcare Vaccine Mandate in Place,” Dickinson Wright Industry Alert, January 2022

Representative Clients

• Microsoft Corporation
• J.P. Morgan Chase
• Bank of America
• Horizon Global
• Oakland County
• Enbridge Energy, Limited Partnership
• Grupo Antolin Primera
• Detroit Thermal Systems, LLC
• EventLink
• Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores