Jason D. Killips

• Location: Birmingham, Michigan
• Phone: 248-971-1730
• Fax: 248-971-1801
• Email: Killips@BWST-Law.com

Areas of Practice

• Business and Commercial Litigation
• Supply-Chain Contracts and Counseling
• Appellate Litigation

Jason Killips concentrates his practice in commercial litigation and related strategic consulting, with a special focus on the automotive supply chain. He has represented clients in complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country and in various courts of appeal. Prior to joining the firm, Jason spent ten years with Young & Associates PC and two years with Howard & Howard Attorneys PC. Using his unique blend of both engineering and legal degrees, Jason has been listed as a “Rising Star” in Michigan Super Lawyers from 2013 to 2017, and as a “Super Lawyer” in 2018 and 2019.

Some examples of his success include:

• Successfully negotiated and litigated many manufacturing-supply-chain disputes, including between tier-1 suppliers and their OEM customers, and between tier-1 and tier-2 suppliers and their lower-tier suppliers.
• Successfully litigated on behalf of clients on a wide variety of legal issues, including patent infringement, trade secrets, warranty, requirements contracts, tooling ownership and possession, commercial fraud, commercial contracts, real property rights, directors’ and officers’ liability, fiduciary duty, legal malpractice, accounting malpractice, art fraud, and defamation.
• Prevailed in federal court on behalf of a tier-1 supplier, establishing that a tier-2 supplier was liable for stopping shipments unless a higher price was paid.  Dayco Products, LLC v. Thistle Molded Group, LLC d/b/a Moxness, No. 18-10862, 2019 WL 423523 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 4, 2019).
• Successfully argued on behalf of the plaintiff before the Michigan Court of Appeals in Coppola v. Manning, Case No. 323994, Nov. 17, 2015 (named a Most Important Opinion, July through December 2015, by Michigan Lawyers Weekly)
• Successfully served as principal attorney in the Michigan Supreme Court on behalf of prevailing party in In re Petition by Treasurer of Wayne County for Foreclosure, Case No. 129341 (May 23, 2007).
  Principal author on many appellate briefs filed with the Michigan Supreme Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
• Successfully represented one of the world’s largest art galleries in a series of lawsuits in state and federal trial and appellate courts.
• Obtained a $10 million verdict in favor of a tier-2 automotive supplier after its former customer violated a confidentiality agreement and stole the supplier’s design. Multimatic, Inc. v. Faurecia Interior Systems USA, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Case No. 05-60120.
• Obtained partial summary judgment and ultimately negotiated successful resolution for tier-1 automotive supplier after a supplier threatened to stop shipments when its demands for a price increase were not met. Eberspaecher North America, Inc. v. Nelson Global Products, LLC, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Case No. 12-11045.
• Successfully obtained temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions in federal and state courts on behalf of tier-1 automotive suppliers whose operations were threatened by the actions of their suppliers.
• Drafted global and regional terms and conditions and other significant contract documents for tier-1 and tier-2 automotive suppliers.
• Developed and implemented strategies used by tier-1 automotive suppliers to obtain price increases and other extra-contractual payments from OEMs after preproduction problems, volume shortfalls, and other changes in circumstances.

Authored Works

• Jason D. Killips, Better Digital Briefs:  Help your readers – and be more persuasive – by adding useful digital features to appellate documents, Michigan Bar Journal, September 2019
• Jason D. Killips, The iPad-Only Appeal:  My Favorite Apps and Techniques, Michigan Appellate Practice Journal, Spring 2019
• Sara MacWilliams and Jason D. Killips, Michigan Court-Appointed Receivers: Clarification of Powers, Michigan Business Law Journal, Fall 2016
• Keefe A. Brooks and Jason D. Killips, Minority Members of a Michigan Limited Liability Company: Fiduciaries or Not?, Michigan Bar Journal, January 2017
• Jason D. Killips and Sara K. MacWilliams, Changing Law Firms – Ethically (ICLE 2017 Top Tips in Ten Minutes), available at:  http://www.icle.org/modules/toptips/tip.aspx?tip=2017TT2102&lib=law-practice&from=AWOP

Education, Professional Associations and Awards

• University of Michigan Law School (Juris Doctor, 2004)
• University of Michigan College of Engineering (B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, cum laude, 2000)
• “Super Lawyer,” Michigan Super Lawyers (2018-2019)
• “Rising Star,” Michigan Super Lawyers (2013–2017)
• Admitted: all Michigan state courts, the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, the United States District Court for the District of Maine, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court
• Member: State Bar of Michigan, Federal Bar Association, Oakland County Bar Association
• Council of the Appellate Practice Section of the Michigan State Bar, Member (2017–present)
• Michigan State Bar Appellate Practice Section, Readability Subcommittee member (2017-present)
• Scribes – The American Society of Legal Writers, Member (2017–present)

Personal

• Wife Sarah and sons Maverick, Jackson, and Augustus
• Santa Society of Oakland County, Director (2017–present)
• Cub Scout Pack 1029, Cubmaster (2018-present) and Den Leader (2016-present)
• Knights of Columbus, Counsel 15352 (Our Lady Queen of Martyrs) and Assembly 482 (Bishop Gallagher), 4th Degree member, counsel Advocate (2013–present)
• Shipman Scholar, University of Michigan (1996-2000)
• Shipman Society, University of Michigan, founding member
• Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity

Areas of Practice

• Business and Commercial Litigation
• Supply-Chain Contracts and Counseling
• Appellate Litigation