52 | OCTOBER 10 • 2019
business SPOTlight
facing prison sentences, people
locked out of their homes by
angry spouses. His clients were
from all backgrounds, reli-
gions and colors.
“It didn’
t take long for me to
recognize the importance of a
lawyer’
s work, the compassion
and empathy required to be
an effective lawyer, and the
ability to use the law to help
others. This drew me to the
profession.
”
She credits her husband’
s
support for her successful
career in the law. “My hus-
band has been extraordinarily
supportive. He has never ques-
tioned or criticized my late
hours, travel and meetings.
Nothing I’
ve accomplished
would have been possible
without him,
” she says.
In 1984, while she was in
law school, her father was
tragically killed in his office, a
case that remains unsolved to
this day.
“What shook me to the core
was that it happened and that
a killer was never brought to
justice for it,
” she says.
Although she says she’
s
not religious, Fershtman and
her husband, Robert Bick, a
corporate law practitioner in
Birmingham, wanted their
daughter, Katie, to learn about
Judaism. They were mem-
bers of Temple Israel, where
Katie became a bat mitzvah,
for a few years. The family
also joined a Federation fam-
ily mission to Israel, where
Katie read from the Torah in
Jerusalem.
WOMEN NETWORKING
PROGRAM
Fershtman co-launched a net-
working program at her firm
for women in the law where
women could share concerns,
provide mutual support, and
promote advancement in the
legal profession and the firm
through occasional firm-wide
meetings and one-on-one
mentoring.
“
Also, since women seemed
under-represented in law-
yer rating systems, such as
Michigan Super Lawyers, I
developed a program provid-
ing suggestions for women
lawyers to improve their
online business presence,
which I presented around the
state,
” Fershtman says
.
Fershtman likes to use
her influence in the industry
to recognize and promote
other women lawyers. At last
month’
s Michigan Lawyers
Weekly’
s “Women in the Law”
awards luncheon, honoring
lawyers and judges statewide,
10 percent of the award recip-
ients were Fershtman’
s nomi-
nees.
What does your business
stand for?
I have always said that it doesn’
t
have to cost a fortune, only look
like it, and I truly believe that.
I can find things in all price
ranges.
How are you different from
other interior designers?
I am one of the few interior
designers who designs and has
things made exactly the way I
want. That’
s how I started out
— I would design furniture and
have my contractors make it.
I’
ve been using the same peo-
ple for a long time. Most con-
tractors I use have been around
for 25 years. I know what they
can do, and they know what I
want, and we work well together.
Most importantly; we work for
the client.
For more information, visit
loisharondesigns.com.
ADVOCATE continued from page 51
LOIS HARON continued from page 51