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