Ted Seitz Earns Dykema’s Margaret A Costello Pro Bono Award

Dykema, a leading national law firm, is proud to announce that the firm’s Pro Bono Committee voted to bestow the firm’s 2022 Margaret A Costello Pro Bono award to Member Ted Seitz.

For nearly three decades, Dykema has bestowed its Margaret A. Costello Pro Bono Award to a deserving Dykema attorney who has given a sustained or significant commitment to pro bono work. The work of the past recipients has been impressive, including handling special education disputes, international kidnapping matters, establishing affordable housing, representing condemned individuals on Death Row, or taking a case all the way to the United States Supreme Court on behalf of a girl and her service dog.

During a three-year period, Seitz invested more than 600 hours into pro bono work representing three incarcerated individuals who were serving unconstitutional sentences in Michigan and Louisiana. He worked diligently with other Dykema attorneys including Kyle Asher, Erin Sedmak, and Ryan VanOver to secure the release of these three individuals, who collectively served 85 years in prison.

Over the past several years, Seitz has also represented the Special Olympics of Michigan in pro bono matters, along with serving—on a pro bono basis—as a court-appointed Mediator in prisoner rights cases brought within the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. He was also recognized, along with other Dykema attorneys, on the State Bar of Michigan’s Pro Bono Tier 1 “A Lawyer Always Helps” list, which notes those Michigan lawyers who provide over 100 hours of pro bono service in a given year.

In his practice, Seitz is a state and national leader in trial, appellate, and class action defense as well as a leading practitioner and published author in consumer finance matters. He also has experience representing public bodies and public officials. For nearly 20 years, Seitz has been admitted, appeared, and acted as lead trial and appellate counsel in state and federal courts across the country. He represents public corporations, middle-market corporations, and non-profit foundations in a variety of commercial disputes.

Seitz earned a J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, a B.S. in Biology from Michigan State University’s Lyman Briggs College, and B.A. in Political Theory from Michigan State University’s James Madison College.