Media Contacts: Barbara Fornasiero, EAFocus Communications; [email protected]; 248.260.8466; Daniel Dalton; [email protected]; 248.229.2329
Detroit—March 4, 2020—Daniel Dalton and Zana Tomich, co-founders of Detroit-based land use and business law firm Dalton + Tomich,are pleased to announce attorney Noel W. Sterett has been named a partner. Based in the firm’s Rockford, Illinois office, Sterett joined Dalton & Tomich in May 2018 from Mauck & Baker, LLC, where he was a partner.
Sterett serves businesses and religious organizations, focusing his practice on discrimination cases relating to the Religious Land Use & Institutional Persons Act (RLUIPA). His successful collaborations with pastors and other religious leaders of all faiths across the country have helped him win dozens of land use cases, enabling congregations and religious schools to use newly purchased buildings and land to accomplish their religious missions.
Sterett’s insight into religious legal issues has been highlighted in publications including Church Law & Tax. In addition, he is an allied attorney and member of the National Litigation Academy Honor Corps of the Alliance Defending Freedom; in April 2018, he co-authored an amicus curiae brief with the Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys in defense of the ministerial housing allowance in the case of Gaylor v. Mnuchin. Nearly 9,000 ministers across the nation signed the brief. Sterett is also a member of the Christian Legal Society and serves on the Board of Directors for Courtside Ministries—a prayer ministry that organizes volunteers from local churches to pray for people as they come in and out of courthouses across the country.
Sterett has been admitted to practice in the State of Illinois (2007), United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2007), United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (2012), United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2012), and United States Supreme Court (2018). He was awarded a “Rising Star” designation in 2014 from Illinois Super Lawyers and named to the Illinois Super Lawyers list in 2015 and 2016.
Sterett is a graduate of Regent University’s School of Law in Virginia and holds a Bachelor of Science from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. He resides in Rockford with his wife and five children.
“Dalton & Tomich is pleased to welcome Noel into the partnership,” Zana Tomich said. “His extensive experiencein religious land use law, especially in cases involving RLUIPA, make him a valuable member of our legal team and an exceptional advocate for our clients.”
About Dalton + Tomich
Detroit-based Dalton + Tomich PLC is comprised of land use, denominational trust law, and business law attorneys. Serving as a partner to religious organizations, Dalton + Tomich is a national leader in religious property law land use, notably with cases related to the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) and denominational splits. Learn more about our services for businesses and religious organizations at https://www.daltontomich.com/.
