Our Attorneys

Gene J. Esshaki is a senior counsel for the Abbott Nicholson law firm and is one of its founding shareholders. His practice specializes in business and corporate law, and he serves as general and special counsel to a number of business enterprises, but he is best known for his expertise in alternative dispute resolution.

Mr. Esshaki is recognized for his expertise in complex commercial litigation, and is called upon by trial court judges and practitioners in numerous state and federal courts to mediate or arbitrate complex commercial disputes.

In September 2014, U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani appointed Mr. Esshaki special master for the multi-district antitrust litigation alleging bid-rigging and price-fixing by auto parts makers. Mr. Esshaki is responsible for assuring that discovery for the large, complicated case proceeds expeditiously.

He is a member of the American Arbitration Association’s Panel of Complex Case Arbitrators and the association’s National Panel of Neutrals, and is an advisor to the Michigan Office of the association’s Complex Case Hearing Panel. In December 2014, Mr. Esshaki was accepted as a member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. The Michigan Supreme Court also certified Mr. Esshaki as a mediator.

He served on the governing counsel of the Alternate Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Michigan and was presented with the organization’s George N. Bashara Award for service in the field. He also is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates-Michigan.

Mr. Esshaki has written many articles on alternative dispute resolution techniques, substance and best practices. He also teaches and lectures about the subject and is on the faculty of the annual Dispute Resolution Institute sponsored by the Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education.

He is a hearing panelist for the Wayne County Mediation Tribunal Association and for the Attorney Discipline Board of the State Bar of Michigan.

Mr. Esshaki was admitted to the Michigan Bar, and the federal bar for the U.S. District Court-Eastern District of Michigan and the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1974. He also is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

He earned his law degree and bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Wayne State University in Detroit. Mr. Esshaki has been a member of the board of directors of the Detroit Bar Association, a trustee and president of the Detroit Bar Foundation, and is a Fellow in the Michigan State Bar Foundation.

Mr. Esshaki lives in Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich. He and his wife have two adult daughters.