Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge is pleased to announce that attorneys Lauren M. Ayoub and Christian K. Leeka have joined the firm.
Lauren is an associate in Smith Haughey’s Grand Rapids office who focuses her practice on general litigation, including commercial and professional liability defense litigation matters.
Lauren earned her J.D. from Wayne State University Law School where she participated in multiple extracurricular and academic activities including Clinic, Moot Court and Law Review. Lauren was selected as an Advanced Student Attorney for the Business and Community Law Clinic and as an Oralist on Wayne Law’s Gibbons National Criminal Procedure Moot Court Team. Lauren also served as a Senior Articles Editor on Wayne Law Review and held several board positions, including President of the Entrepreneurship and Business Law Society, Student Senate Representative for Wayne Law, and the American Bar Association Student Representative for the Student Board of Governors. She also completed an externship in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, for the Hon. Avern Cohn. Prior to Wayne Law, Lauren earned her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Women’s Studies from the University of Michigan.
When she’s not practicing law, Lauren enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors hiking and swimming. Lauren also enjoys trying out new restaurants and spending time Downtown Grand Rapids.
Christian is an associate who practices in both Smith Haughey’s Grand Rapids and Holland offices. He focuses his practice on commercial litigation and real estate law.
Previously, Christian worked as a summer associate in Smith Haughey’s Grand Rapids office in 2020, drafting litigation materials and conducting legal research on a variety of topics including professional malpractice, blue sky securities law, real estate law, and personal injury law. Additionally, he worked as a student attorney with Michigan Legal Services, a nonprofit, to assist Detroiters and their families who were being evicted from their homes.
Christian graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in history and went on to earn his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School. While in law school, Christian served on the Student Board of Governors and was a member of Wayne Law’s Mock Trial Team. He also worked at Wayne State’s Arthur Neef Law Library.