Miller Johnson Welcomes Brett Swearingen, Spencer Layson

Miller Johnson welcomes Brett Swearingen and Spencer Layson as associate attorneys. The attorneys join the firm’s Grand Rapids office.

Brett Swearingen brings his practice to the Employment & Labor section from the U.S. Department of Labor. At the DOL, Mr. Swearingen counseled the Deputy Secretary and Secretary on employee benefits and civil rights matters and was a key advisor on several important rulemakings within the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), including regulations concerning ESG investing, proxy voting, and fiduciary investment advice, and reforms to OFCCP’s enforcement procedures and religious exemption. Prior to his time at DOL, Mr. Swearingen was an ERISA litigation associate with Jones Day and a Legal Fellow at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Swearingen was awarded his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 2014 and a B.A. in Political Science from Wheaton College (IL) in 2003.

Spencer Layson joins the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice after starting his career at Honigman LLP in Detroit. Mr. Layson advises a diverse range of clients including multinational corporations and private equity funds in buy-side and sell-side transactions. He has experience with due diligence, documentation, and negotiations involving various industries and legal issues.

Mr. Layson was awarded his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2018 and earned his B.A. in Political Science from Michigan State University in 2013.

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