Dana Nessel, Democratic Party candidate for Michigan Attorney General, will be the featured speaker at a “Meet the Candidates Night” from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday May 16, at Windsor Woods Village Community Center 1135 West Superior St., Wayland.

Nessel, a graduate of the University of Michigan and Wayne State University Law School, is managing partner of Nessel & Kessel Law, located in Detroit. She has nearly 25 years of legal experience, covering a vast array of disciplines.

She began her legal career as an assistant prosecutor in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office and was assigned to a number of elite units within the office, handling some of Wayne County’s most difficult cases.

She left the office to start her own practice with Ed Kessel and in 2012 spearheaded the precedent-setting case, DeBoer v. Snyder case, which challenged the bans on adoption and marriage for same-sex couples in Michigan. DeBoer was later consolidated with its affiliated U.S. Sixth Circuit cases into Obergefell v. Hodges in the United States Supreme Court. This landmark case legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

In the Child and Family Abuse Bureau, Nessel received forensic training in child interview techniques and procedures, where she vertically prosecuted child sexual and physical abuse cases, including internet crimes, child homicides, and major offenses involving child witnesses. She specialized in “shaken baby” cases involving severe traumatic brain injuries. Nessel also prosecuted homicides, felony assaults, criminal sexual conduct cases, gang-related crimes, and incidents of aggravated stalking and arsons.

She and Patrick Miles are the main two Democratic candidates for Michigan Attorney General on the Aug. 7 primary ballot.

The event is sponsored by Allegan County Democratic Party and hosted by Wayland Area Dems Club.