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Amicus
m i c h i g a n
s t a t e
u n i v e r s i t y
c o l l e g e
Building
the
st
21 -Century
Law School
Reflecting on five years with
Dean Joan Howarth . . .
reimagining a bold future
» INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Board of Trustees Elects New Members, Officers
MSU Law Mourns the Passing of Professor Emeritus Harold Norris
Join Hundreds of Alumni and Friends: Support the DCL Plaza
o f
l a w
Fall 2013
Managing Editor
Erika Marzorati, ’13
Director of Communications
Kent Love-Ramirez
Contributing Writers
Tina Kashat Casoli
April Jones
Kent Love-Ramirez
Erika Marzorati, ’13
Sheila Pursglove
Ann Marie Scholten
Alexa Stanard
Photography
Shane Broyles
Ann Marie Scholten
Kimberly Wilkes
MSU Communications and Brand Strategy
Jeffrey Zenner
In This Issue
Design
Julie Krueger
Brenda J. Sanborn
Board of Trustees
Lou Anna K. Simon, President
Linda M. Orlans, ’87, Chair
Frederick D. Dilley, ’75, Vice Chair
Raymond R. Behan, ’60
Hon. M. Scott Bowen
Elaine Fieldman, ’76
Clif Haley, ’61, President Emeritus
Charles A. Janssen
Maurice G. Jenkins, ’81
Charles E. Langton, ’87
Douglas Laycock
Hon. David W. McKeague
Richard D. McLellan
Colleen M. McNamara
Michael G. Morris, ’81
Bryan T. Newland, ’07
James M. Nicholson
Donald Nystrom, ’00
Stacy L. Erwin Oakes, ’01
David L. Porteous
G. Scott Romney
Trustees Emeriti
Hon. Marianne O. Battani, ’72
Joseph J. Buttigieg III, ’75
Richard W. Heiss, ’63, President Emeritus
Edwin W. Jakeway, ’61
Hon. Norman L. Lippitt, ’60
John D. O’Hair, ’54
Peter J. Palmer, ’68
Kenneth J. Robinson
John F. Schaefer, ’69
David J. Sparrow, ’51 (posthumous)
Hon. Richard F. Suhrheinrich, ’63,
President Emeritus
Alumni Association
Board of Directors
Brian Hall, ’07, President
Howard Victor, ’77, President-Elect
Karolyn Bignotti, ’09, Vice President
Bryan Melvin III, ’77, Treasurer
Octavio Duran Jr., ’11, Secretary
Daniel Bliss, ’87, Parliamentarian
Anthony Beckneck, ’11
Ugo Buzzi, ’08
Sherri Marie Carr, ’07
Mario Cascante, ’10
Jerome Crawford, ’12
Ronald Estes, ’05
Kimberly Gehling, ’11
James Geroux, ’70
Colleen Kelly Gomos, ’07
Beverly Helm, ’80
Elinor Jordan, ’11
Todd Levitt, ’92
Aaron Lloyd, ’10
Brian T. Lynch, ’05
Jeffery Sattler, ’08
16
Building the 21st-Century Law School
Reflecting on Five Years with Dean Joan Howarth . . . Reimagining a Bold Future
MSU Law:
6
4 14
Past, Present
and Future
24 44
A Message from the Dean.........................................................................2
Legal Clinic Briefs......................................................................................28
Board of Trustees Elects New Members, Officers................................3
A New Chapter: Faculty Retirements................................................... 29
»» Professor Bob Filiatrault
»» Professors Robert and Amy McCormick
MSU Law Community Mourns the Passing of
Legendary Professor Emeritus Harold Norris...................................4
ReInvent Law Laboratory News...............................................................6
»» Professors Katz and Knake Named 2013 Legal Rebels
»» Fast-Paced Conferences Continue to Draw Crowds
»» ReInvent Law Wins International Innovation Award
Talsky Center News.....................................................................................8
»» “When an Uncaring World Forsakes Black Lives and Blue Helmets”
»» Thought-Provoking Symposia
In Memoriam: Professor John “Jack” Apol..........................................32
Faculty Notes............................................................................................ 34
A Message from the Office of Advancement...................................... 42
Support the DCL Plaza and Legacy Scholarship............................... 43
MSU Law: Past, Present and Future..................................................... 44
Law Review Reception............................................................................. 46
Congratulations Are in Order................................................................. 10
»» Professor Halloran Receives State Bar Champion of Justice Award
»» Student Wins Adweek Award for Innovative Risk Analysis Software
»» Student Earns Two National Writing Awards
Homecoming Reception and Tailgate.................................................. 48
Outstanding Advocates............................................................................ 11
Cultivating Growth in the City by the Bay.......................................... 49
MSU Law Welcomes Incoming Class..................................................... 12
»» Orientation and Immersion Week
Annual BLSA Scholarship and Alumni Reception............................. 50
2013 Spring Commencement.................................................................. 13
Alumni and Friends Tee Off to Support Student Scholarships........47
5th Annual Jewish Legal Society Networking Night......................... 51
Flying High in the Sports and Entertainment World.........................52
Arts & Humanities Corner........................................................................ 14
»» Art@Work
»» It Takes a Village
Regina Storrs Continues to Honor Late Husband
with New Pledge to MSU Law............................................................53
Project 60/50............................................................................................. 15
Nominate Distinguished Alumni.............................................................53
Building the 21 st -Century Law School...................................... 16
MSU Law Alumni Seen & Heard............................................................. 54
Scholarly Events....................................................................................... 24
Alumni Notes............................................................................................. 56
»»
»»
»»
»»
In Search of Equality in Family Law
Nd’nakweshkodaadimin: A Gathering of Anishinaabe Scholars
IP, the Internet, and Computational Transformation
Chicken Farming in the 21st Century
Circle of Friends Donor Societies...........................................................58
Scholarships: Investing in Our Future.................................................. 60
Upcoming Events...................................................................... Back Cover
Amicus is published by Michigan State University College of Law, Law College Building, 648 N. Shaw Lane, Room 320, East Lansing, MI 48824-1300. Reproduction or use, in whole or in part, by
any means and without the express written consent of the publisher, is prohibited. Manuscripts, artwork, and photographs are submitted at the sender’s risk; please enclose a self-addressed,
stamped envelope requesting return of material. The magazine and its associated parties and agencies assume no responsibility for unsolicited materials and reserve the right to accept or reject
any editorial material. Submission of letters implies the right to reproduce same in magazine. Views expressed herein are not necessarily those of this magazine or the Law College. No article herein
shall constitute an endorsement by this magazine, the Law College, or the persons and organizations associated with it.
Michigan State University College of Law programs, activities, and facilities shall be available to all without regard to race, color, genetic information, gender identity, religion, national origin,
political persuasion, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, height, weight, veteran status, age, or familial status. Neither Michigan State University nor the State of Michigan is liable for any
financial obligation incurred by Michigan State University College of Law. The Law College is an independent institution that is not financially supported by MSU or the State.
a message from the Dean
Five years can seem
to pass in the blink
of an eye. Yet, as I pause
to reflect on my time as dean
of Michigan State University
College of Law, I am struck
by the transformation we
have witnessed here at
the Law College, in legal
education, and in the legal
profession.
I arrived in 2008 with many goals, which I have tried to
achieve (along with new ones) with energy, diligence, patience,
good humor, and ambition. I have surrounded myself with
talented, creative, ambitious people, and tried to create
conditions in which they can thrive. Every accomplishment
is due to the hard-working faculty, staff, and others who
surround me, and with whom I am privileged to work.
We have more fully integrated the Law College into the
life of Michigan State University. Our model of academic
integration and budgetary autonomy is a creative and effective
public-private partnership. We have embraced a shared MSU
identity while retaining core values from our past. We have
built a solid foundation on which to make our mark as an
innovative, forward-thinking, 21st-century law school.
We overhauled our first-year curriculum in thoughtful,
strategic ways. We implemented new initiatives—including
the ReInvent Law Laboratory and Talsky Center for
Human Rights of Women and Children—and strengthened
existing programs focused on alternative dispute resolution,
intellectual property law, and legal ethics. We added several
new clinical programs, such as our new Investor Advocacy
Clinic, and have others on the horizon.
We enlarged the faculty and expanded student services,
putting an increased focus on diversity initiatives and
international students and programs. We accomplished this
while reducing annual tuition increases, despite economic
upheaval and national trends in law school enrollment and
post-graduate placement.
I encourage you to read more about our many successes in
this issue of Amicus. I am proud to share highlights of how
Law College community members are helping shape our
shared vision for the future.
Our students brought home numerous top awards from
competitions throughout North America and abroad. Our
professors published works and spoke nationally and
internationally on a broad range of topics. They were
named among the most creative legal minds in the country,
and honored for their integrity and superior professional
competence. We honored the years of service of three
departing faculty members and mourned the loss of a legend.
Our ReInvent Law Laboratory was recognized for its
outstanding work promoting innovation in the legal services
industry. We hosted renowned scholars and speakers from
around the world on timely topics such as human rights,
family law, indigenous law, intellectual property, and even
chicken farming.
And our graduates and friends also were busy making an
impact. The MSU Law Board of Trustees elected new officers
and welcomed three new members to its ranks. Philanthropic
gifts and countless hours of service and celebration at alumni
events helped solidify a foundation of support that has
allowed the Law College to take risks related to its growth
while innovating for the future.
As always, we are grateful to the many alumni and friends
who support our efforts—both financially and with gifts
of time. Your generosity inspires us all, and sustains the
continued success of Michigan State Law, our faculty, and
our current and future students.
Warm regards,
Joan W. Howarth
Dean, Michigan State University College of Law
Board of Trustees
Elects New
Members,
Officers
“Our new trustees represent
the standard for excellence,
professionalism, and innovation
in their respective fields.”
—Board Chair Linda Orlans, ’87
The Michigan State Law Board of Trustees welcomed three
new members to its ranks and elected new officers at its
September 11 meeting.
Richard McLellan is a Lansing-based lawyer who has
focused his 40-year legal career on public policy and political
matters. He has chaired the Michigan Law Revision
Commission since 1986 and is chair of the Council for Africa
Infrastructure Development, treasurer of the Cornerstone
Foundation, a trustee of the President Rawlings Foundation,
and a Native Nations Foundation board member. McLellan
has held positions with a variety of public service
organizations, including the Corrections Commission,
Michigan Film Advisory Commission, International Trade
Authority, and Michigan Jobs Commission. He was transition
director for then Governor-elect John Engler in 1990, and he
chaired Attorney General Bill Schuette’s transition team in
2010. Before entering private practice, he served as
administrative assistant to Governor William Milliken.
McLellan holds degrees from MSU and the University of
Michigan Law School.
McLellan previously served on the MSU Law Board of
Trustees. “I am honored to rejoin the board as the law school
continues to improve its reputation and educational value,”
he said. “Legal education will face serious challenges in the
years ahead, and I hope to be able to help MSU Law succeed
in a new environment.”
Bryan Newland, ’07, is an attorney with Lansing-based
Fletcher Law—a national firm focused on Indian law—and
a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community (Ojibwe). He
has served as the Michigan native vote coordinator for
McLellan
www.law.msu.edu
Newland
Nystrom
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, as a member of the
Obama–Biden Transition Team, and as a counselor and senior
policy advisor at the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau
of Indian Affairs. Newland graduated magna cum laude from
Michigan State Law in 2007 and teaches Indian Law as an
adjunct professor at the Law College.
Donald Nystrom, ’00, is president of Dynamic Aerospace
and Defense, a wholly owned entity of Dynamic Industrial
Group. He previously served as an associate with the public
finance group of Miller Canfield, a Detroit-based
international law firm with a presence in North America,
Europe, and Asia. Nystrom graduated summa cum laude from
MSU Law in 2000 after earning his Bachelor of Science
degree in psychology.
Linda Orlans, ’87, was selected as the board’s new chair at
the meeting, while Frederick Dilley, ’75, was elected vice
chair. Orlans is chief executive officer of Orlans Associates,
Orlans Moran, Atlantic Law Group, and eTitle Agency. Dilley
is a shareholder in the Grand Rapids office of Foster Swift
Collins & Smith.
“I am delighted to welcome our new members,” Orlans said.
“Together they bring a wealth of wisdom, accomplishment,
and experience to our board. The entire board is excited
to begin working together toward our collective goal of
enhancing and advancing the Law College for our alumni,
current students, and generations of Spartans to come.”
“The contributions of our new members and officers will
prove invaluable as we pursue our shared goals for the Law
College,” added Dean Joan Howarth.
Orlans
Dilley
3
MSU Law Community Mourns
the Passing of Legendary
Professor Emeritus
Harold Norris
“DCL has lost a great teacher and mentor. He
will live on in the hearts of his students and the
citizens of the State of Michigan for whom he
worked so diligently.”
—Victoria Ann Radke, ’87
4
The Michigan State Law community lost a giant this fall
with the passing of Professor Emeritus Harold Norris, who
died on October 14 at the age of 95.
Professor Norris taught Constitutional Law, Criminal Law,
and Women and the Law to more than 5,000 students during
his 35 years at Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State
Law). Former students and colleagues referred to him as
the “conscience” of the Law College and “a champion of . . .
the administration of justice” after his retirement in 1996.
“Professor Harold Norris inspired generations of students
to honor the best values of our legal system,” said Dean Joan
Howarth. “We honor his memory best by remembering and
upholding the lofty principles that inspired him every day.”
“Professor Norris made a difference,” said Brian Kalt, the
Harold Norris Faculty Scholar at MSU Law. “To him, the
law was not just a set of abstractions to occupy people in
ivory towers. In his view—and in his hands—the law was
a tool to achieve justice for regular citizens, against abusive
government practices. Best of all, for decades he conveyed
this vision of the law to his students; my father was one of
them, and I grew up hearing Harold Norris stories.” There
are many stories to be told.
Professor Norris was born April 7, 1918, in Detroit. He
graduated from Central High School—where he met his
beloved wife, Frances—in 1935. Planning on a teaching
career, he received Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts
degrees from the University of Michigan in 1939 and 1941,
respectively.
Norris spent the next four years in the United States Army
Air Corps. He graduated from Officer Candidate School—
attending the Harvard Business School program to train
Statistical Control Officers—before spending nearly three
years in Britain and France with the Ninth Air Force, Air
Transport Command.
Amicus | fa l l 2 013
“Thirty years since my graduation from DCL,
the teachings of Harold Norris continue to
impact me daily in the practice of law. What a
privilege to have known and learned from him.
He made a difference.”
—Duane Beeman, ’82
After leaving the service in 1946, Norris entered Columbia
University, which offered an accelerated program for
veterans. He earned his Juris Doctor degree two years
later and soon returned to his home state. After briefly
working for two other practitioners, Norris set out on his
own, launching his own practice focused on constitutional,
criminal, and administrative law matters. Active in bar
association work, he helped initiate compulsory automobile
liability insurance, secure the inclusion of lawyers in the
Social Security Act, and write the Michigan Automobile
Liability Accident Claims Act.
A self-described “child of the Depression,” Norris was
sensitive to the happenings in Detroit in the late 1940s—
particularly workers’ efforts to make government responsive
to the employment, housing, health, and education problems
of the time. Clients included a variety of labor unions
and numerous community groups. Norris fought for the
relocation of Detroit residents facing eviction due to major
land clearance projects in the 1950s, and helped reconstitute
the American Civil Liberties Union to assist teachers
and students who had been subpoenaed by the House
Un-American Affairs Committee.
Norris joined the Executive Board of the ACLU’s Detroit
Chapter in 1952, and served as president of the chapter from
1958 through 1961. It was during his time with the ACLU
that Dean Charles King, ’33, asked Norris to join the DCL
faculty, rekindling an early interest in teaching.
In 1961, Norris was elected a delegate to the Michigan
Constitutional Convention, representing Detroit. He was
vice-chair of the Committee on the Declaration of Rights,
Suffrage and Elections, and served on the Committee on
Style and Drafting. Recognized as a principal architect of
the Michigan Bill of Rights, he authored the provisions of the
1963 Michigan Constitution prohibiting racial and religious
www.law.msu.edu
discrimination, and coauthored those creating a Civil Rights
Commission.
Recognized by the Michigan Supreme Court in 1987 as
“Lawyer, Educator, Poet and Statesman,” Norris was a man
of many talents. When he was not teaching or practicing
law, he wrote poetry and seven books. He is widely known
for “The Liberty Bell,” a poem about fundamental rights
reverberating from the cracked bell; the piece hangs in the
lobby of the home of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. He
considered his 1991 book, Education for Popular Sovereignty
through Implementing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the
“capstone” of his career.
Professor Norris was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters
degree from Wayne State University in 1981, and a Doctor
of Laws degree from DCL in 1989. In 2011, he received the
inaugural John W. Reed Michigan Lawyer Legacy Award,
which is periodically presented by the State Bar of Michigan
to a law school professor whose influence on Michigan
lawyers has elevated the quality of legal practice in the state.
Norris was the beloved husband of the late Frances Norris;
cherished father of Barbara Shawn and Victor (Dr. Ronda
Barak-) Norris; loving papa of Rebecca (Brad) Kranig, Max
Norris, and Jessica Norris; great-grandfather of Mitchell and
Connor Kranig; and brother of the late Irene Simon and the
late Norton Norris.
Those who wish to extend condolences or share memories
may do so at www.law.msu.edu/norris/comments.php or send
them to the Family of Professor Emeritus Harold Norris, c/o
Michigan State University College of Law, 648 N. Shaw Lane,
Room 368, East Lansing, MI 48824-1300.
Memorial donations may be made to the MSU Law Harold
Norris Endowment. To make a donation, call 517-432-6840
or visit www.law.msu.edu/donate.
5
ReInvent Law Laboratory News
Professors Katz and Knake
Named 2013
Legal Rebels
Professors Renee Newman Knake and Daniel Martin Katz
were named to the ABA Journal’s list of 2013 Legal Rebels,
recognizing the most creative, forward-looking legal
practitioners in the country.
The ABA Journal calls its annual list “an honors program for
the change leaders of the legal profession.” Katz and Knake
are among 10 legal innovators on this year’s list. They join
81 others who were selected in the previous four years of
Legal Rebels.
Professors Katz and Knake co-founded the ReInvent Law
Laboratory for technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship
in legal services in spring 2012. The project has spawned new
courses in e-discovery, quantitative methods for lawyers,
professional ethics and technology, and entrepreneurial
lawyering, as well as a London study abroad program that
exposes students to deregulation and innovation in the U.K.
legal market. Fast-paced ReInvent Law conferences in cities
around the world have brought legal thought leaders together
to reimagine the future of the profession.
Knake—who also co-directs the Frank J. Kelley Institute
of Ethics & the Legal Profession—focuses her work on ways
that law and technology can democratize the delivery of
legal services, help fill the legal services gap, and enhance
the practice of law. “If I was going to stand up in front of my
students and really believe that having a legal degree and a
career as a lawyer can be among the most fulfilling career
choices a person can make, I needed to do something to make
sure that would be true going forward,” she says.
“Companies are desperate to hire people who understand
what’s going on,” adds Katz, whose work focuses on the
intersection of law, technology, and public policy. “The legal
profession needs people with both substantive technological
and legal knowledge.”
6
Fast-Paced Conferences
Continue to
Draw Crowds
ReInvent Law Wins
International
Innovation Award
Michigan State Law’s ReInvent Law Laboratory has brought
legal professionals, students, entrepreneurs, scholars, and
technology experts from around the globe together at a
successful series of conferences aimed at finding new ways
to deliver legal services. Media and industry buzz from the
first event, held in London in summer 2012, sparked impressive
attendance at follow-ups in Dubai and Silicon Valley.
ReInvent Law’s 2013 return to London was yet another
resounding success. The June 14 event—organized by the lab’s
co-directors, Professors Katz and Knake—featured engaging
talks from leaders in law, technology, and business.
“Lawyers are regulated to the point where it stifles
innovation,” said Knake. “ReInvent Law is about cultivating
new ideas and gathering the game changers who will build
the future of the industry.”
“Potential speakers submit proposals, and hundreds
of people vote online to select 10 finalists to speak at the
event,” Katz said, explaining the “user-generated” nature
of the conferences. “Topics ranged from using technology
in entrepreneurial ways to exploring virtual law practice,
artificial intelligence, and more.”
Invited speakers included Craig Holt, chief executive at
Quality Solicitors; Chris Kenny, chief executive at the Legal
Services Board; and Richard Susskind, independent adviser
to major firms and national governments and the author of
Tomorrow’s Lawyers and The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature
of Legal Services. Students from MSU Law’s 21st Century Law
Practice Summer Program in London also presented.
The ReInvent Law Lab was named a 2013 InnovAction Award
winner for its work to promote innovation in the legal services
industry. According to the College of Law Practice Management,
which administers the program, the awards highlight “what can
happen when passionate professionals, with big ideas and strong
convictions, resolve to create effective change.”
Entries for the coveted annual honors are judged based on
originality, disruption of the industry status quo, value to clients
and/or the industry, and effectiveness. Timothy Corcoran, chair
of the 2013 InnovAction awards committee, says the judges were
impressed by this year’s “groundbreaking” entries.
“Future survival of a vital and contributing legal profession now
depends on the innovative, unstuffy thinking of a few individuals
and organizations around the world,” said InnovAction judge
Thomas Clay.
Professor Knake agrees, citing a statistic in a study by the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. “The study said that
65 percent of today’s elementary school children may end up in
jobs that haven’t been invented yet,” she recalls. Enter ReInvent
Law, which Knake says she and Professor Katz created as “a space
where we could rethink the ways we deliver legal services, and
then train our students and practicing lawyers to do it.”
“The part of the legal profession that actually is growing needs
people with a particular set of skills,” Katz adds. “We need lawyers
who know the law, understand software and technology, and
know how to mesh the two.”
Next Up: R
eInvent Law, New York City
February 7, 2014
Awards Chair Timothy
Corcoran presented the
InnovAction Award to
Professor Renee Knake
at the College of Law
Practice Management
2013 Futures Conference.
(clockwise from top left) ReInvent
Law London 2013 presenters
Craig Holt, Karen Francis-McWhite,
Lisa Webley, and Richard Susskind
7
Talsky Center News
Lieutenant-General (Ret’d) The Honorable Roméo A. Dallaire
“When an Uncaring World Forsakes
Black Lives and Blue Helmets”
The Lori E. Talsky Center for Human Rights of Women
and Children at Michigan State Law was privileged to host
Lieutenant-General (Ret’d) The Honorable Roméo A. Dallaire
on October 16.
LGen Dallaire, a Canadian Senator and retired Canadian
Army Lieutenant-General, was commander of the United
Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Rwanda prior to and during
the 1994 genocide. Although Dallaire provided the U.N. with
information about the looming genocide—which ultimately
took more than 800,000 lives in less than 100 days—the
U.N. failed to give him the resources or authorization to stop
the carnage. Dallaire’s talk, “Humanitarian Intervention in
Rwanda: When an Uncaring World Forsakes Black Lives
and Blue Helmets,” drew on his harrowing experiences in the
war-torn country.
“On the proverbial shoestring, Lieutenant-General Dallaire
led a heroic struggle to forge peace between the warring parties
in Rwanda,” said Susan H. Bitensky, the Alan S. Zekelman
Professor of International Human Rights Law and director
of the Talsky Center. “When they refused to be reconciled, he
and his troops defied overwhelming odds to rescue and bring
humanitarian aid to the Rwandan people.”
LGen Dallaire is the author of two best-selling books. His
experiences in Rwanda are detailed in Shake Hands with the Devil:
The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, which provided the basis for
an Emmy Award–winning documentary and a major motion
picture. His most recent book, They Fight Like Soldiers, They
Die Like Children, introduces solutions to eradicate the child
soldier phenomenon—a mission to which LGen Dallaire has
committed the rest of his life.
The mission of the Talsky Center is to educate MSU Law students, as well as the
broader community, about international human rights law and international
humanitarian law. The center promotes human rights for all people, with a
primary focus on women and children—generally the most vulnerable and,
therefore, most easily victimized members of society.
8
Thought-Provoking Symposia on Whether
the U.S. Should Become a Party to . . .
The U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
On November 7 and 8, the Talsky Center teamed up with the
Michigan State Law Review to present a symposium on whether
the U.S. should become a party to the U.N. Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW). Top CEDAW scholars and practitioners offered
insights on protecting women from violence, protecting
women’s reproductive rights, and other issues involved in
implementing the convention.
Nearly all of the world’s 194 nations have ratified CEDAW.
The United States is one of only seven—along with Sudan,
South Sudan, Somalia, Iran, and two small Pacific Island
nations (Palau and Tonga)—that have failed to do so.
Professor Susan Bitensky calls this “a major international
embarrassment” that has deprived American women of the
protections those in other nations enjoy under the treaty.
Keynote Speaker
Marsha A. Freeman, International Women’s Rights
Action Watch and the University of Minnesota Human
Rights Center
Presenters
Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharya, Loyola University
Medical Center
Johanna Bond, Washington & Lee University
School of Law
Jamil Dakwar, American Civil Liberties Union’s
Human Rights Program
Neil Andrew Englehart, Bowling Green State
University
Cristina M. Finch, Amnesty International USA
Linda M. Keller, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Lucie Lamarche, University of Québec in Montreal
Marilou McPhedran, University of Winnipeg Global College
Sandra S. Park, American Civil Liberties Union Women’s
Rights Project
Aram Schvey, Center for Reproductive Rights
The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child
On April 4 and 5, the Talsky Center hosted a symposium on
whether the U.S. should become a party to the U.N. Convention
on the Rights of the Child. The event drew leading children’s
rights experts and activists from the around the world who
offered insights on child soldiers, convention rights that
enhance the quality of life for children, and experiences of
those living under the convention.
“The U.S. and Somalia are the only two nations that are not
parties to this treaty that has become a marker of humanity’s
moral progress,” said Susan H. Bitensky, the Alan S. Zekelman
Professor of International Human Rights Law and Director of
the Talsky Center. “Whether the U.S. should continue to balk
is no minor matter, since American children do not currently
enjoy the benefits that the convention is bringing to children
elsewhere.”
www.law.msu.edu
Keynote Speaker
Howard Davidson, American Bar Association’s Center on
Children and the Law
Presenters
Adem Arkadas-Thibert, International Children’s Center,
Bilkent University, Turkey
Jo Becker, Children’s Rights Division at Human Rights
Watch Bernardine Dohrn, Bluhm Legal Clinic,
Northwestern University School of Law
Françoise Hampson, University of Essex School
of Law, United Kingdom
Matthew Happold, University of Luxembourg
Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance
Mark E. Hecht, University of Ottawa Faculty of
Law and University of Sherbrooke Faculty
of Law, Canada
Anne Lindboe, Ombudsman for Children,
Norway
Tamar Morag, Haim Striks Law School,
College of Management Academic
Studies, Israel
Jonathan Todres, Georgia State
University College of Law
Wouter Vandenhole, University of
Antwerp Faculty of Law, Belgium
9
Congr atulations Are in Order . . .
Professor Halloran
Receives Champion
of Justice Award
Michigan State Law Professor
Michele L. Halloran was a
2013 recipient of the State Bar
of Michigan’s Champion of
Justice award.
The awards honor integrity
and adherence to the highest
principles and traditions of the
legal profession; superior
professional competence; and
extraordinary professional accomplishments that benefit
the nation, state, or local community. No more than five
Champion of Justice awards are presented each year to
practicing lawyers and judges.
Halloran serves as overall director of the MSU Law
Legal Clinic and director of the Alvin L. Storrs Low-Income
Taxpayer Clinic. She also works closely with the new Urban
Food, Farm, and Agriculture Practicum, which offers
research, policy development, client counseling, and
transactional legal services to nonprofits and individuals
working with agriculture in Detroit and other urban settings.
“This award truly is the pinnacle of my career,” Halloran
said. “It is amazing and humbling to be among the group of
past and current recipients. My commitment to service to
others is grounded in my parents’ values, my undergraduate
education at a fine Jesuit institution, and my strongly held
belief that my life is not about me.”
Halloran says she also is motivated by Dean Joan
Howarth’s “extreme commitment to the needs of the
underserved,” her colleagues’ dedication to educating young
lawyers, and her students’ devotion to serving others as they
grow professionally.
“I couldn’t think of a more deserving candidate,” says
former Tax Clinic student Tripp W. Vander Wal, ’11. “Not
only does Professor Halloran deserve this award for her own
commitment to the community, but she instills the virtues
required for this award in all of her students.”
10
Student Wins Adweek Award for
Innovative Risk Analysis Software
Kathleen Hennessy, ’13, won a Best
Research Invention award in Adweek’s
Project Isaac competition for her
innovative risk analysis software,
Risk AD•Vantage.
Hennessy developed her software
and website, www.admixlegal.com,
as a part of her Entrepreneurial
Lawyering class taught by Professors Renee Newman Knake
and Daniel Martin Katz. Risk AD•Vantage was created in
response to new Federal Trade Commission requirements
for businesses with a digital presence.
“Social media and mobile technology have revolutionized
the way advertisers can solve the business needs and
problems of their clients, and all that activity in the digital
space has not gone unnoticed by the FTC,” said Hennessy.
“I founded Risk AD•Vantage as a way for the advertising
industry to adapt to these changes and evaluate expressed
claims in ads with risk calculus software.”
Student Earns Two National
Writing Awards
Jacqueline Clarke, ’13, earned top
awards in two national writing
competitions for works completed
while she was a student at MSU Law.
Clarke’s paper titled “[In]equitable
Relief: How Judicial Misconceptions
About Domestic Violence Prevent
Victims from Attaining Innocent
Spouse Relief Under §6015(f)” earned an honorable mention
and was described as “a clear favorite” among many judges in
the Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition.
The National Association of Women Lawyers contest
encourages unique law student writing on topics involving
women and the law.
A second piece of Clarke’s writing received second place
in the 2013 Howard C. Schwab Memorial Essay Contest,
sponsored by the American Bar Association Section of
Family Law. The essay, “Do I Have A Voice? An Empirical
Analysis of Children’s Voices in Michigan Custody
Litigation,” will be published in the Fall 2013 issue of Family
Law Quarterly.
Outstanding Advocates
Second Place in Trial
Advocacy Competition
Michigan State Law won second place in the Puerto Rico
Trial Advocacy Competition, which was held at the Inter
American University of Puerto Rico School of Law in San
Juan in October. The mock trial team included 3Ls Luis
Baez, Ejinwaemeonu “Ndidi” Okeagu, Caitlin Higgins,
and Randall Tatem. Okeagu and Higgins were recognized
for perfect scores during the competition, and Higgins also
received an award for Best Closing Argument. Brittany
Campbell, ’11, coached the team.
“This was another great success for our Moot Court &
Trial Advocacy Board,” said Veronica Valentine McNally,
director of trial advocacy programs at MSU Law. “We are
fortunate to have such dedicated alumni who help our trial
teams thrive by providing their time and expertise.”
(from left) Luis Baez, Ndidi Okeagu, Brittany Campbell, Caitlin Higgins, and
Randall Tatem
(from left) Glynis Talley, Andy Ninh, Corinne Miller, Vani Gujuluva, and
Professor Jennifer Copland
Strong Showing in International
Mediation Competition
Michigan State Law had an impressive showing in the 12th
Annual International Law School Mediation Tournament in
Dublin, Ireland. MSU Law’s team comprised of Stefanie
Lacy, ’13, Anthony Chester, ’13, and Lauren Prew, 3L, placed
sixth in the advocate client category. Professor Brian Pappas
coached the team.
David Aschwege, ’13, filled in for a Phoenix School of Law
student who was unable to make the trip, helping his team
place third in the mediation category. “David went above and
beyond in joining a team that lacked a mediator,” Pappas said.
“Their third place finish was incredible and speaks to David’s
skill and quality as a teammate.”
Class of 2013 graduates Courtney Lyman, Aaron Simonson,
and Allison Kittelberger also competed at the event.
Moot Court Team Heads to
National Finals
MSU Law advanced to the final rounds of the prestigious
National Moot Court Competition. The appellate moot court
team of 3Ls Glynis Talley (team captain), Vani Gujuluva,
and Corinne Miller qualified for finals after a successful
performance in the Regional Competition at Ohio State
University Moritz College of Law in early November. The team
was assisted by Professor Jennifer Copland (advisor/coach)
and 3L Andy Ninh (of counsel).
More than 150 U.S. law schools participate in the
competition’s regional rounds each year. MSU Law’s team
had a 2–0 record and the top brief score at the preliminary
competition. It was one of just two teams to advance out of
the regional event, and will be one of just 26 to compete in the
National Finals at the New York City Bar in February 2014.
www.law.msu.edu
(from left) Courtney Lyman, Aaron Simonson, Stefanie Lacy, Lauren Prew,
David Aschwege, Allison Kittelberger, and Anthony Chester
11
MSU Law Welcomes
Incoming Class
Michigan State Law welcomed 273 new J.D. students with
impressive credentials and record diversity to campus this
fall. Racial and ethnic minorities comprise 22 percent of the
1L class—an all-time high—and 43 percent of incoming
students are female.
Approximately half of this year’s 1Ls are from out-of-state,
with students arriving from 36 states outside Michigan and
five foreign countries (Cameroon, Canada, China, Peru, and
South Korea). The incoming class includes graduates of 125
colleges and universities, with majors ranging from political
science to business to the fine arts.
This year’s class size was approximately 9 percent
smaller than usual—an intentional response to a three-year
decrease in law school applications across the country.
“We purposefully downsized the class, with the goal of
maintaining the quality and all of the other characteristics
that we’d like to see,” said Charles Roboski, associate dean
for admissions and financial aid.
Despite a contracting national applicant pool, Roboski
notes that MSU Law has been “very successful” at attracting
the same high-caliber students it has in past years. The other
good news, he adds, is that those who apply are better
informed in their decision to go to law school.
“Applicants are more aware that the legal market is very tight,
and they’re more aware of what it means to invest three years of
their life and thousands and thousands of dollars—and that’s
good,” Roboski explains. “We want them to make a very
thoughtful decision about spending that money and time to earn
a law degree.”
Orientation and
Even before they arrived on campus, new students—
including transfers and those starting the Master of Laws
program—began their transition to MSU Law with an
improved online orientation. The website provides
information on academic policies, wellness and safety,
financial aid, professionalism, and logistical matters
from parking to technology training.
The fall semester officially kicked off during Immersion
Week, which began on August 19. The week familiarizes
students with law school life and the ethical responsibilities
of the profession. It also includes a required Foundations
of Law course, in which 1Ls get acclimated to the Socratic
Method as they learn how to read legal opinions and
brief cases.
12
Immersion Week culminates in a three-hour service
project at community and nonprofit organizations
throughout the Greater Lansing area. Sixteen agencies,
including the Tri-County Office on Aging, Ronald McDonald
House, Lansing Capital Area Literacy Coalition, Lansing
Urban Food Project, and Haven House hosted law students.
The Office of Student Engagement coordinates the service
project to strengthen community ties and help instill an ethic
of service in new law students. “We had great participation,”
said Caroline Kingston, associate director for student
engagement. “Our students came back to school with
excellent feedback about their experiences, and we capped
off the day with a picnic on the front lawn of the Law College
on a nice sunny day.”
Spring 2013 Commencement
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bridget Mary McCormack
presented the commencement address for the graduating
Class of 2013 and their guests at the Michigan State University
Auditorium on Friday, May 10. Justice McCormack, a former
law professor and associate dean of clinical affairs at the
University of Michigan Law School, was elected to Michigan’s
high court in January 2013.
President Emeritus Clif Haley, ’61, and Dean Joan Howarth
presided over the spring graduation exercises. Degrees were
conferred on 299 spring graduates, including two Master of
Jurisprudence, 13 Master of Laws, and 284 Juris Doctor
candidates. A total of 47 fall 2012 and summer 2013 graduates
also participated.
Professor Emeritus Robert Filiatrault, ’70, received the
Honorable George N. Bashara Jr., ’61, Distinguished Alumni
Award at the ceremony. Speakers included Professor Emeritus
Clark Johnson, LL.D. ’02, and new graduate Marco Masciulli.
Graduating student Haley McCall performed the national
anthem. Class President Alyssa Doster presented the class
gift—a donation to support the Detroit College of Law Plaza
and Legacy Scholarship.
Excerpts from Justice McCormack’s
Commencement Address to the Class of 2013
Be great people.
The best lawyers
are also great people.
The legal marketplace has been transforming as you have
studied. I’m confident this has not escaped you. While
law graduates used to be among the most able to secure
employment, they now struggle. Starting salaries have
been reduced, graduate employment rates hover around
50 percent, legal services are being outsourced, and the
marketplace has not yet gained a new equilibrium. This
may have seemed like more bad news than good, and it
must have been a stressful backdrop for your legal
education—and yet here you are.
The changing legal marketplace, though stressful, creates
opportunity. I urge you to view it this way and take
advantage of it. You’re entering the profession at a time
that innovation is more appreciated than ever before. You
have the challenge and good fortune of a far broader set
of paths where innovation and creativity will be rewarded.
I urge you to view this as lucky.
Your work will rarely have you reasoning alone. You will
have partners, opponents, judges, and clients to reason
with each day. The work product of any collegial body that
you will be a part of will always be greater than the sum of
individual contributions of its members.
Make the legal process more transparent and the political
process more inclusive. Increase access to both. Improve
the capacity and efficiency and integrity of markets.
Continue the pursuit of civil rights for all Americans. Hold
our governments and elected officials to their promises.
Figure out how to make sure the planet survives for your
children’s children’s grandchildren.
( from left) Marco Masciulli, ’13; Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bridget
Mary McCormack; Bryan Melvin III, ’77, MSU Law Alumni Association;
Professor Emeritus Robert Filiatrault, ’70; Class President Alyssa Doster,
’13; Dean Joan Howarth; President Emeritus Clif Haley, ’61; and Professor
Emeritus Clark Johnson, LL.D. ’02
www.law.msu.edu
You’ve been lucky in life’s lottery—blessed with talent
and privilege—and you’ve already demonstrated your
determination. You now leave with the technical skills and
the professional qualifications both to do well and to do a
whole lot of good in the world.
13
arts & humanities Corner
In 2002, Michigan State Law began showcasing the work of visual artists who raise important questions and issues confronting society.
These exhibitions, organized by University-wide Professor Nicholas Mercuro, enhance the facility as a welcoming space for students,
faculty, staff, and the community. After 10 years—and more than 20 exhibitions—MSU Law has become a well-established venue for
displaying a wide range of art. Artists and those in the art community now request to have their work displayed at the Law College.
Art@Work
The Law College walls this fall featured “Art@Work”—
a dynamic public arts collaboration between Michigan
State University and Peckham, Inc. The inspiring exhibit
brightened the third-floor gallery area and Castle Board
Room from mid-October through November.
Peckham is a Lansing-based, nonprofit vocational
rehabilitation organization that provides job training
opportunities for those with significant disabilities and
other barriers to employment. Art@Work—a mosaic of
individual pieces representing Peckham’s client artists and
the organization’s sense of community—serves as a source of
reflection and imagination.
and lecturer at MSU’s Residential College in the Arts and
Humanities (RCAH). “Our hope is that this project will
amplify and document the stories of this community.”
RCAH students collaborated with a visiting artist and
Peckham clients from a wide range of abilities and cultural
backgrounds to create hundreds of self-portraits—25 of
which were displayed during MSU Law’s exhibition. MSU
College of Engineering and RCAH students developed the
design for the main installation at Peckham’s headquarters
in Lansing. The installation, which is accessible, highlights
the diverse groups of people who work and learn together at
Peckham and promotes dialogue across cultural lines.
“Art@Work gives voice to the unseen, overlooked, and
forgotten,” says Guillermo Delgado, community artist
Artwork by Peckham client artists
14
Natalie Ackley
Paul Dutcher
Beena Guatam
Nora Ntihrburwa
Sherry Henry
Scott Palmer
Tracey Morris
Frankie Wabinato
PROJECT
A year-long community conversation on civil rights and human rights.
MLK Day January 2014
to
MLK Day January 2015
The year 2014 will mark the 60th anniversary of the U.S.
Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education and the
50th anniversary of the passage and signing into law of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
These two watershed events continue to have a significant
impact on American citizens of all races, ethnicities, genders,
and cultures. No one can doubt that each in its own way has
changed the way people think, live, work, are taught, and
interact in American society.
Michigan State University will mark these anniversaries
with Project 60/50—a one-year series of academic, public
celebration, and remembrance events starting in January
2014. The Law College will play a leading role in the campuswide celebration. MSU Law faculty and staff are planning
several events, including those listed on this page.
60 2014
1964
50 1954
January 22, 2014
Diversity Services Office
Film Event
Road to Brown (1990), a
movie examining the brilliant
legal campaign waged by a
little-known black lawyer,
Charles Houston, against
segregation
March 4–April 30, 2014
MSU Law Art Exhibition
“Black in White America” by
Leonard Freed (1929–2006),
a powerful photographic
essay on African American
life during the civil rights
movement
March 4–April 30, 2014
MSU Law Art Exhibition
April 3, 2014
Diversity Services Office
Film Event
Home of the Brave (2004),
a documentary on the 1965
murder of civil rights activist
Viola Liuzzo and its effect
on her family
April 9–12, 2014
Michigan State Law Review
Symposium
“Investigating and Engaging
Civil Rights in Education:
Past, Present, and Future”
September 2014
Kelley Institute Lecture
The annual lecture will focus
on themes involved in
Project 60/50.
“One of Michigan’s Own,”
an exhibition on Viola Liuzzo,
a civil rights worker from
Detroit who was killed by
members of the Ku Klux Klan
following the 1965 March to
Montgomery
It Takes a Village
Michigan State Law displayed “It Takes a Village: From Gondar to Jerusalem” from
May 19 through June 7. The photographic retrospective recounts struggles and
successes of the resettlement of Ethiopians from their homeland to Jerusalem.
The striking photos depict the traditional tribal lifestyle that these Ethiopians left
behind for life in a modern, high-tech, democratic society in Israel. Most of the
Ethiopians resettled in Israel during two massive waves of immigration mounted by
the Israeli government—“Operation Moses” in 1984 and “Operation Solomon” in 1991.
Photo by Offer Dahan
www.law.msu.edu
15
Building the
21 - Century
Law School
st
Dean Joan Howarth took
the helm of Michigan State
just weeks before the global
financial collapse of 2008. So
she might be forgiven if the
Law College had struggled
to find its footing in the years
since or had slipped in its
fundraising efforts.
Instead,
Michigan
State
Law is thriving. In the past
five
years,
the
school’s
endowment has grown, its
program
offerings
have
expanded and improved, its
faculty and student body
have become increasingly
diverse and accomplished,
and student applications hit
an all-time high at a time
when the national applicant
pool was contracting.
16
Reflecting on five years with Dean Joan Howarth . . .
reimagining a bold future
A Change in Culture
“Joan has done an incredible job
from the very beginning,” says
President Emeritus Clif Haley, ’61, who
led the MSU Law Board of Trustees for
more than a decade. “She’s not only a
good manager, she’s a leader. A leader
is someone who can transform—
someone with a vision and the skill set
to have people follow that vision to
transform the institution. She came in
with that vision and has done an
absolutely remarkable job.”
“When I arrived, the law profession
was still riding high,” Howarth says.
“My expectations about what would
be possible in terms of philanthropic
support for the school and job
opportunities for our students—
two very important aspects of my
work—changed dramatically in the
first few months.
“But challenging times create
opportunities,” she adds. “I like to say
that the secret of any success is to
work hard and have fun. I think that
philosophy is embraced by everybody
here—the faculty, staff, and students.
“This is a challenging time not just
for law schools, but for higher
education in general. Just as the
University is even stronger after
dealing so effectively with cuts in
state support, MSU Law is stronger
today than it was five years ago. We’re
dealing with extreme pressure, and we
keep getting better.”
Howarth says that when she arrived in
2008, the “obvious” priority was to
“really solidify the relationship with
the University and maximize the
benefits of that relationship both to
the University and to the Law College.
I think we’ve been very successful on
that score.
“When I started here, there still was
a bit of a question mark about the Law
College from the rest of the University,”
she notes. “I think that question mark
no longer exists. We’ve been able to
show ourselves to be a high-quality
academic unit of great benefit to the
University. The Law College has
solidified its role here at MSU.”
Those efforts have been helped
along by collaborations between law
faculty and those in other disciplines.
Michigan State Law now offers a
degree in Global Food Law in
partnership with MSU College of
Agriculture and Natural Resources, for
example, and the Chance at Childhood
Clinic is a partnership with the School
of Social Work.
The Law College’s ability to
integrate fully with MSU depended on
top-to-bottom
buy-in
as
the
institution transformed from the
Detroit College of Law (DCL) into
Michigan State University College of
Law. Haley notes that the long-term
process required a profound internal
culture change.
“Most law schools, because of their
affiliation with a university, are very
collegiate,” Haley says. “That culture
was missing at DCL. We mostly had
adjunct professors. We didn’t have
football, we didn’t have a campus.
Dean Howarth has worked hard at
becoming part of the University, part
of its culture. The culture is so very
different now—we view ourselves as
part of the University.”
Howarth has cultivated connections
with DCL alumni, including encouraging
them to be active in students’ lives as
mentors. Prior to her arrival, the MSU
Law Alumni Association charged
membership dues and was funded
separately from the Law College.
Howarth encouraged the association
to transition to making every graduate
an association member automatically.
That change was “a win–win for
the Law College and the association,”
says Daniel Bliss, ’87, an intellectual
property attorney with Howard &
Howard and immediate past president
of the association’s board of directors.
“The Alumni Association’s purpose
now is to be the bridge between the
Law College and our graduates and
also between current students and
alumni,” Bliss says. “Dean Howarth
helped foster this relationship—to
have everyone on the same team,
working on the same goals. She’s
really tried to forge relationships
between grads from our time in
Detroit and current grads, bridging
that alliance and making everyone feel
we belong to one organization that
we all should be proud of.”
17
“These are really challenging
times, with fewer people able
to go to school—including
law school. Our challenge is
to ensure we’re making legal
education affordable and
available.”
— Board Chair Linda Orlans, ’87
Responding to
a Tough Market
The enhanced relationships with alumni
have proved critically important as
MSU Law and law schools across the
country have grappled with rising
costs and a contracting legal
job market.
“No responsible law school can
ignore the realities of the Great
Recession and its impact on the legal
profession,” Howarth says. “Even as
our students and our educational
programs get stronger, it has become
harder for recent graduates to
find jobs.”
Howarth explains that tackling
these issues requires a two-pronged
approach. “One is keeping the costs as
restrained as possible, and the other is
making sure our students have as
many opportunities as possible.
“That’s one of the great ways the
DCL legacy helps us, because DCL
created opportunities for those from
all walks of life,” she adds. “The last
thing our profession needs is to have
great
legal
education
become
available only to people who come
from affluent backgrounds.”
The Law College has boosted its
investment in relationships with
potential employers, and its Career
Services Office staff members are
working hard to better equip students
for a professional job search.
18
Most students will secure a job “by
impressing somebody,” Howarth notes.
“It’s not enough to be a great law
student, because employers don’t
need students. We need to help
students become adept at directing
their own search, finding out what
their goals are, and putting themselves
in the position to meet and impress
the people who are able to help them
take the next step in their careers.”
The Alumni Association plays an
important role here. The association’s
board has transformed itself into one
with national reach in recent years,
reflecting MSU Law’s increasing
geographic diversity. The association
also supports graduates and current
students
through
scholarships,
mentorships, and networking and
internship opportunities.
“We want to engage alumni with
the Law College, to encourage them
to get involved with students and help
through mentoring and job placement,
which is so important,” Bliss says.
MSU Law also is working hard to
rein in costs while at the same
time implementing a range of
improvements. Through carefully
targeted cuts in operating expenses,
heightened private support, and
development of new non-J.D. revenue
streams, the Law College has reduced
tuition percentage increases every
year since 2008.
Howarth, who is deeply committed
to keeping student debt in check,
says law schools have an ethical
obligation to help capable students
afford an excellent legal education. To
that end, MSU Law recently created
a comprehensive “thrifty budget”
program, featuring debt awareness
initiatives from pre-application to postgraduation. Two-thirds of 1Ls now use
the budget, at a reduction of $7,000
in debt per year compared to the
traditional budget.
“Every law school should pay
attention to student debt issues, but
many don’t,” Howarth says. “We’ve
been very restrained in our tuition
levels and have worked to create a
culture of thrift. One thing I’m quite
proud of is that our average debt in
2013 is $10,000 less than in 2012—a
result in part of financial literacy
programs and scholarships.”
“We understand the importance of
education and how important it is for
everyone who wants an education to
get one,” says Linda Orlans, ’87, who
was elected chair of the Board of
Trustees in September. “These are
really challenging times, with fewer
people able to go to school—including
law school. Our challenge is to ensure
we’re
making
legal
education
affordable and available.”
s
e
i
t
i
un
rt
o
p
op
New Programs,
Top-Notch Faculty
Key to ensuring law graduates’
employability is giving them access to
a broad range of forward-thinking
programs and practical experiences
while in school.
In the past five years, the Law
College has expanded its legal clinics,
degree programs, and internship and
externship opportunities. It also has
supported
and
nurtured
the
development of new initiatives like the
ReInvent Law Laboratory—a center
devoted to innovation, technology,
and entrepreneurship in legal services
that launched in 2012.
ReInvent Law’s mission is to create
new legal-service delivery models
through research and experimentation,
and to equip law students to use
creative approaches in their future
practices.
The
lab—which
was
co-founded by Professors Daniel
Martin Katz and Renee Newman
Knake—is supported in part by funding
from the Ewing Marion Kauffman
Foundation. ReInvent Law has sparked
new courses such as Entrepreneurial
Lawyering, Quantitative Analysis for
Lawyers, and Legal Information
Engineering and Technology; a 21st
Century Law Practice Summer
Program in London; and events in
Dubai, Silicon Valley, and Detroit.
www.law.msu.edu
“One of our themes here is to build
on MSU’s strengths. We’d be fools not
to,” Howarth says. “MSU is so strong in
science and technology—which gives
the Law College the opportunity to be
strong in science and technology.
That’s not how law schools became
great in the 20th century, but it is one
way we can become great in this
century.
“The legal profession is being
transformed by technology,” Howarth
adds. “We need to educate students
to lead that transformation and not be
left behind. ReInvent Law is a great
blend of cutting-edge vision that is
part academic and partially grounded
in student opportunity.
“Law and technology are the only
growing part of the legal profession,
yet most law schools have no capacity
to engage with it. I think the ReInvent
Law Laboratory is as a great example
of being creative and avoiding
complacency.”
Hannah Brenner, lecturer in law
and co-director of MSU Law’s Frank J.
Kelley Institute of Ethics & the Legal
Profession, believes that law colleges
have an ethical obligation to prepare
students to succeed in the changing
economic landscape.
“Legal education hasn’t changed
much—we’ve been teaching our
students in the same way for a really
long time,” Brenner says. “We shouldn’t
just throw it all out the window, but we
have to be mindful that maybe there’s
more we can do. We need to be
thinking about educating students
about the global economy, and how
they can use technology to help their
clients or even land a job. We’re really
reaching our students with these
messages—that they need to think
outside the box.”
The Law College has added
numerous other opportunities for
students in the past five years. Its
clinical practice areas have more
than doubled, giving students real
experience serving clients. New clinics
include those focused on civil rights,
criminal law, the First Amendment,
immigration law, securities law, and
urban agriculture.
Professor Michele Halloran, director
of clinical programs at MSU Law, calls
the school’s enhanced clinic offerings
“a major investment in our students’
future and their ability to practice law”
after graduation. “We limped along for
years with few opportunities for
students to cultivate the skills that they
need to practice law after graduating,”
she adds. “This is just a huge change.”
19
“We need to be thinking about
educating students about the
global economy, and how they
can use technology to help their
clients or even land a job. We’re
really reaching our students
with these messages—that they
need to think outside the box.”
— Professor Hannah Brenner
The Lori E. Talsky Center for Human
Rights of Women and Children has
brought thought-provoking symposia
and prominent speakers to MSU Law
since its founding in 2012. The Talsky
Center
also
funds
international
externships—including
at
the
International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia—and supports a
new professorship in International
Human Rights, which is held by the
center’s founding director, Professor
Susan Bitensky.
In September 2011, the Law College
announced its first-ever fully endowed
chair, the John F. Schaefer Chair in
Matrimonial Law. The prestigious title
is held by Cynthia Lee Starnes, a
long-time professor who co-chairs
the Child and Family Advocacy
certificate program and serves as
co-advisor of the school’s growing
family law program.
MSU Law’s intellectual property
law options also are flourishing. In
the past three years alone, the
Intellectual Property, Information and
Communications Law (IPIC) program
added three high-caliber, tenuresystem professors to its teaching
20
roster. Professors Katz, Jennifer CarterJohnson, and James Chen—who holds
the Justin Smith Morrill Chair in Law—
joined IPIC Director Adam Candeub,
Associate Director Sean Pager, and
Professor Nancy Costello.
During the same period, the
program also spawned technologyfocused summer programs in Croatia
and London and launched the
Intellectual
Property
Start-Up
Project—a clinic that helps Michigan
entrepreneurs and small businesses
secure patent, copyright, and trade
secret protection of new technologies.
Those outside the Law College walls
have taken notice. IPIC joined the list of
the nation’s top intellectual property
law programs this year, with a number
20 ranking within its specialty category.
For Dean Howarth, this is a good
start—but there is plenty more work to
be done. “We have grown our clinical
programs tremendously, but I don’t
want to rest until every single graduate
can have at least one clinical
experience,” Howarth says. “We’re
closer, but we’re not there yet. I want to
see the ReInvent Law Laboratory
become much bigger. We have our first
endowed chair and professorship, but
we need more to compete successfully.
“I really want a great Sports Law
program,” she adds. “We are in a
position to build on MSU’s strengths—
and athletics is one such strength.
I would love to have an endowed chair
in Sports Law.”
The Law College already has
harnessed the University’s worldwide
name recognition and reputation to
help steadily grow its own global
presence. Four study abroad programs
(Croatia, England, Japan, and Poland)
were developed under Howarth’s
watch, building on the school’s
successful long-running partnership
with the University of Ottawa Faculty
of Law.
Overseas externships—such as
those coordinated by and funded
through the Talsky Center—have put
MSU Law students at the epicenter of
international human rights work and
helped them prepare to practice in
an increasingly borderless world.
Meanwhile, the Law College’s increased
investment in its graduate programs
is giving similar opportunities to
foreign-educated lawyers. The school’s
master of laws (LL.M.) and master of
jurisprudence (M.J.) programs have
grown dramatically in recent years,
drawing students from around the
globe to study at MSU Law. And its
American Legal System for ForeignEducated Lawyers program now is
offered at MSU’s campus in Dubai.
The increased investment in
recruiting LL.M. and M.J. students
from abroad is paying dividends for
J.D. candidates as well. “We now have
attorneys from China, Turkey, Africa—
all over the world—who come here to
earn an advanced degree,” explains
Professor David Favre, who has taught
at the Law College since 1976 and
served as interim dean during the
school’s move from East Lansing to
the center of MSU’s campus. “This
creates opportunities for all of our
students to learn about the broader
world and meet people they otherwise
would never have a chance to meet.
“Our classrooms have more
diversity of view, different cultural
values,
and
different
world
experiences—which leads to a much
richer discussion of what public policy
ought to be in various areas,” Favre
says. “It helps students understand that
the U.S. legal system isn’t the only one
in the world, and that other systems
deal with problems in different ways.”
All of those new programs have
required new faculty, and MSU Law
has attracted excellent ones.
“Dean Howarth has been able to
attract
professors
with
global
recognition in emerging areas,” Orlans
says. “She has these talented professors
who want to do more, and she’s giving
them the freedom and the room to do
it. She’s doing a lot to establish
Michigan State Law as a leader.”
“Even as your faculty becomes
stronger academically and more
visible in terms of their scholarly
success—with more law review articles
and more books with a big impact—
you need to make sure the people you
hire and promote understand that
students are the reason we exist,”
Howarth says. “I’m proud of the faculty
hiring we’ve been able to do, and
really excited about all the strong
promotions. Our faculty is doing
exactly what it’s supposed to do,
which is getting stronger every year.”
21
“Our history has been to rely
on tuition dollars, and we continue
to do so. But our biggest ambitions
will be realized through support
from our graduates and friends.”
— Dean Joan Howarth
The Payoff
Michigan State Law’s investments in its
programs, clinical programs, and faculty
are reaping significant dividends.
The number of applications for
admission to MSU Law increased by
approximately 50 percent between
2008 and 2013—an impressive
achievement in its own right but
particularly notable given that the
national applicant pool contracted by
28 percent during the same period.
“Dean Howarth really has done a
good job of keeping the numbers up,
particularly when many other law
schools are losing applicants,” Bliss
says. “She’s helped to foster a
standard that’s made MSU Law
attractive for prospective students.
She’s helped ensure the curriculum is
current—and worked with faculty to
do so, which is important.”
Howarth and the admissions team
closely monitor the still-grim realities
of the market, and regularly make
adjustments to respond to it. The Law
College purposefully downsized its
22
2013 incoming class, for example, in
order to maintain the quality and
other desired characteristics of
admitted students.
One such characteristic is diversity.
Although diversity has been a
longstanding value of the Law
College, Howarth saw room for
improvement when she arrived. She
quickly identified improved diversity—
geographic, gender, class, racial, and
ethnic—in both the student body and
the faculty as a top goal.
In the years since, the faculty has
become more racially and ethnically
diverse. The student body is more
gender balanced and its ethnic and
cultural diversity has improved. That
effort has been aided by the expanded
graduate programs, which now attract
students from around the world to
the Law College. Unusual for a U.S.
academic institution, the largest cohort
of international students at MSU Law
hail from the Middle East, especially
Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Others come
from South America, Africa, and Asia.
This fall’s incoming J.D. class also is
geographically diverse. Its 273 students
represent 36 states and five foreign
countries (Cameroon, Canada, China,
Peru, and South Korea). Arizona,
California, Florida, New York, and
Pennsylvania joined several Midwestern
neighbors on the list of MSU Law’s top
10 feeder states this year.
The trustees’ goal for the Law
College to break the top-100 mark in
the annual rankings was realized well
ahead of schedule, with MSU Law
now positioned at number 80.
Though quick to point out that the
ranking offers only “a very limited
measure of the quality of any law
school’s academic program,” Howarth
acknowledges
that
prospective
students and employers alike form
impressions as a result of it.
“Notwithstanding its shortcomings,
this ranking reflects some of the many
positive qualities of our program,”
Howarth says. “Our students, alumni,
friends, faculty, and staff have many
reasons to be proud of MSU Law’s
accomplishments.”
The Future
MSU Law’s success in other areas is
inspiring greater financial support
from stakeholders. The school’s donor
base has more than doubled, and its
endowment has grown significantly.
Howarth says her biggest focus in the
next couple of years will be on
philanthropy, both from individuals
and from foundations.
“We cannot continue to depend
almost solely on tuition dollars,” she
says. “Between current students and
former students, who is better able to
help expand programs and develop
the school? Our history has been to
rely on tuition dollars, and we continue
to do so. But our biggest ambitions
will be realized through support from
our graduates and friends.”
Haley agrees that focus on
development is necessary if the Law
College wants to continue its upward
trajectory. “You can be as good as you
want in your vision, but if you don’t
have the resources, you’re going to
have a hard time getting there,” he says.
www.law.msu.edu
“Other law colleges have huge
endowments, and that gives them a
leg up,” Haley notes. “In the next
several years, all the seeds Joan and
others have been planting will bear
fruit, and we will grow stronger. The
faculty and students all will benefit.
MSU Law will achieve true Big 10
status as a law school.”
As the new board chair, Orlans says
her focus will be on supporting faculty
and “really getting the word out about
what an amazing group of professors
we have.” She explains, “We want to
reach out to students and let them
know what a great value an MSU Law
legal education is, and make sure the
doors of opportunity are open for
them. We have to sing the praises of
our school and our professors and our
students.”
Howarth believes that such efforts
will put Michigan State Law in a
leadership role in all areas of the legal
profession in Michigan.
“With most of our students coming
from Michigan, we should be leading in
all areas. We should be on the state
supreme court, in the governor’s office,
and in the legislature. We should be
leading the public defenders and
prosecutors’ offices and the legal aid
offices,” Howarth says. “To me, that’s
the goal. We have the opportunity to
become a leading presence in
Michigan, and to have an impact on the
country and on the world.
“Law is a service profession—and it
should be,” she adds. “That is an
important message for us to remind
ourselves of and instill in our students.
A great law school isn’t just a school
of law—it’s a school of leadership, of
service, of enterprise, of opportunity,
and of justice. And we can be all
those things.”
23
scholarly Events
In Search of Equality in Family Law
A Michigan State Law Review symposium on the continuing
struggle to achieve equality in family law attracted many of
the field’s leading scholars to the Law College this past
spring. Professors Melanie Jacobs and Cynthia Lee Starnes
co-organized “In Search of Equality in Family Law,” which
was held on April 11 and 12.
David D. Meyer, dean of Tulane University Law School,
presented the keynote address at the symposium’s opening
reception at MSU’s striking Eli and Edythe Broad Art
Museum. According to Professor Jacobs, the juxtaposition of
the modern structure within the historic university campus
“symbolizes the current tension in family law—that is,
trying to fuse current understandings of the meaning of
family, spouse, and parent with long-standing doctrines,
presumptions, and traditions.”
Panel discussions at the Law College the next day touched
on issues surrounding access to marriage, post-divorce
spousal support and property division, and parentage
establishment. More than 20 internationally known scholars
spoke during the event, which one speaker dubbed “The
Oscars of Family Law.”
24
David D. Meyer
“It was indeed a group of superstars,” Professor Starnes
agreed. “The symposium was a huge success, with a rich
exchange of ideas and a healthy difference of opinion
without animus.”
“Many speakers addressed increasing socio-economic
disparities as the single largest obstacle to achieving equality
in family law,” noted Professor Jacobs. “While the
presentations included concerns about gender and sexual
orientation equality as well as racial and ethnic equality, the
divide between the poorer and wealthier classes was noted
as one of the most significant factors affecting the current
lack of equality.”
The symposium was particularly timely, as the U.S.
Supreme Court—and the nation—focused its attention this
spring on two major marriage equality cases and a third
involving parental rights under the Indian Child Welfare Act.
1. The Michigan State Law Review Senior Editorial Board
2. The Broad Art Museum galleries remained open so attendees
could tour the museum after enjoying hors d’oeuvres and
wine at the evening reception.
(from left) Law Review Senior Symposia Editor Jeffrey Same, Professor
Cynthia Lee Starnes, Tulane Law Dean David Meyer, MSU Law Dean
Joan Howarth, Professor Melanie Jacobs, and Law Review Editor-in-Chief
Lisa Colomba Ferro Hackett
Keynote Speaker
David D. Meyer, Tulane University Law School
Presenters
1
2
www.law.msu.edu
Sarah Abramowicz, Wayne State University Law School
Annette Ruth Appell, Washington University School of Law
Susan Frelich Appleton, Washington University School of Law
Tonya Brito, University of Wisconsin Law School
Naomi Cahn, George Washington University Law School
June Carbone, University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law
Sacha M. Coupet, Loyola University Chicago School of Law
James Dwyer, William & Mary Law School
Cynthia Godsoe, Brooklyn Law School
Leslie J. Harris, University of Oregon School of Law
Melanie B. Jacobs, MSU College of Law
Courtney Joslin, UC Davis School of Law
Sarah Katz, Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law
Alicia Brokars Kelly, Widener University School of Law
Kevin Noble Maillard, Syracuse University College of Law
Linda C. McClain, Boston University School of Law
Rev. Raymond C. O’Brien, The Catholic University of America Columbus
School of Law
Dara E. Purvis, University of Illinois College of Law
Julie Shapiro, Seattle University School of Law
Barbara Stark, Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law
Cynthia Lee Starnes, MSU College of Law
Richard E. Storrow, The City University of New York School of Law
Mark Strasser, Capital University Law School
Lynn D. Wardle, J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University
25
Nd’nakweshkodaadimin: A
Gathering of Anishinaabe Scholars
MSU Law’s Indigenous Law & Policy Center (ILPC)
hosted its 10th Annual Indigenous Law Conference,
“Nd’nakweshkodaadimin: A Gathering of Anishinaabe
Scholars,” on October 24 and 25. The heavily interdisciplinary
event brought together more than 20 scholars with one thing
in common—each is a member of the Anishinaabe (Odawa,
Ojibwe, and Bodewadmi) Indian community.
The Honorable Leo I. Brisbois, magistrate judge for the
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, was this
year’s keynote speaker. Brisbois—a member of the White
Earth Band of Ojibwe Indians—is the sole American Indian
federal judge. A lunchtime meet-and-greet was held with
special guest Keesic Douglas, an Ojibwe artist from the
Mnjikaning First Nation in central Ontario, Canada.
Selected papers will be published in a new journal
published by MSU Press in English, with translation into
Anishinaabemowin—the language of the Anishinaabeg. The
journal will help continue the advancement of Indigenous
Law knowledge at Michigan State and beyond.
1
3
Keynote Speakers
Hon. Leo I. Brisbois, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
Presenters
4
2
5
1. The Honorable Leo I. Brisbois
2. The Honorable Michael Petoskey, Scott Richard Lyons, The Honorable John
Wabaunsee, and ILPC student Emily Smith
3. Pat Dyer-Deckrow, MSU Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions Coordinator
4. Laura Sagolla, assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan
5. Janis Fairbanks
26
Sarah Abramowicz, Wayne State University Law School
Sharon M. Avery, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan
Aimée Craft, Treaty Relations Committee of Manitoba
Jill Doerfler, University of Minnesota, Duluth
Cherie Dominic, Little Traverse Bay Bands Office of
Citizens Legal Assistance
Frank Ettawageshik, United Tribes of Michigan
Janis Fairbanks, MSU College of Arts and Letters
Anita Fineday, Indian Child Welfare Program for the
Casey Family Programs
Matthew L.M. Fletcher, MSU College of Law
Hon. JoAnne Gasco, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians
Darcie Houck, Fredericks Peebles & Morgan
Heather Howard, MSU Department of Anthropology
Hon. Elizabeth Kronk Warner, University of Kansas Law
Scott Richard Lyons, University of Michigan
Hon. Allie Maldonado, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians
Dylan Miner, MSU Indigenous Contemporary Art Initiative
Margaret Noodin, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Hon. Michael Petoskey, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians
Nicholas Reo, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, University of Victoria
Victoria Sweet, MSU College of Law
Hon. Monique Vondall, Vondall & Associates
Hon. John Wabaunsee, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of
Potawatomi Supreme Court
Kyle Whyte, Michigan State University
IP, the Internet, and Computational
Transformation
The Intellectual Property, Information, and Communications
Law Program (IPIC) at MSU Law hosted the Fifth Annual
Conference on Innovation and Communications Law (CICL)
from May 14 through 16. The event was held at the Homestead
resort in Glen Arbor, overlooking Lake Michigan and the
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
This year’s CICL theme, “Intellectual Property, the
Internet, and Computational Transformation,” highlighted
ways in which the ever-increasing power of computation
drives changes in intellectual property rights doctrines and
the domestic and international practice of law. The
conference drew an impressive roster of presenters,
including Judges David McKeague of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Gordon Quist of the U.S.
District Court for the Western District of Michigan; leaders
in the growing field of legal analytics, such as Owen Byrd of
Lex Machina and Greg Upchurch of Legalmetric; and
academics from across the United States. Other speakers
included top Michigan practitioners from the firms of Avanti
Law Group; Bolhouse, Baar & Lefere; Honigman Miller
Schwartz and Cohn; Howard & Howard; Kirkland & Ellis;
Miller Canfield; Price Heneveld; Rader, Fishman & Grauer;
Traverse Legal; and Revision Legal.
The event was a cooperative effort of Michigan State Law,
the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law,
Åbo Akademi University, the University of Turku Faculty of
Law, and Drake University Law School.
Chicken Farming in the
21st Century
Michigan State Law’s Journal of Animal & Natural Resource Law
hosted its 2013 symposium, “Chicken Farming in the 21st
Century,” on April 4. Speakers analyzed legal, ethical, and
environmental concerns associated with egg-laying hen
operations and the practice of raising broiler chickens for
meat. Topics included avian disease, waste management,
water pollution, nutrient management, human health, and
the impact of state and federal laws on poultry operations.
The event was designed to foster further discussion on how
to improve the quality of life of chickens while still meeting
the growing population’s food demands.
Presenters
Karen Chou, Toxicology Group, MSU Department of Animal Science
Bradley N. Deacon, Michigan Department of Agriculture &
Rural Development
Jill Fritz, Humane Society of the United States
Lynn Henning, Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club
Darrin Karcher, MSU Department of Animal Science
Janice Siegford, Animal Behavior & Welfare Group,
MSU Department of Animal Science
Paul B. Thompson, MSU College of Agriculture & Natural Resources
(from left) The Honorable Gordon Quist, The Honorable David McKeague,
Greg Upchurch, Owen Byrd, and Professor Daniel Martin Katz
27
legal clinic Briefs
Tax Clinic Students Help Northern
Michigan Migrant Workers
New Clinic Offers Legal
Representation to Small Investors
Michigan State Law launched a new clinic this year to serve
individual investors who otherwise would be unable to
obtain legal representation due to the size of their claims.
The Investor Advocacy Clinic—which was founded with a
grant from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation—
counsels and represents investors on a pro bono basis while
teaching students about securities regulation and litigation.
The clinic selects cases carefully after considering the
investor’s need for pro bono counsel, the chance of a
successful outcome, the clinic’s current caseload, and the
pedagogical value to student clinicians.
Investors who think they may have been defrauded or who
have a dispute with a stock broker may contact the clinic for
a free consultation. “If we do not think an investor has a
claim after thoroughly reviewing his or her losses and
portfolio, we advise them not to seek damages,” says Benjamin
Edwards, adjunct professor and director of the new clinic.
“If we think there is a claim, we may be able to represent the
investor or help find the right counsel for the case.”
The Investor Advocacy Clinic also offers investor
education and outreach, giving particular attention to
investment schemes targeting vulnerable populations.
Clinicians gain public speaking experience while providing
unbiased information about various investment products.
The goal is to reduce community members’ risk of falling
prey to investment fraud. “Never trust anyone who promises
you high returns without any risk,” Edwards warns.
28
MSU Law’s Mobile Tax Clinic traveled to Northern
Michigan in August to provide legal services to migrant
workers who were unfairly taxed.
Four student clinicians, Tax Clinic Public Interest Fellow
Christina Thompson, Housing Clinic Fellow Michael
Siracuse, and Office Manager Jesse Alvarez served
approximately 25 migrant workers in Petoskey and Harbor
Springs. The agricultural workers spend six to eight months
in the United States each year—often to help support family
members who remain in Mexico.
“The workers earn roughly $12,000 to $18,000 per year,
but due to erroneous additional tax charged on their wages
when filing their tax returns, they were losing thousands of
hard-earned dollars,” Thompson said. “We became involved
to help them amend their returns and receive a refund of the
money they were improperly charged.”
Because the workers generally do not speak English and
are unfamiliar with the U.S. tax system, many were unaware
of the error. “This forced them to send less money home to
family, creating a large financial strain for themselves and
their families,” Thompson noted.
The trip marked the first face-to-face meeting between
many of the student clinicians and their clients—some of
whom had been working with the clinic for more than a
year. The students were aided by two translators from
Farmworker Legal Services as they answered questions and
updated clients on the status of their cases.
a new chapter: Faculty Retirements
Professor
Bob Filiatrault
Robert “Bob” Filiatrault, ’70,
became a law school
professor quite by
happenstance—but
that serendipitous
move has kept him
involved with the
Law College for half a century.
Although health issues have forced emeritus status,
Professor “Fili” plans to return to the classroom as an
adjunct professor.
A Detroit native who later moved to Bloomfield Township,
Professor Fili was the first in his family to enter law school.
“My mother said I talked so darn much, I might as well get
paid for it,” he jokes, adding that he inherited his “gift of gab”
from his father, a manufacturer’s representative.
Bob set off to Notre Dame, with a long-held desire of
ultimately entering law. After running out of money, he
returned to Detroit, took a job, and studied at the University
of Detroit at night. Before graduating, however, he scored so
high on the Law School Admission Test that Detroit College
of Law (now Michigan State Law) waived its undergraduate
degree requirement for admission.
“That was a major factor in choosing DCL,” Professor
Fili says. “But I also talked to the father of a friend who
was a graduate, and I knew of the Law College’s excellent
reputation.”
After graduating, Bob clerked for the Honorable Fred W.
Kaess, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Michigan, with every intention of becoming a
trial lawyer. Indeed, he entered private practice, doing
mostly civil litigation in a firm that was so small, he jokes,
that he immediately became a partner.
Bob was working in Judge Kaess’s chambers when
DCL Dean Charles King, ’33, asked him to teach Federal
Jurisdiction. King later added Equity and Civil Procedure
to Professor Fili’s course load. “I was the utility in-fielder,
doing a little bit of everything,” he notes.
When Dean King retired in 1972, Professor Fili was invited
to what he thought would be an “exit” lunch with incoming
Dean John Abbott. “You could have knocked me down with
a feather when he offered me a full-time teaching position,”
he says. “I enjoyed teaching, so I thought I’d give it a try.
www.law.msu.edu
If I didn’t like it—or it didn’t like me—I was still young
enough to switch horses and return to practice. So I backed
into teaching happily, and it was the best thing I ever did.”
Bob—who primarily taught in the areas of Civil Procedure
and Evidence—shared his appellate experience as the longtime faculty advisor to the Moot Court & Trial Advocacy
Board. He also served as director of externship programs,
using his “real world” contacts to help students.
In addition to being a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar
Foundation, Bob was honored with this year’s prestigious
Honorable George N. Bashara Jr., ’61, Distinguished Alumni
Award. Speaking at the spring commencement ceremony,
Professor Fili joked that he was “madder than a hornet”
when first told of the award because he thought Dean Joan
Howarth said he was receiving the “Extinguished”—rather
than “Distinguished”—Alumni Award.
“All joking aside, the award is an honor—particularly
because it is named after George Bashara, whom I knew
as a super guy, and a highly respected lawyer and judge,”
he added.
In retirement, Professor Fili will continue to pursue his
passion for sailing. An avid sailor since his teens, he is a past
commodore of both the Detroit Boat Club and the Detroit
Regional Yacht-Racing Association. In addition, Bob served
as principal race officer for the Toledo Yacht Club’s Mills
Trophy Race for nearly 20 years. Though his own racing
days are behind him, Bob remains on the race committee for
the Bayview Yacht Club’s annual Port Huron to Mackinac
Island race.
A die-hard Detroit Lions fan from boyhood, Professor Fili
also will keep cheering for his hometown team. He spent
two decades as the chief statistician for the Lions during
the team’s days at the Pontiac Silverdome.
Bob has three adult daughters. He and his wife, Mary
Helen Christy, live in Metamora—Michigan’s horse country.
“As I look back on my relationship with MSU Law, I know
it has been my second family,” he says. “Faculty and staff
share in each other’s joys and sorrows. This wonderful Law
College and its people will always have a special place in
my heart.”
29
Professors
Robert & Amy
McCormick
Professors Robert and Amy (Christian) McCormick enjoyed
a combined 54 years on the Law College faculty—Amy
teaching Basic Income Taxation, International Taxation,
Estate & Gift Taxation, and Tax Policy, and Bob teaching
Labor Law, Sports Law, and Decedents’ Estates & Trusts. The
two also teamed up on joint scholarship exposing inequities
in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Now the Emeritus Professors are enjoying their recent
retirement and look forward to having more time for travel.
Amy enjoys Latin American literature, cooking, biking,
skiing, and spending time with friends and family. Bob’s
goals are to “read, listen to music, watch classic movies,
work on my handball game, ride my bicycle, spend time with
my sons, their families, and my friends . . . and laugh a lot.”
Amy McCormick
Professor Amy McCormick—a St. Louis native—graduated
with honors from Georgetown University and Harvard Law
School, where she enjoyed studying tax law. “It touches on
many human endeavors, and the tax policy choices a society
makes reveal much about what that society values,” she
notes. “I was also drawn to ideas about how legal reform
could improve society.”
Her early major works—published in law journals at
UCLA, the University of Virginia, the University of Southern
California, and the University of Cincinnati—examined a
range of issues. While practicing law in Washington, DC,
Amy published an article proposing a new tax system to
discourage carbon dioxide emissions; a year later, the White
House publicly advocated the adoption of a similar tax.
Since joining Michigan State Law in 1994, Amy’s writings
have exposed implicit biases against women in U.S. tax
law. She has revealed ways in which the joint income tax
return substantially harms women, discouraging some wives
from working and frequently contributing to an annual
coerced transfer of wealth from women to men. She has also
identified other ways in which factors like withholding rates
affect the transfer of wealth from lower- to higher-income
spouses. In symposia, she likewise described how the tax
system tends to reward white couples with marriage bonuses
and to impose marriage penalties on African Americans.
Amy’s writings have also shed light on inequities that
flow from the rule of joint and several liability that is
30
imposed on all joint filers, and much of her work influenced
Congressional reforms to the Internal Revenue Code’s
innocent spouse provisions. Elsewhere, she addressed
legislative proposals for marriage penalty relief and their
effect on filing status choices.
As satisfying as creating a significant body of scholarship
has been, teaching has brought Amy even greater pleasure.
“I take real pleasure in teaching and interacting with
students,” she says. “It’s enormously rewarding to help
students encounter new, stimulating ideas and understand
challenging material . . . to see the light go on when
a student puts new ideas together, or comprehends a
complex statute for the first time.” Amy still has plenty of
opportunities to see that light. Although retired, she will
continue teaching Basic Income Taxation at MSU Law.
“I’ve gained so much from my students,” she says. “They
are wonderful people and have been very generous with
me. They really cannot know how grateful I am for the
experiences they have given me over the past two decades.
Students are the heart of the school, and I feel very privileged
to have worked with them.”
Robert McCormick
That feeling is echoed by Amy’s husband, Professor Robert
McCormick, who spent 18 years at the Law College in
Detroit and another 16 since the school moved to East
Lansing. Looking back, Bob’s central sentiment is one of
deep gratitude.
“What could have been better than spending those years
reasoning and debating the vital and sometimes confounding
ideas of the law with bright students who were eager to
learn and challenge one another?” Bob says. “They made the
job a rich, happy, and rewarding experience. While teaching
was often a lot of work, it never was a chore—and to know
that after so many years is a wonderful thing.”
The Highland Park native graduated from MSU, cum
laude, in 1969, and then earned his J.D. at the University of
Michigan Law School. He joined the Law College faculty in
1979, and served as Associate Dean from 1986 to 1989.
Sports law caught Bob’s attention in the early 1980s when
legal issues emerged in the courts. With few teachers in
that area and no casebooks, he assembled his own teaching
materials and launched a sports law class, which he taught
for two decades.
In 1984, Bob and Professor Matthew McKinnon published
“Professional Football’s Draft Eligibility Rule: The Labor
Exemption and the Antitrust Laws” in the Emory Law Journal,
arguing that the National Football League draft eligibility
rule was a combination in restraint of trade violating the
Sherman Antitrust Act. Two decades later, Bob joined the
legal team of Ohio State sophomore running back Maurice
Clarett in an antitrust challenge to that rule. Clarett
prevailed in federal district court, but the decision was
reversed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Bob’s many other writings were published in law journals
at the University of Michigan, Vanderbilt University,
Washington & Lee University, and Villanova University,
as well as in national publications such as the New York Times
and National Law Journal. He was also a frequent guest on
radio and television sports programs.
A labor arbitrator in public and private labor-management
disputes, Bob became a member of the National Academy
of Arbitrators in 1988. In 2007, he was named a Fellow of
the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers. He spent a
decade as Chairman of the UAW–Chrysler Corporation
Appeal Board, and chaired the Labor & Employment Law
Section of the State Bar of Michigan from 1991 to 1992. The
section honored Bob and Amy for writing and producing
the 2003 video documentary, “Toil, Trouble, and Triumph:
The Legacy of Michigan Labor Lawyers,” with the aid of a
$20,000 grant from the State Bar.
The Legacy of the McCormicks’
Joint Scholarship
The professors—both Spartans fans—have left a 10-year
legacy of joint scholarship focused on the legal status of
college athletes and their relationship to universities and
the NCAA.
In their groundbreaking 2006 article, “The Myth of the
Student-Athlete: The College Athlete as Employee,” published
in the Washington Law Review, they argued that grant-in-aid
athletes in revenue-generating sports at Division I NCAA
www.law.msu.edu
institutions are not “student-athletes” as the NCAA claims,
but instead should be viewed as “employees” under the
National Labor Relations Act. The McCormicks revealed
that the NCAA created the “student-athlete” concept in
the 1950s in reaction to a state court’s determination that a
college football player was an employee under state workers’
compensation laws. They also uncovered the vast control
exercised by university athletic departments over athletes
and the stark lack of academic value most athletes obtain
in exchange for commercially valuable work.
In subsequent works published at the University of
San Diego, University of Texas, and Wake Forest University,
the McCormicks offered other criticisms of NCAA
regulations. They first noted that labor, antitrust, and
tax laws all regulate commercial activities, while often
exempting amateur ones. Consequently, such laws have
exempted “amateur” college athletics from regulation. The
professors debunked the “amateur” label, however, exposing
the commercial and lucrative character of college sports and
concluding they should be subject to the same legal regimes
that apply to other commercial entities.
They then explored racial implications of NCAA
amateurism rules that prevent college athletes from sharing
in vast sports revenues, despite providing essential labor.
Because those rules apply only to athletes and not to
coaches, athletic directors, or others in the college sports
industry, a largely African American workforce generates
extraordinary wealth but is forbidden from sharing in the
revenues that instead are reserved for industry managers
who are overwhelmingly of European-American descent.
The McCormicks compared this regime to apartheid-like
systems throughout history, under which members of a racial
majority exploited minorities for entertainment and profit.
The professors next examined the history of racial
integration in college sports. The two found that such
integration came about primarily when it served the
economic interests of white-run football bowl organizations
and universities to field the most competitive teams and to
reap the resulting financial rewards.
The McCormicks’ work has helped drive a change in
public perceptions about college sports. A recent Time
magazine cover story asked, “Should College Athletes
Be Paid?” and journalists regularly comment on the vast
economic imbalance between the NCAA and college athletes.
Such discussions—which were very rare a decade ago—have
become commonplace, thanks in large part to the pioneering
work of Professors Bob and Amy McCormick.
31
*
In Memoriam
Professor John “Jack” Apol
(1941–2012)
“I Really Love the Chanting”
By Dean Joan W. Howarth
I see random groups of MSU Law students several times
a day, often in the elevator. I typically ask how classes are
going. In the first semester after arriving as the new MSU
Law dean, I initially found one of the common responses
disconcerting. Many students told me that their favorite
class was Criminal Law with Professor Apol. They would
continue, “I really love the chanting.” This came from a great
variety of students—men and women, young and older,
multiple races. “The chanting”? It sounded like a cult, not
a law school class.
Soon I understood. When I heard loud chanting coming
from a classroom—seventy voices strong—I understood.
When a 1984 graduate, or a 1996 graduate, or a 2005
graduate reminisced with me about law school by chanting
the elements of burglary, I understood. Early in his career
as a professor of criminal law, Jack Apol figured out that
chanting the elements of a crime loudly in unison helped
students to learn the crimes cold. With the doctrinal
structure firmly in mind, they could concentrate on the
real work of legal analysis. But I doubt that Jack spent
much time on the theory of chanting. I never heard him
talk about kinesthetic learners, or pedagogical pacing, or
multimodality. But he knew exactly what he was doing. The
first time I mentioned the chanting to him, he grinned. “Are
there complaints about the noise? I tell my students to be
very loud.”
In short, Jack was a big, funny man who ran a highly
controlled yet raucous classroom. As a teacher, Jack
was irreverent, spirited, and sometimes outrageous. He
understood that law school is a lot of work and wanted
his students to have so much fun that they would work
even harder. Jack Apol was a great teacher. Last year he
was honored with the inaugural Campbell Great Teaching
Award, named in honor of legendary Detroit College of Law
professor Donald F. Campbell, who was also a dear friend of
Jack, although a very different person and teacher. Jack Apol
projected a larger-than-life character. He was a joker and a
cynic (he would say realist) about many things, certainly
including academic politics. He was generous. There was
something of the swashbuckler about him, maybe a holdover
from his eight years in the Navy. Many students considered
32
him a dead ringer for John Madden, the football player,
coach, and media personality. They looked and sounded
alike, and like Madden, Jack had a reputation as a tough
talker with a heart of gold.
Jack wanted his students to succeed as attorneys and
in life, as he did. Jack was a true character who lived an
extraordinarily stable life, a professor at the same law school
for thirty-four years, married to his beloved wife Carol for
forty-six years. Jack was devoted to Carol, and to their two
daughters, Heidi and Andrea.
Perhaps oddly, Jack’s teaching reminds me of the
prominent Quaker educator Parker J. Palmer. If confronted
with Palmer’s 1983 book, To Know As We Are Known: A
Spirituality of Education,1 Jack probably would have snorted
loudly. Jack might have dismissed Palmer as insufferably
pretentious, as a typical elitist academic putting on airs.
Jack’s language would have been saltier. But when I think
about Jack Apol’s teaching, I remember Palmer’s book The
Courage to Teach.2
Palmer wrote The Courage to Teach “for teachers who refuse
to harden their hearts because they love learners, learning,
and the teaching life.”3 That sounds like Jack Apol. Palmer
tells us that “[g]ood teachers join self and subject and
students in the fabric of life.”4 That, too, sounds like Jack.
You know about the chanting. Those of you who teach
should feel free to try chanting with your students, but do
not be surprised if it falls flat. As Palmer tells us, “Good
teaching cannot be reduced to technique: good teaching
comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.”5 For it
to work, for business lawyers to happily chant the elements
of burglary thirty years later, the teacher who taught them to
chant had to love chanting with his students. Jack’s teaching
methods were as original as Jack himself, as close to his
heart as to his students’.
Jack did have the heart of a teacher. He matched the elite
academic credentials of other law professors, having followed
graduation from the University of Michigan Law School with
a federal clerkship. But Jack’s education in the world was
broader than that of many law professors, having enlisted
in the Navy at age sixteen. Jack had spent eight years in
the Navy, much of it in intelligence work, before leaving
to attend Grand Valley State University. Before joining the
law faculty, Jack Apol had tested himself in many ways.
Palmer links the power of heartfelt teaching methods to
self-knowledge:
[A]s we learn more about who we are, we can learn
techniques that reveal rather than conceal the
personhood from which good teaching comes. We no
longer need to use technique to mask the subjective self,
as the culture of professionalism encourages us to do.6
Like Jack Apol, Parker Palmer criticizes an academic
culture that encourages distance between teacher and
students. With a line that almost sounds like Jack Apol,
Palmer makes a point that Jack would heartily endorse:
“Academic institutions offer myriad ways to protect ourselves
from the threat of a live encounter.”7 Palmer describes the
recipe: “To avoid a live encounter with students, teachers can
hide behind their podiums, their credentials, their power.”8
Jack did not hide in those ways. Jack was a very smart man
who chose simple, sometimes comical teaching techniques.
He stood out in legal education, a world where teachers are
very smart people whose techniques may sometimes teach
exactly that—how smart they are—more than anything
else. The Paper Chase’s fictional Professor Kingsfield became
iconic because so many law professors conducted class in
that terrifying way.9 Jack Apol did not teach down to his
students. Nobody ever confused Professor Kingsfield with
John Madden, let alone joked with him about it.
With a critique that could have been aimed at the excesses
of traditional legal education as represented by Professor
Kingsfield, Palmer asks:
Why do we have so much trouble seeing students as
they really are? Why do we diagnose their condition
in morbid terms that lead to deadly modes of teaching?
Why do we not see the fear that is in their hearts and
find ways to help them through it, rather than accusing
them of being ignorant and banal?10
Sadly, law professors have not always been associated with
genuine like and respect for their students. When Jack Apol
won the Campbell Great Teaching Award last year, countless
former students cheered. Jack Apol’s students understood
that he cared about them, liked them, and respected them.
Palmer says that “[g]ood teaching is an act of hospitality
toward the young.”11 Jack Apol’s students understood that
through his teaching, Professor Apol was welcoming them to
happy lives in a great profession. According to Parker Palmer,
teaching requires intellect, emotion, and spirit.12 Jack Apol’s
very large spirit lives on in his beloved family, and through
the generations of lawyers he taught so generously.
JOHN “JACK” APOL: A TRIBUTE
By Professor Emeritus Clark C. Johnson
I am attempting, as best I am able, to provide a “few words”
about my friend and colleague, John “Jack” Apol. Anyone who
knew him would be quick, and rightly so, to respond with
all the old trite sayings like “they broke the mold when he
left us.” True indeed. “He was one of the most unforgettable
characters I ever met.” Just as true. “He had a heart as big as
the country he served.” Yup, spot on. “His students were like
his children.” Now we are getting there. But what I saw in
my friend, and biased I am, was a man who had mastered his
craft and worked hard for the betterment of those for whom
he was responsible, both in and out of the classroom. The
profession is better because of him, and any student will be
quick to say what a positive impact he had on them. Many
were helped by him in ways which they never knew about
soon and long after they graduated. A rare bird indeed. Broke
the mold? Looks like it to me. We were all lucky to have his
as a friend. My heart is full.
1.
Parker J. Palmer, To Know As We Are Known: A Spirituality of
Education (1983).
2. Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner L andscape
of a Teacher’s L ife (10th Anniversary ed. 2007).
3. Id. at 2.
4. Id. at 11.
5. Id. at 10 (emphasis omitted).
6. Id. at 24.
7. Id. at 38.
8. Id.
9.
See The Paper Chase (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. 1973).
10. Palmer, supra note 2, at 48.
11. Id. at 51.
12.Id. at 5.
* The original announcement about Professor Apol’s passing appeared in the Fall 2012
issue of Amicus. This piece was adapted from a tribute that appeared in the Michigan
State Law Review (2012 Mich. St. L. R ev. 1097).
www.law.msu.edu
33
Faculty Notes
As leading scholars in a variety of legal fields, Michigan State Law faculty regularly are quoted, interviewed, and featured as
experts on current issues in the media. For a complete list of articles and stories highlighting the wide-ranging expertise of
our professors, visit www.law.msu.edu/news/faculty.html.
34
Barnhizer
Barbara Bean
Bruce Bean
Bedikian
Bitensky
Bowman
Brenner
Candeub
Carter-Johnson
Costello
Edwards
Favre
Filiatrault
Fletcher
Fort
Francis
Grosso
Halloran
Howarth
Jacobs
Johnson
Kalt
Kaser
Katz
Knake
Kuykendall
D. Lawrence
Lawton
A. McCormick
R. McCormick
McNally
Mercuro
Morag-Levine
O’Brien
Pager
Pappas
Pritchard
Pucillo
Ravitch
Rosa
Sant’Ambrogio
Saunders
Singel
Staszewski
Ten Brink
D. Thronson
V. Thronson
Wittner
www.law.msu.edu
35
36
» DANIEL D. BARNHIZER,
professor of law and the
Bradford Stone Faculty Scholar,
was named director of journal
programs. The new position
will provide stable, consistent
faculty oversight of the Michigan
State Law Review and other
journals.
Law Weekend at Fordham
Law School. The panel,
“American Legal Imperialism?
The Extraterritorial Imposition
of U.S. Law,” addressed the
recent U.S. Supreme Court
decisions in Morrison v. National
Australian Bank and Kiobel v. Shell
Petroleum Co.
» Professor from Practice
BRUCE W. BEAN presented a
talk titled “Doing Business in
Russia Today” at a Michigan
State Bar Association meeting
in March.
In May, he once again
testified as an expert witness
on doing business in Russia—
this time in a tax court
proceeding in Chicago before
Judge David Laro, who is
known for his novel “Hot Tub”
approach to expert testimony.
After all traditional expert
testimony was heard, the judge
and two experts sat together
at a table and had an informal,
on-the-record conversation
about the issues while the
parties’ lawyers silently
observed. Professor Bean notes
that the approach is far more
efficient than traditional cross
and rebuttal of expert reports,
and comparable to that used
when he recently testified in
Britain’s High Court in
Berezovsky v. Abramovich. Under
the British court’s rules, the
experts were required to meet
before trial, without lawyers,
and prepare a joint report.
Professor Bean also taught
International Corporate
Governance in MSU Law’s
LL.M. program in Dubai. The
students—practitioners from
around the Middle East—
engaged in spirited,
sophisticated discussions
about controversial topics,
including the role of women
on corporate boards.
In October, Bean—the new
chair of the American Branch
of the International Law
Association (ILA)
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction
Committee—organized and
led a panel of experts at the
ILA’s Annual International
» Professor of Law in
Residence MARY A. BEDIKIAN,
who directs the Alternative
Dispute Resolution (ADR)
program, had three speaking
engagements in March. She
presented “What Arbitrators
and Practitioners Need to
Know About the Revised
Uniform Arbitration Act” at
the Oakland County Bar
Association meeting,
“Arbitration Case Law Update”
at the Institute of Continuing
Legal Education’s annual
Negotiation and Dispute
Resolution Institute, and
“Gender Differentials in
Negotiation and How to
Maximize Outcomes in
Negotiation” at MSU Law’s
Women in Law Leadership
Council meeting.
In April, Professor Bedikian
presented “Act 312 and FactFinding” for the Michigan
Employment Relations
Commission. She discussed
“The New Revised Uniform
Arbitration Act and Its
Implications for Michigan
Arbitrators and Practitioners”
at the American Arbitration
Association meeting in May.
In June, Bedikian spoke on the
topic of “Mandatory versus
Permissive Subjects of
Bargaining in the Public
Sector” at the Michigan Public
Employers Labor Relations
Association meeting.
Professor Bedikian
published two articles this
spring. “What Michigan
Attorneys and Arbitrators
Need to Know About the
Revised Uniform Arbitration
Act” appeared in the May issue
of the Michigan Bar Journal, and
“Unsettled State of Affairs:
Non-Party Discovery in
Commercial Arbitration”
appeared in the Michigan
ADR Section Newsletter the
same month.
» SUSAN H. BITENSKY, the
Alan S. Zekelman Professor of
International Human Rights
Law and director of the Lori E.
Talsky Center for Human
Rights of Women and Children,
organized and presented at two
Talsky Center symposia this
year. The April event focused
on whether the United States
should become a party to the
U.N. Convention on the Rights
of the Child. The November
event posed the same question
regarding the U.N. Convention
on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination
against Women.
Professor Bitensky also
organized and moderated two
guest speaker presentations on
behalf of the Talsky Center:
Professor Jordan Paust’s March
lecture on the laws of war and
human rights violations during
the Bush–Cheney era, and
Lieutenant-General (Ret’d)
The Honorable Roméo Dallaire’s
talk in October about his
experiences as commander
of the United Nations
Peacekeeping Forces in Rwanda
during the 1994 genocide.
Bitensky’s article titled
“The ILO and Forced Labor:
Ameliorating Poverty and the
Hunger for Profits” was solicited
by JURIST Academic Commentary
and published in April at
JURIST’s online forum.
Professor Bitensky’s article
“An Analytical Ode to
Personhood: The
Unconstitutionality of
Corporal Punishment of
Children Under the Thirteenth
Amendment” was published as
the lead article in Volume 53 of
the Santa Clara Law Review. The
University of Toronto’s Centre
for Criminology & Sociolegal
Studies selected her article
“The Case Against Corporal
Punishment: Converging
Evidence from Social Science
Research and International
Human Rights Law and
Implications for U.S. Public
Policy” (coauthored with
Elizabeth Gershoff) for
inclusion in its “Criminological
Highlights” listing.
In October, Professor
Bitensky spoke as an invited
panelist as part of International
Law Weekend at Fordham
University School of Law. The
panel was devoted to the topic,
“The Globalization of Child
Rights and Remedies.”
» Professor KRISTI L.
BOWMAN’s article “State
Takeovers of School Districts
and Related Litigation:
Michigan as a Case Study”
was published in Volume 45 of
Urban Lawyer. The paper was
presented at the American Bar
Association (ABA) Section on
State and Local Government’s
Fall 2012 Education Symposium.
Her article on “The Government
Speech Doctrine and Speech
in Schools” was published in
the Wake Forest Law Review
symposium issue on
“Privatizing the Public Good:
Emerging Trends in K–16
Education.”
Professor Bowman presented
“Liability and Remedies for
School Segregation in the
United States and the European
Union” with Jiri Nantl—former
Czech Republic First Deputy
Minister of Education, Youth,
and Sports—at the UCLA Civil
Rights Project conference on
“Segregation, Immigration, and
Educational Inequality.” The
event was held in Ghent,
Belgium, in September. She
also presented the paper in
October at the University of
Toledo symposium titled
“From Kindergarten to
College: Brainstorming
Solutions to Modern Issues
in Education Law.”
» Lecturer in Law HANNAH
BRENNER, who co-directs the
Frank J. Kelley Institute of
Ethics & the Legal Profession,
was appointed director of
externship programs.
In April, Professor Brenner
presented her new article,
“Beyond Seduction: Lessons
Learned About Rape, Politics,
and Power From Dominique
Strauss-Kahn and Moshe
Katsav,” at the American
Association of Comparative
Law Younger Comparativists
Committee’s Second Annual
Conference titled “New Voices
in Comparative Law.” She also
presented the paper at the Law
and Society Association (LSA)
annual meeting in Boston.
She also was invited to
participate in the 2013
Women’s Power Summit on
Law & Leadership. The
summit—hosted by University
of Texas School of Law’s
Center for Women in Law, of
which Brenner served as the
first executive director—
convened the nation’s leading
women lawyers to address
dimensions of inequality in
the legal profession.
Professor Brenner moderated
the “Violence and Resilience”
panel at the Gender, Women
and Sexuality Undergraduate
Research Showcase, sponsored
by MSU’s Center for Gender
and the Global Context.
Professor Brenner’s article
“Transcending the Criminal
Law’s ‘Once Size Fits All’
Response to Domestic Violence”
was published in Volume 19 of
the William & Mary Journal of
Women and the Law.
» JENNIFER CARTERJOHNSON was promoted to
associate professor in July.
In April, Professor CarterJohnson gave a talk at
University of Tennessee,
Knoxville about her current
paper, “Beyond Einstein and
Edison, Claiming Space for
Non-Faculty Inventors in
Technology Transfer.” She
also gave a radio interview for
WKAR’s “Current State” about
the recent U.S. Supreme Court
arguments surrounding gene
patenting.
Carter-Johnson presented
“Power Imbalances and Royalty
Sharing: A Survey of University
Technology Transfer Policies”
at the Intellectual Property
Scholars Conference in August.
She also had two chapters
www.law.msu.edu
published in Bioinformatics Law:
“A Gene Patenting Primer” and
“University Research and
Licensing” (coauthored with
Jeffrey Carter-Johnson and
Jorge Contreras).
» DAVID S. FAVRE, professor
of law and the Nancy Heathcote
Professor of Property and
Animal Law, published a book
chapter in October. “The
Humane Treatment of
Wildlife” appears in Animal
Suffering: From Science to Law
(Carswell Press 2013).
Professor Favre also spoke
about the development of legal
rights for wildlife at the
national Animal Law
Conference at Sanford Law
School in October.
» Professor Emeritus ROBERT
M. FILIATRAULT, who joined
the faculty in 1971, took
emeritus status starting July 1.
Professor Filiatrault plans to
return to the classroom as an
adjunct professor. (See page 29.)
» Professor MATTHEW L.M.
FLETCHER, who directs the
Indigenous Law & Policy
Center (ILPC), gave numerous
talks in March: two at
Columbia Law School, one at
Cornell Law School, one before
the MSU Indigenous Graduate
Students Association, and a
presentation on Turtle Talk at
the Michigan Indian Education
Critical Issues Conference. He
also published “American
Indian Legal Scholarship and
the Courts: Heeding Frickey’s
Call” in the California Law
Review Circuit.
In April, Fletcher published
“Tribal Membership and
Indian Nationhood” in Volume
37 of American Indian Law Review.
He gave a talk titled “Tribal
Sovereignty in the 21st
Century: On VAWA, Same-Sex
Marriage, and Modern Tribal
Controversies” at Kalamazoo
College; participated on a
National Native American Law
Students Association career
panel in Pojoaque Pueblo, New
Mexico; and gave the keynote
address, “Fixing Indian Country
Criminal Jurisdiction,” at the
University of Wisconsin Law
School Indigenous Law
Student Association’s Annual
Conference.
The most recent draft of the
American Law Institute (ALI)
Restatement Third: The Law of
American Indians—which
Fletcher coauthored with ILPC
Associate Director WENONA
T. SINGEL and Kaighn
Smith—was released in April.
Professor Fletcher peerreviewed scholarly papers for
the Harvard Law Review and Law
& Society Review the same month.
Fletcher, Singel, and ILPC
Interim Co-Director
KATHRYN E. FORT joined a
law professor amicus brief in
support of respondents in the
U.S. Supreme Court case
Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl in
April. Justice Clarence Thomas
later cited Fletcher’s 2006
Nebraska Law Review article,
“The Supreme Court and
Federal Indian Policy,” in his
concurring opinion in the case.
In May, Professor Fletcher
presented the Restatement draft
at the ALI Annual Meeting in
Washington, DC, and gave a
talk titled “Anishinaabe Law
and The Round House” at
the American Literature
Association Conference in
Boston. In June, he presented a
Native Land Law Continuing
Legal Education webinar on
treaties, gave the keynote
address at the Midwest Child
Welfare Implementation
Center Sixth Regional Tribal
Child Welfare Gathering in
Sault Ste. Marie, and served as
a commentator and presenter
at a UCLA Indian Law Scholars
Mentoring Workshop. Fletcher
spoke at the All Potawatomi
Gathering Judicial Conference
on “Potawatomi Common Law
Development” in Dowagiac
in August.
This summer, Fletcher also
signed a contract with West to
produce a hornbook on federal
Indian law and co-drafted and
signed a law scholar amicus
brief in Little River Band of
Ottawa Indians Tribal Government
v. National Labor Relations Board.
In September, he delivered a
keynote speech at the American
Indian Law Center’s 6th
Annual Tribal Leadership
Conference in Isleta,
New Mexico.
Fletcher, Singel, and Fort
hosted the 10th Annual
Indigenous Law Symposium,
“Nd’nakweshkodaadimin: A
Gathering of Anishinaabe
Scholars,” in October. That
month, U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder Jr. invited Fletcher
to join the Advisory Committee
of the Attorney General’s
Taskforce on American Indian/
Alaska Native Children
Exposed to Violence.
Finally, Professor Fletcher’s
article “Indian Courts and
Fundamental Fairness: ‘Indian
Courts and the Future’
Revisited” was published in
Volume 84 of the University of
Colorado Law Review.
» JEREMY B. FRANCIS,
associate clinical professor
and writing skills specialist,
presented “Conducting Informal
Educational Inquiry in the
Legal Writing Classroom” at
the Rocky Mountain Legal
Writing Conference. The event
was held in Boulder, Colorado,
in March.
Professor Francis published
an article titled “The Silent
Scream: How Soon Can
Students Let us Know They
are Struggling?” in the Summer
2013 issue of The Second Draft, a
publication of the Legal
Writing Institute.
In September, he presented
“Hospitality as a Metaphor for
Clear Writing” to a group of
Michigan administrative law
judges who hear Michigan
Department of Human
Services cases.
» Associate Professor
CATHERINE M. GROSSO
presented “Unconvincing
Protestations: The Persistent
Role of Race in Capital
Charging and Sentencing in
North Carolina, 1990–2009” in
March at the Conference on
Empirical Legal Studies at the
William S. Boyd School of Law
37
38
at the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas (UNLV).
In April, Grosso and
Associate Professor BARBARA
O’BRIEN gave a talk on
“Empirical Research and the
Administration of the Death
Penalty” to the Joint Task Force
to Review the Administration
of Ohio’s Death Penalty. The
official task force of the Ohio
Supreme Court and Ohio State
Bar Association is composed of
state legislators, prosecutors,
judges, defense counsel, and
law professors.
In May, Grosso and O’Brien
presented two papers at the
LSA annual meeting in Boston.
Grosso also participated in a
book session at the meeting.
In August, Grosso and
O’Brien won a two-year grant
from the National Science
Foundation Law and Social
Sciences Program titled for their
project titled “Information
Seeking in Jury Selection: How
Stereotype Maintenance
Processes Explain Stark Racial
Disparities in North Carolina
Death Penalty Proceedings.”
The nearly $300,000 grant
includes funds for four graduate
student assistants who will
work for the project part-time
during their 2L and 3L years
and full-time during the
intervening summer.
The professors’ article titled
“Beyond Batson’s Scrutiny: A
Preliminary Look at Racial
Disparities in Prosecutorial
Preemptory Strikes Following
the Passage of the North
Carolina Racial Justice Act”
was published in Volume 46
of the UC Davis Law Review.
Professors Grosso and
O’Brien both were
recommended for tenure,
effective July 1.
Taxation Section workshop on
tax controversies and other
issues for attorneys
participating in the bar’s new
tax pro bono project.
In July, Professor Halloran
presented at the 4th Biennial
Legal Storytelling Conference
in London. Her talk focused on
effective narrative strategies to
advocate for clients in the
federal tax context. Together
with Tax Clinic Fellow
Christina Thompson and
Research Assistant Adam
Farnsworth, Halloran
prepared an amicus brief for
the Michigan Supreme Court
case Fradco v. Michigan
Department of Treasury.
In September, Professor
Halloran received the State Bar
of Michigan’s Champion of
Justice Award. The awards
honor integrity and adherence
to the highest principles and
traditions of the legal
profession; superior professional
competence; and extraordinary
professional accomplishments
that benefit the nation, state,
or local community.
She also wrote an article
about United States v. Woods for
the ABA’s Preview of United States
Supreme Court Cases.
» Clinical Professor MICHELE
L. HALLORAN, who runs
the Tax Law Clinic and serves
as overall director of clinical
programs at MSU Law, testified
before the Michigan Legislature
in June regarding HB 4003 and
its critical role in assisting
low-income taxpayers. She also
taught a State Bar of Michigan
» Professor MELANIE B.
JACOBS was named associate
dean for graduate and
international programs.
Professor Jacobs presented
her work-in-progress,
“Pursuing Parental Parity:
Why Intentional Parenthood
Should be the Default Model
» JOAN W. HOWARTH, dean
and professor of law, wrote a
tribute to the late Professor
John “Jack” Apol that appeared
in Volume 2012 of the Michigan
State Law Review. (See page 32.)
Dean Howarth was a
panelist in the “Staffing
Structures” plenary session
at the Law Clinic Directors
Workshop at the Association
of American Law Schools
(AALS) 2013 Conference on
Clinical Legal Education. The
event was held in San Juan,
Puerto Rico, in late April.
of Parentage Establishment,”
as part of the Feminist Legal
Theory workshop series at the
She also chaired a panel titled
“Marriage and Parenting:
Queer Legal Perspectives.”
She presented “Pursuing
Parental Parity” again at the
2013 International Society of
Family Law Conference, which
was held at Brooklyn Law
School in June.
» Professor Emeritus CLARK
C. JOHNSON was selected as
the faculty speaker for the
Class of 2013 spring
commencement ceremony.
» In March, BRIAN C. KALT,
Harold Norris Faculty Scholar,
gave talks on “The Ninth
Amendment in Congress” to
the University of Alabama
School of Law faculty and the
school’s Federalist Society.
In September, he presented
the same topic to the University
of Pittsburgh chapter of the
Federalist Society. He also was
a commenter on Professor
Richard Duncan’s
presentation on “Originalism
and the Living Constitution”
to the MSU chapter of the
Federalist Society.
» Visiting Professor BRIAN
KASER appeared before the
Michigan Supreme Court on
behalf of a nonprofit senior
service agency in March. The
case addressed circuit court
jurisdiction to enforce a voterapproved county millage
designated to support services
for elders in the county.
In September, Professor
Kaser presented a live webinar
updating nursing home and
senior living facilities on the
final CMS rule under HIPAA
(the “Omnibus Rule”). The
presentation was sponsored
by LeadingAge, the trade
association for nonprofit
elder service organizations.
Approximately 500 individuals
at 202 sites participated.
» DANIEL MARTIN KATZ,
co-director of the ReInvent
Law Laboratory, was promoted
to associate professor in July.
Professor Katz and his
ReInvent Law Lab co-director,
Associate Professor RENEE
NEWMAN KNAKE, received
several awards and honors
during September. Both were
named American Bar Association
Journal “Legal Rebels” and were
included on the “Fastcase 50”
list of visionaries and leaders
in the law. On behalf of the lab,
Professors Katz and Knake
also accepted an “InnovAction
Award” from the College of Law
Practice Management, which
recognizes extraordinary
innovation in the field of law.
(See page 6.)
Professor Knake—who also
co-directs the Frank J. Kelley
Institute of Ethics & the Legal
Profession—was recommended
for tenure, effective July 1.
In March, she gave a talk at
Stanford Law School on “Law
and Innovation” and was invited
to serve as an outside reviewer
for the International Review of
Law and Economics. She also gave
the annual Philip A. Blank
Lecture on Attorney Ethics at
Pace Law School, where she
discussed her article titled
“Democratizing the Delivery
of Legal Services.”
In April, Professor Knake
delivered a keynote address on
“Trailblazing Tools in the 21st
Century” at the Tribute for
Judge Helen Frye—the first
woman judge appointed to the
Oregon federal district court.
The event was held at the
University of Oregon School of
Law. The following week, she
presented “Even in a Digital,
Data-Driven World We Still
Need Travel Agents . . . and
Lawyers” at a Georgetown Law
symposium on “The Shrinking
Pyramid: Implications for Law
Practice and the Legal
Profession.”
Her article, “Democratizing
Legal Education,” was reviewed
by Elizabeth Chambliss in
Jotwell in April. The piece was
published in Volume 45 of
Connecticut Law Review in August.
In August, Knake presented
the keynote address, “New
Models, Old Rules,” for the
Association of Professional
Responsibility Lawyers in
San Francisco.
Professor Knake was invited
to speak this fall at the
University of Florida Law
School on the future of legal
education and information
technology. She discussed her
work-in-progress titled “The
Consumer Law Market, Legal
Information, and the First
Amendment” at the George
Mason Law School Research
Roundtable on Law’s
Information Revolution in
September, and at the Fordham
Law Review Symposium in
October.
Professional Responsibility: A
Contemporary Approach (West
2013)—a casebook that Knake
coauthored with Russell Pearce,
Daniel Capra, Bruce Green,
and Laurel Terry—was
published by West Academic
Publishing.
» Professor MAE
KUYKENDALL was
interviewed in March by
Spindle Law about her career
and work on marriage law
issues. Kuykendall also was a
panelist at a Charlotte Law
Review symposium, “What’s
Law Got to Do with It? For
Same Sex Couples, the
Question Remains.” A
summary of her remarks
appeared in Volume 4 of
the journal.
In June, Professor
Kuykendall presented “Judicial
Character and Filler Rhetoric
in Supreme Court Opinions”
as part of the “Empirical
Perspectives on American
Judicial Behavior” panel at the
Professor Kuykendall—who
is president of MSU Chapter
of the American Association of
University Professors
(AAUP)—managed AAUP’s
response to this fall’s
controversy over academic
freedom and the suspension of
MSU Professor William Penn.
A Chronicle of Higher Education
article featured language from
www.law.msu.edu
the statement, which was
posted on AAUP’s MSU and
national websites. Kuykendall
was interviewed in several local
media outlets in connection
with the controversy.
This fall, Kuykendall’s article
titled “Designing a Course in
Judicial Biography” was
the American Journal of Legal
History—a symposium issue
on “Teaching Legal History in
U.S. Law Schools.” Her article
“Seaton’s A Bed Made in
Heaven: Family, Race, and
Law in Nineteenth Century
America” appeared in Volume
41 of Midwestern Miscellany.
“Trial by YouTube,” a piece on
academic freedom Kuykendall
coauthored with Debra Nails,
was posted in the online
publication Brain-Mind Magazine.
Professor Kuykendall and
Professor ADAM CANDEUB’s
“Modernizing Marriage”
article was heavily cited in a
brief to the Maryland Supreme
Court in Tshiani v. Tshiani, a case
involving proxy marriage.
In September, Kuykendall
and Assistant Professor
MICHAEL SANT’AMBROGIO
gave a joint talk to the Triangle
Bar about the likely impact
of United States v. Windsor,
Hollingsworth v. Perry, and
same-sex marriage legislation.
In the spring, the two were
interviewed together on
student radio concerning the
pending cases.
Professor Sant’Ambrogio
presented his paper titled
“The Extra-Legislative Veto”
(forthcoming in the Georgetown
Law Journal) in June at the LSA
annual meeting in Boston.
The article examines how
presidents “veto” statutory
mandates outside the
legislative process.
» ANNE LAWTON was
promoted to full professor
in July.
Professor Lawton was invited
to be a consultant for the
Governance and Supervision
of Chapter 11 Cases and
Companies Committee of
American Bankruptcy Institute
(ABI) Commission to Reform
Chapter 11. She also prepared a
report on small business issues
for the committee.
Lawton’s article titled “An
Argument for Simplifying the
Code’s ‘Small Business Debtor’
Definition” appeared in the
Summer 2013 issue of the ABI
Law Review. In August, she did
a podcast on the article with
ABI’s resident scholar,
Professor Kara Bruce.
» Professor Emeritus AMY C.
McCORMICK, who joined the
faculty in 1994, retired from
the tenured faculty and took
Professor McCormick will
continue to teach Basic Income
Tax A each year for the
indefinite future. (See page 30.)
» Professor Emeritus ROBERT
A. McCORMICK, who joined
the faculty in 1979, retired from
the tenured faculty and took
He is expected to return to the
Law College to teach some
semesters in the future. (See
page 30.)
» Professor of Law in Residence
NICHOLAS MERCURO is
co-editor (with MSU Professor
Michael D. Kaplowitz) of the
Law College–sponsored book
series, “The Economics of Legal
Relationships.” The 17th book
in the series, Economics and
Regulation in China, was
published by Routledge in
September.
Professor Mercuro helped
bring two more art exhibitions
to MSU Law in 2013: “It Takes
a Village: From Gondar to
Jerusalem,” a photographic
retrospective on the
resettlement of Ethiopians to
Jerusalem, and “Art@Work,”
a public arts collaboration
between MSU and Peckham,
Inc. (See page 14.)
» NOGA MORAG-LEVINE,
George Roumell Faculty
Scholar, taught a course on
Regulating Environmental
Risk at the Tel Aviv University
Faculty of Law in June. In July,
she taught Comparative
Environmental Law in MSU
Law’s study abroad program at
the University of Bialystok
Faculty of Law in Poland.
Professor Morag-Levine was
invited to give two talks while
in Israel. She gave a talk on
“The History of Precaution” at
the Transnational Law Forum
at Tel Aviv University. She
presented “Facts, Formalism,
and the Brandeis Brief: The
Origins of a Myth” at the Law
and History Workshop at the
Hebrew University of
Jerusalem.
In September, she published
a blogpost titled “The History
of Precaution” at the University
of Pennsylvania RegBlog. The
publication is run by the Penn
Program on Regulation at the
University of Pennsylvania
Law School. The piece was
later featured in a number of
additional blogs, including
Europaeus/Law and Environment,
Law, and History. Professor
Morag-Levine gave a
presentation on the same
topic in October at a faculty
workshop at UNLV.
» SEAN A. PAGER—associate
professor of law and associate
director of the Intellectual
Property, Information, &
Communications Law (IPIC)
program—presented his workin-progress, “Move Over
Mickey Mouse & Big Bird:
It’s Time for New Distributed
Models to Fund Artistic
Production,” at Case Western
Reserve University School of
Law in March.
In May, Professor Pager
helped organize MSU Law’s
successful hosting of the
Fifth Annual Conference
on Innovation and
Communications Law,
“Intellectual Property, the
Internet, and Computational
Transformation.” Pager
presented his work-inprogress, “Incubating Indies:
New Distributed Models to
Support Diverse Culture,”
and moderated a panel on
39
“Computational Approaches
to Copyright Law” at the
conference.
In June, he traveled to
Laguna Cliffs, California, to
participate in the invitationonly Roundtable on Copyright,
Creativity, and
Commercialization. The event
was convened by George
Mason’s Center for the
Protection of Intellectual
Property (CPIP).
Pager presented two
papers—“Incubating Indies”
and “Using Unfair United
States Unfair Competition
Law to Combat Foreign
Infringement”—and served
as a commentator on another
scholar’s paper at the annual
IP Law Scholars Conference,
which was held at Cardozo
Law School in August.
Professor Pager’s article
“Folklore 2.0: Preservation
through Innovation,” was
the Utah Law Review.
Finally, Pager was awarded
a 2013 CPIP Leonardo da Vinci
Fellowship Research Grant to
fund research based on his
“Incubating Indies” project.
The fellowship includes a
$4,000 honorarium.
» BRIAN A. PAPPAS,
assistant clinical professor and
associate director of the ADR
program, received the State Bar
of Michigan ADR Section’s
George N. Bashara Jr. Award in
October. The award recognizes
exemplary service to the
section and its members.
» Lecturer in Law PHILIP A.
PUCILLO became a Themis
Bar Review lecturer in the area
of Michigan Civil Procedure
in March.
» FRANK S. RAVITCH,
Walter H. Stowers Chair of
Law and Religion, gave two
talks at Spiru Haret University
in Constanta, Romania, in
April. He gave a keynote
address titled “Interpreting
Law, Interpreting Scripture:
40
The Problems of Originalism
and Dogma in Legal and
Religious Interpretation Under
the U.S. Constitution” at the 3rd
International Conference on
Law and Social Order, and he
presented “From New Lawyer
to Season Litigator: The Reality
of Practice, Legal Education, and
Bar Admission in the United
States” to faculty, students,
judges, and bar members.
His article titled “A Basic
Introduction to Constitutional
Free Exercise of Religion in the
United States and Japan” was
published in Volume 64 of the
Doshisha Law Review, a special
symposium issue dedicated to
Taisuke Kamata.
Professor Ravitch gave a talk
on “Town of Greece v. Galloway:
Legislative Prayer Cases in the
United States Supreme Court”
at the Annual Law and
Religion Roundtable at
Stanford Law School in June.
He gave numerous talks in
the United States and abroad
in July. He presented “Taxation
of Religious Entities in the
United States: A Comparative
Analysis, Conference on
Religious Entities” at Pu Shi
Institute for Social Sciences
and Peking University in
Beijing, China, and gave a
talk on “Freedom of Religion
Issues under the Japanese
Constitution” at Osaka
University in Osaka, Japan.
He also gave four presentations
on a variety of law and religion
topics over four days in the
United States, Japan, Israel,
and China.
» Associate Clinical Professor
JENNIFER ROSA was a fellow
in MSU’s Adams Academy for
2012–13. She participated in the
REAL Academy at MSU, in
which professors learn about
the enhanced technology and
pedagogical benefits of teaching
in a Room for Engaged and
Active Learning. She co-taught
in the REAL classroom with
Adjunct Professor BARBARA
BEAN during the fall semester.
To further this endeavor,
Professor Rosa received a grant
from the Association for Legal
Writing Directors to develop
curriculum to “flip” her
classroom. Students in a
“flipped” course watch
recorded lectures in advance,
then discuss content and
perform active learning
exercises during class time.
As part of the grant, Rosa will
submit her curriculum to the
national Legal Writing Institute
and present at a national
conference her experiences and
any influence on teaching
outcomes.
Rosa co-presented with
Associate Clinical Professors
DEANNE ANDREWS
LAWRENCE and NANCY A.
COSTELLO at the Rocky
Mountain Legal Writing
Conference in March.
» KEVIN W. SAUNDERS,
Charles Clarke Chair in
Constitutional Law, spoke in
March at a Wayne State
symposium honoring Professor
Robert Sedler.
In April, Professor Saunders
spoke at Texas Tech University’s
Criminal Law Conference.
» WENONA T. SINGEL,
associate professor of law
and associate director of the
Indigenous Law & Policy
Center (ILPC), gave a talk at
Hamline Law School in March.
She also presented her paper
titled “Developing a Legal
Doctrinal Framework for
Tribal-State Relations” at
Cornell Law School.
Professor Singel, Professor
Fletcher, and ILPC Interim
Co-Director Kathryn Fort
joined a law professor amicus
brief in support of respondents
in the U.S. Supreme Court
case Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl
in April.
The most recent draft of the
American Law Institute (ALI)
Restatement Third: The Law of
American Indians—which Singel
co-authored with Fletcher and
Kaighn Smith—was released
in April.
Fletcher, Singel, and Fort
hosted the 10th Annual
Indigenous Law Symposium,
“Nd’nakweshkodaadimin: A
Gathering of Anishinaabe
Scholars,” in October.
» GLEN STASZEWSKI—
associate dean for research,
professor of law, and the A.J.
Thomas Faculty Scholar—
published his article “Statutory
Interpretation As Contestatory
Democracy” in Volume 55 of
the William & Mary Law Review.
Professor Staszewski also
published a related essay,
“Contestatory Democracy and
the Interpretation of Popular
Initiatives,” in a symposium on
“The Changing Landscape of
Election Law” in the Seton Hall
Law Review.
Earlier this year, Professor
Staszewski conducted peer
reviews of articles for Publius:
The Journal of Federalism and the
Harvard Law Review. In April, he
presented his working paper,
“The Dumbing Down of
Statutory Interpretation,” at
a faculty workshop at Florida
International University
College of Law. He presented
the paper again at the LSA
annual meeting in Boston. He
also moderated a panel at the
symposium titled “In Search
of Equality in Family Law”
in April.
» CHARLES J. TEN BRINK,
associate dean for library
and technology services and
professor of law, served on an
ABA site visit team for
Cleveland-Marshall College
of Law at Cleveland State
University in late March and
early April.
» Professor DAVID B.
THRONSON was named
associate dean for academic
affairs.
Professor Thronson
presented “The Parenting Visa”
(coauthored with Ann Estin)
at the London Metropolitan
University Centre for Family
Law and Practice’s “Parentage,
Equality and Gender”
conference in July.
Thronson’s 2005 Texas
Hispanic Journal of Law and Policy
article titled “Of Borders and
Best Interests: Examining the
Experiences of Undocumented
Immigrants in U.S. Family
Courts” was cited by the Illinois
Fourth District Appellate
Court in Hupp v. Rosales.
Thronson and Associate
Clinical Professor VERONICA
THRONSON published
“Introduction: Global Families
in Local Courts” in Volume
47 of Family Law Quarterly. The
two served as editors of the
journal’s special “Symposium
on Global Families” issue.
Professor Veronica
Thronson, who directs the
Immigration Law Clinic,
published “Immigration
Remedies for Domestic
Violence Survivors” in Volume
43 of the Family Law Journal. The
issue was released by the State
Bar of Michigan (SBM) Family
Law Section in March.
Professor Thronson
completed the two-year Family
Law Certificate program
sponsored by the SBM Family
Law Section and the Institute
for Continuing Legal Education.
Professor Thronson and the
Immigration Law Clinic
received a $190,000 contract
from the Vera Institute of
Justice/Office of Refugee
Resettlement to support and
expand the clinic’s work on
behalf of unaccompanied
immigrant children.
» Professor of Law in
Residence NICHOLAS J.
WITTNER taught Civil
Litigation in MSU Law’s LL.M.
for Foreign-Educated Lawyers
program at the MSU Dubai
campus in March. His class
included students from Egypt,
Jordan, the United Arab
Emirates, Palestine, Lebanon,
and the United States.
Professor Wittner attended
the ABA Emerging Issues in
Automotive Product Liability
Law seminar, which was held
in Phoenix in April. In
www.law.msu.edu
September, Wittner gave a
talk on the proposed
amendments to the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure in a
session on cutting-edge legal
issues at
the Federation of Defense &
Corporate Counsel’s 10th
Annual Corporate Counsel
Symposium, “Corporations in
Crisis: Protecting the Brand.”
Wittner moderated and spoke
(with U.S. District Judge Paul
Grimm) on “Overhauling the
FRCP: After 75 Years the Time
has Come” at the Product
Liability Advisory Council’s
30th Annual Meeting in
Chicago. He also participated
in the American Law
Institute’s Consultative Group
meeting in Philadelphia on the
Restatement Fourth, The Foreign
Relations Law of the United States:
Sovereign Immunity, Jurisdiction
and Enforcement, and Treaties.
Professor Wittner helped
judge the final round of the
National Trial Advocacy
Competition in late October.
MSU Law hosted the event
at the U.S. District Court
in Detroit.
ADJUNCT PROFESSORS &
ACADEMIC STAFF
» BENJAMIN EDWARDS
serves as director of MSU
Law’s Investor Advocacy
Clinic. During its first semester,
the clinic reached a full
caseload and conducted eight
different public outreach
activities, providing hundreds
of Michigan senior citizens
with information aimed at
reducing their risk of falling
prey to financial frauds.
Professor Edwards’ article
titled “Rolling Back the
Economic Loss Doctrine in
Securities Disputes Against
Financial Intermediaries” was
published in Volume 20 of the
Public Investors Arbitration Bar
Association Bar Journal. Another
article, “When Fear Rules in
Law’s Place: Pseudonymous
Litigation as a Response to
Systematic Intimidation,”
appeared in Volume 20.3 of
the Virginia Journal of Social Policy
and the Law.
Professor Edwards received
an award in October from the
Public Investors Arbitration Bar
Association. The association
recognized Edwards at its
annual meeting for his
committee service on behalf
of small investors.
In November, Professor
Edwards presented a draft
paper on the Securities
Litigation Uniform Standards
Act at the MSU Law Junior
Faculty Workshop. His article
titled “Welcoming a PostDOMA World: Same-Sex
Spousal Petitions and Other
Post-Windsor Immigration
Implications” was published
in Volume 47 of the Family
Law Quarterly.
A Gathering of Anishinaabe
Scholars” the same month.
Fort gave talks on Adoptive
Couple to the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Eastern District
of Michigan and to family law
practitioners at the Institute of
Continuing Legal Education
12th Annual Family Law
Institute in November.
» Adjunct Professor
VERONICA VALENTINE
McNALLY was named director
of the Geoffrey Fieger Trial
Practice Institute.
» Adjunct Professor GOLDIE
PRITCHARD, who also codirects the Academic Success
Program, was named director
of the Legal Education
Opportunity (LEO) program.
» KATHRYN E. FORT, interim
co-director of the Indigenous
Law & Policy Center—
together with Professors
Fletcher and Singel—joined a
law professor amicus brief in
support of respondents in the
U.S. Supreme Court case
Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl in
April. She also participated in
a panel discussion on Adoptive
Couple with Assistant Secretary
of the Interior Kevin Washburn
at the University of Michigan
Law School’s Indian Law Day.
In September, Fort discussed
her work to help improve state
compliance with the Indian
Child Welfare Act (ICWA) as
a panelist at the National
American Indian Court Judges
Association Annual Conference.
In October, she was invited
to present to a selected group
of state and tribal judges in
Michigan on both ICWA and
Adoptive Couple. Fort and Fletcher
published a short piece titled
“Indian Children and Their
Guardians ad Litem” in the
Boston University Law Review
online forum, The Annex. Fort,
Fletcher, and Singel hosted
the 10th Annual Indigenous
Law Symposium,
“Nd’nakweshkodaadimin:
41
a message from the Office of Advancement
Dear Alumni and Friends,
distribution. As we continue to honor our roots in Detroit, we
are proud to have developed into a national and international
law school with exciting new opportunities and connections
for today’s graduates.
Each time I visit with our alumni, I am more and more
impressed by your many successes in law and business. Your
involvement as student mentors, event hosts, moot court
competition judges, and donors is so meaningful for today’s
law students, and it is invaluable to the continued success of
your law school. Please keep in touch and let us know when
your contact information changes, so we can keep you posted
about our news and share yours with the rest of the MSU
Law community.
As always, I look forward to staying in touch and I welcome
your feedback.
There are several common
themes and questions that
regularly arise during our
visits with alumni across
the country. At the top
of the list are inquiries
about wh ich Detroit
College of Law faculty
members still teach at
Michigan State Law and
questions about where
our graduates live and work. Many people have been surprised
to learn the facts that appear on this page, which I thought
the rest of you also might find interesting.
I encourage you to take a few minutes to peruse the Warm regards,
expanding list of student and alumni profiles on our
website (www.law.msu.edu/alumni-profiles). I hope you
are as impressed as I am by our students’ diverse personal,
professional, and educational backgrounds, and by our Tina Kashat Casoli
graduates’ wide-ranging career paths and geographic Director, Office of Advancement
Did you know . . .
Nine professors
who taught at the Law
College during its days in
Detroit still teach at MSU
Law: Professor Emeritus
Clark Johnson, Adjunct
Professor George Roumell
Jr., and Professors David
Favre, Mae Kuykendall,
Michael Lawrence,
Cynthia Lee Starnes,
John Reifenberg Jr.,
Susan Bitensky, and
Kathleen Payne.
4,422 alumni graduated
prior to our affiliation with
Michigan State University.
6,751 alumni graduated
since our move to
East Lansing.
There are 11,173 living
Law College alumni.
The largest concentration
of our graduates (4,617)
is in southeast
Michigan.
42
A total of 1,184 graduates
are located in Lansing,
Grand Rapids, and
Kalamazoo.
MSU Law is a not-forprofit, separate entity
from Michigan State
University and receives
no state financial support.
Other alumni are
spread out around
the world, with
high concentrations in
Washington, DC (250);
New York (178); Florida
(441); California (271); and
Arizona (141). We have one
known alumnus in Hawaii.
Thanks to our one-year
Master of Laws (LL.M.) for
Foreign Educated Lawyers
program, we have more
than 30 alumni from the
Middle East, including
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and
Turkey. Other LL.M.
graduates are from China,
Colombia, Haiti, India,
Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica,
Kazakhstan, Kenya,
Mongolia, Nicaragua, the
Philippines, and Tanzania.
Join Hundreds of
Alumni and Friends:
Support the
DCL Plaza
and Legacy
Scholarship
Fundraising is well underway for the Detroit College of Law
Plaza and Legacy Scholarship. The Class of 2013 and dozens
of individuals already have contributed to a planned plaza
and student scholarship honoring the Law College’s roots in
Detroit. Now you can add your support!
The plaza will feature outdoor seating and improved
landscaping, highlight the school’s founding as DCL in 1891,
and include historical information and a donor wall. The
associated scholarship will help offset the cost of tuition
for descendants and relatives of Law College alumni whose
success and leadership set the standard in the legal profession,
in business, and in government.
“We have received wonderful alumni support for this
exciting project,” says Tina Kashat Casoli, director of the Office
of Advancement. “Alumni are thrilled to honor the heritage of
DCL in East Lansing. The plaza will provide a sense of place
for graduates who attended the Law College during its days in
Detroit—a place to bring their loved ones and show off some
of the rich history of their great law school.”
There still is time to get your name on the donor wall with a new gift
or pledge to MSU Law. To learn more, contact Tina K. Casoli at
517-432-6840 or [email protected].
www.law.msu.edu
Special thanks to our generous donors for their commitment to make
this vision a reality:
Founders ($100,000 and Above)
Prof. Emeritus Clark C. Johnson,
LL.D. ’02
President Emeritus Clif Haley, ’61,
and Mrs. Carolyn A. Haley
Mr. Peter J. Lucido, ’88, and
Mrs. Ann Marie Lucido
Trustee Emeritus David J.
Sparrow†, ’51
Ambassadors
($10,000 to $99,999)
Ms. Christine M. Battle, ’86, and
Mr. Timothy E. Battle
Mr. Leon D. Bess, ’63, and
Mrs. Debby Bess
Mr. Donald F. Carney Jr., ’76,
and Mrs. Jacqueline M. Carney
Mr. Robert E. Carr, ’88
Mr. Timothy J. Conroy, ’58, and
Mrs. Janet P. Conroy
Justice Emeritus Alton T. Davis, ’74,
and Mrs. Sandra K. Davis
Mr. Edward C. Dawda, ’77, and
Mrs. Alice I. Buckley, ’79
Mr. Ronald A. Deneweth, ’77, and
Mrs. Mary L. Deneweth
Mr. Daniel J. Desmet, ’85
Ms. Joanne B. Faycurry, ’87
Hon. Charles M. Forster, ’62, and
Mrs. Dianna Forster
Mr. Kim A. Gasior, ’85, and
Mrs. Diane K. Gasior
President Emeritus Richard W.
Heiss, ’63, and Mrs. Nancy J. Heiss
Mr. John W. Inhulsen, ’05, and
Mrs. Monica C. Inhulsen, ’03
Mrs. Joan R. Kalustian
Mr. Louis W. Kasischke, ’67,
and Mrs. Sarah Kasischke
Trustee Charles E. Langton, ’87, and
Mrs. Lisa A. Langton, ’88
Mr. Paul J. Lay, ’69, and
Mrs. Carol L. Lay
Mr. Todd L. Levitt, ’92, and
Mrs. Mary E. Levitt
Prof. Emeritus Edward J.
Littlejohn, ’70
Mr. Jeffrey C. Littmann, ’84, and
Mrs. Cynthia M. Littmann
Mr. Rodney M. Lockwood†, ’33, and
Mrs. Muriel Lockwood†
Mr. Mayer Morganroth, ’54, and
Mrs. Sheila Morganroth
Mrs. Kathryn L. Ossian, ’84, and
Mr. James E. Linn
Prof. Kathleen E. Payne, ’77, and
Mr. Jeffrey B. Goldsmith
Mr. Eric R. Sabree, ’96, and
Mrs. Badriyyah Sabree
Mr. Chris W. Walker, ’90
Mr. Richard N. Wiener, ’76, and
Mrs. Rajkumari M. Wiener
Ambassadors (Up to $9,999)
Class of 2013
Mr. Thomas R. Bowen, ’77, and
Mrs. Kathleen A. Bowen
Ms. Tina Kashat Casoli and
Mr. Daniel Casoli
Mr. Arthur L. Cutler II, ’00
Mrs. Allison L. Eicher, ’11, and
Mr. Jason L. Eicher
Prof. David S. Favre and
Mrs. Martha E. Favre
Mr. Morton Freed, ’61, and
Mrs. Natalie C. Freed
Mr. Jerome A. Galante, ’81, and
Mrs. Julie A. Galante
Mrs. Sarah E. Haigh and
Mr. Jason Haigh
Prof. Michele L. Halloran and
Mr. Robert W. Halloran
Mr. Mark F. Hayes, ’81, and
Mrs. Marie E. Palumbo-Hayes
Ms. Janet Ann Hedin, ’83
Ms. April L. Jones and
Ms. Olivia Jones
Mr. Thomas J. Kramer, ’86
Mr. Brett S. Polen
Ms. Janice K. Selberg, ’85
Ms. Maureen E. Thomas, ’86
Mr. Russel C. Wells, ’64, and
Rev. Shirley L. Wells
Ms. Beth Wey and Mr. Terry Wey
† Deceased
43
MSU Law:
Past,
Present
and Future Alumni Reminisce and
Honor 50-Year Graduates
at Annual Reunion
More than 130 impressive alumni and loyal friends gathered on September 27 for this year’s
MSU Law: Past, Present, and Future Class Reunion celebration. This year’s event specially
recognized Detroit College of Law and MSU College of Law graduates from years ending in
3 and 8.
Attendees paid tribute to those commemorating the 50th anniversary of their law school
graduation, while celebrating the promise of today’s law students who follow in their footsteps
as they prepare to someday lead the profession.
Kevin O’Reilly enjoyed visiting with fellow alumni from the Class of 1963. “I haven’t
seen some of them in 50 years—which is really unbelievable,” he said. “I am grateful for the
opportunity to catch up and see some of my old pals. It was really fun!”
The reunion once again took place at the Tiger Club at Comerica Park, which stands at the
former site of Detroit College of Law. The annual event aimed at linking the Law College’s
past, present, and future offered the perfect occasion for attendees to learn more about the
successful DCL Plaza and Legacy Scholarship campaign.
Designed as a new front entrance to the Law College building at the heart of the Michigan
State campus, the DCL Plaza will honor the school’s rich history in Detroit. The associated
Legacy Scholarship will help offset the cost of tuition for descendants and relatives of Law
College alumni.
The AnTekes, a contemporary jazz band whose members include DCL alumni, and
MammothBooth! provided the evening’s entertainment.
Next year’s reunion will take place at the Tiger Club in September 2014. The event will specially recognize
graduates from class years ending in 4 and 9. If you are interested in serving on the host committee and
encouraging your classmates to attend, contact April Jones at [email protected].
44
1
2
3
4
5
Special thanks to this year’s host committee members:
Ms. Joan A. Bacon, ’83
Hon. Annette Berry, ’88
Mr. Leon D. Bess, ’63
Mr. Wilber M. Brucker III, ’83
Mr. Kenneth E. Burchfield, ’73
Mr. Timothy J. Conroy, ’58
Mr. Robert S. Cubbin, ’83
Ms. Judith K. Cunningham, ’83
Ms. Nicole P. Dogwill, ’98
Mrs. Deborah S. El-Amin, ’93
Prof. David S. Favre
Mr. J. Allen Fiorletta, ’88
Ms. Susan M. Frishman, ’98
Mr. David G. Gorcyca, ’84
Ms. Janet Ann Hedin, ’83
President Emeritus
Richard W. Heiss, ’63
Mr. Robert L. Hoffman, ’63
Prof. Emeritus
Clark C. Johnson, LL.D. ’02
Hon. Kurt G. Kersten, ’53
Mr. John T. Klees, ’88
Ms. Phyllis N. Klinger, ’85
www.law.msu.edu
Trustee Charlie Langton, ’87
Mr. Neil J. Lehto, ’78
Mr. James L. Liggins Jr., ’03
Mr. Peter J. Lucido, ’88
Ms. Deidra E. Mason, ’08
Hon. Michael K. McNally, ’83
Ms. Mary F. Meyers-Arman, ’83
Ms. Kathryne A. O’Grady, ’83
Ms. Lynn A. Osborne, ’03
Mr. Stephen M. Pahides, ’88
Mr. Mark W. Peyser, ’83
Mr. Larry R. Polk, ’93
Mr. Alan J. Reiner, ’87
Mr. H. William Reising, ’68
Senator Tonya L. Schuitmaker, ’93
Mr. Phillip M. Shane, ’08
Ms. Jennifer E. Stallings, ’12
Ms. Elizabeth E. Storm, ’03
President Emeritus
Hon. Richard F. Suhrheinrich, ’63
Ms. Ann M. Tobin-Levigne, ’83
6
1. ( from left) Three generations of alumni: Joseph Campbell,
’11, the Honorable Kurt Kersten, ’53, and the Honorable
James Kersten, ’81
2. Jack McCloskey and Sarah Primrose, ’12
3. Corlyss Connors–Jenkins and Trustee Maurice Jenkins, ’81
4. Ari Kresch, ’78, and Lynn Kresch
5. ( from left) Jennifer Gold Hoffa, ’98, Dana Kreis-Glencer, ’98,
Mimi Kalish, ’98
6. ( from left) Dean Joan Howarth, Seymour Markowitz, ’63,
Audrey Markowitz, Leon Bess, ’63, and Deborah Bess
45
Law Review
Reception Held at
the Beautiful
Townsend Hotel
Scholarship Benefactors
Special thanks to the following scholarship benefactors for
generously supporting the Law Review Scholarship:
»»
»»
»»
»»
Linda Garbarino, ’85
David Grant, ’71
Donald Nystrom, ’00
Adam Norlander, ’00
Awardees and their Publishing Journals
»» Jacqueline Clarke, Senior Notes Editor
The Michigan State Law Review hosted this year’s Alumni and
Student Reception at the beautiful Townsend Hotel in
Birmingham on March 14.
Diane Bissell, ’87, was the evening’s honored speaker.
Bissell—a former Law Review staff member and moot court
program director—directs the Corporations, Securities &
Commercial Licensing Bureau at the Michigan Department
of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Securities Division. Law
Review Editor-in-Chief Lisa Hackett presented awards to
2012–13 members whose articles were selected for publication.
The reception raised funds for the Law Review Scholarship,
which provides tuition assistance, board member training
opportunities, and support for the journal’s highly regarded
symposia. The next Law Review Scholarship will be awarded
in spring 2014.
“Dying to be Mommy: Using Intentional Parenthood as a Proxy for
Consent in Posthumous Egg Retrieval Cases”
»» Laura Danielson, Senior Articles Editor
“Giving Teeth to the Watchdog: Optimizing Open Records Appeals
Processes to Facilitate the Media’s Use of FOIA Laws”
»» David Foos, Associate Editor
“State Ready-to-Embalm Laws and the Modern Funeral Market:
The Need for Change and Suggested Alternatives”
»» Katherine Lippman, Associate Editor
“The Beginning of the End: Preliminary Results of an Empirical
Study of Copyright Substantial Similarity Opinions in the U.S.
Circuit Courts”
»» Kaela R. Munster, Associate Editor
Notre Dame Journal of College and University Law
“A Double-Edged Sword: Student Loan Debt Provides Access to a
Law Degree But May Ultimately Deny a Bar License”
»» Cristin Mustillo, Managing Editor
1
“Persistently Present, Inconsistently Regulated: The Story of
Asbestos and the Case for a New Approach Toward the Command
and Control Regulation of Toxics”
»» Jeffrey Same, Senior Symposia Editor
“Breaking the Chokehold: An Analysis of Potential Defenses
Against Coercive Contracts in Mixed Martial Arts”
»» Emily Strickler, Executive Editor
American Journal of Patent Law and Policy
“Punishing the Use of Litigation as a Business Model:
Patent Holding Organizations and Their Attorneys”
2
1. Thomas Bowen, ’77, and his daughter, Erin Bowen, ’13
2. (from left) Professor Emeritus Clark Johnson, LL.D. ’02,
Dex Battista, ’13, Paul White, ’13, and Reid Baldwin, ’13
46
Special thanks to this year’s
sponsors:
Cart Sponsor
Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti &
Sherbrook
Golf Ball Sponsor
President Emeritus Clif Haley, ’61
Alumni and
Friends Tee Off
to Support Student
Scholarships
The 16th Annual MSU College of Law Alumni Association
Golf Outing was a great success, thanks to the enthusiastic
support of sponsors and players. The event once again was
held at Forest Akers West Golf Course in Lansing.
Nearly $21,000 was raised to support the Alumni
Association Scholarship and other programs, including
the Alumni/Student Mentor Program, student outreach
initiatives, bar exam meals, and more.
“We truly appreciate the effort that members of the
Alumni Association Board put into this year’s outing,” said
Tina Kashat Casoli, director of the Office of Advancement.
“Members worked very hard to secure sponsorships and
generate support for their alma mater.”
Lucky Hole 13 Sponsor
MSU Federal Credit Union
Breakfast Sponsor
Forest Akers Golf Course
Contest Sponsor
Orlans
Save the Date
17th Annual
Alumni Association
Golf Outing
Friday, August 8, 2014
Golfers
enjoyed a
beautiful
morning
at Forest
Akers West.
Hole Sponsors
Asst. Dean Elliot Spoon and
Lynn Spoon
Autoliv, Inc.
Brian A. Hall, ’07, President, MSU
Law Alumni Association
Button Eddy Kolb Moore &
Sorrentino
Trustee Charles A. Langton, ’87
Deneweth, Dugan & Parfitt
Fedor, Camargo & Weston
Future Alumnae Kate Swanson, ’28,
Jane Swanson, ’30, and
Paige Swanson, ’32
Gasiorek, Morgan, Greco & McCauley
Jackson Lewis
Lucido & Manzella—Attorneys &
Counselors at Law
Thomas W. James, MSU Law ’05,
and Angela M. James, MSU ’98
Olsman, Mueller, Wallace &
MacKenzie
Karl T. Ondersma, ’04, of Gardner,
Linn, Burkhart & Flory
Paul Goebel Group Insurance
Plunkett Cooney
President Emeritus Richard W.
Heiss, ’63
President Emeritus Richard F.
Suhrheinrich, ’63
Hon. Richard J. Zettel, ’84, U.S.
Administrative Law Judge
The Law Firm of John F. Schaefer
Traverse Legal
Student Sponsors
Asst. Dean Elliot Spoon and
Lynn Spoon
Dean Joan W. Howarth
Howard J. Victor, ’77
Jackson Lewis
Jonathon D. Koenigsberg, ’00
MSU Law Career Services Office
MSU Law Geoffrey Fieger Trial
Practice Institute
Prof. Emeritus Clark C.
Johnson, ’02
Prof. Michele L. Halloran
Prof. Nicholas Mercuro
Reid DeManche of Quinn Law Group
Roger H. Lee, ’02
In-Kind Donors
Forest Akers West Golf Course
Paul Goebel Group Insurance
Prime Time Awards
www.law.msu.edu
47
Homecoming Reception and Tailgate
The 2nd Annual MSU Law Homecoming Reception and Class
Reunion brought alumni, friends, and faculty together at the
East Lansing Marriott at University Place on October 11.
Attendees reminisced about their alma mater while specially
recognizing those celebrating five or 10 years since graduation.
“As a new alumnus, it was great to connect with fellow
alumni who graduated before me, and to reconnect with my
MSU College of Law professors,” said Bobby Ficklin, ’11.
Graduates joined Spartan Law Students Society members,
Dean Joan Howarth, and other faculty members the next
morning for the Alumni Association Homecoming Tailgate.
The gorgeous fall weather and MSU’s 42–28 win over the
Indiana Hoosiers capped off a successful Spartan weekend.
1
2
1. ( from left) Reid DeManche, ’07,
Katherine Hall, and Alumni Association
Board President Brian Hall, ’07,
had fun catching up at the evening
homecoming reception.
2. ( from left) Assistant Dean Elliot Spoon,
Dean Joan Howarth, and Spartan Law
Students Society President Matthew
Downer, 2L, enjoyed the beautiful fall
morning while tailgating in front of
MSU’s International Center before the
homecoming game.
48
| faweekend
l l 2 013spirit.
Sparty provided an extra boost ofAmicus
homecoming
Alumni Profile
CULTIVATING
GROWTH
in the City by the Bay
Nicole P. Dogwill, ’98
Law was a natural fit for Nicole Dogwill, who enjoys
meeting and strategizing with clients to cultivate growth
while resolving problems and minimizing risk. “Each day is
different,” she says. “It’s an environment I thrive in. I couldn’t
be in a profession that did the same thing every day.”
Dogwill attributes much of her success to Michigan State
Law, where she was a managing editor of the Law Review and
earned her J.D., magna cum laude, in 1998. “I knew I’d be able
to obtain an excellent legal education with an emphasis on
practicing in the real world,” she says. “This background really
helped me start my career in the right direction.”
The San Francisco firm Shartsis Friese welcomed Dogwill
as a partner in its Litigation Group a year ago. After practicing
at “Big Law” for much of her career, she was looking for a firm
with a sophisticated legal practice and the flexibility in rates
and structure to enable her to work with institutional clients,
as well as emerging growth/start-up companies.
“The market for legal services has changed dramatically
and, in my opinion, for the better,” she says. “I like partnering
with my clients, many of which are long-term, to help them
grow while minimizing risk. Shartsis gave me the platform
in which to do that, along with the ability to work with and
offer my clients access to a group of stellar attorneys in their
respective fields. It was really a no-brainer.”
Dogwill employs a “holistic” approach to solutions. “Because
of my litigation background, I can counsel a company and its
directors and officers so as to avoid pitfalls down the road.
And since I’m counseling on the front end, I’m able to really
understand my client’s business . . . which makes me better
equipped to represent them in litigation at the back end.”
She enjoys the variety of work, and interesting cases. In
one, she represented a director of a failed telecommunications
company. “A creditor brought a derivative suit with some
pretty novel theories in an attempt to recoup his losses,” she
www.law.msu.edu
says. In California, the issue of the scope of fiduciary duties
owed by directors of an insolvent company to a creditor had
not been addressed. Dogwill’s team was able to limit the scope
of those duties, making new law in California.
She also represented a beneficiary of a high-profile estate
in a lawsuit against the fiduciaries—a contentious battle in
which the fiduciaries claimed the decedent knowingly and
willingly gave them a majority of the estate. “I always felt
the decedent had not knowingly done so,” she says. “It wasn’t
until we were able to examine the metadata of the fiduciary’s
computer, which proved our suspicions were true, that the
contentious battle I thought would never end short of trial
suddenly resolved immediately. It really showed me how
‘evidence’ has evolved over time.”
Named a “future star” in the 2012 and 2013 editions of
Benchmark Litigation, Dogwill was named in the Top 40 under
40 LGBT Attorneys by the National LGBT Bar Association in
2010. Now president-elect of the association, she will take up
the gavel next January. “It has been an interesting and exciting
time to be part of the organization, with the recent evolution
of LGBT-related law,” she says.
Dogwill, a native of Hazel Park who earned her
undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan,
loves life in San Francisco. She and her partner, Katie, and
five-year-old twins, Sofie and Tallulah, enjoy hiking, biking,
skiing, exploring at the beach, and visiting Wine Country.
“I also love to cook and tend to our little city garden with
my kids. Due to the San Francisco climate, some seasons are
successful—others, not so much,” she laughs.
Dogwill returns to Michigan a couple of times a year, most
recently for September’s class reunion at Comerica Park’s Tiger
Club. “It was great to see and connect with my classmates,”
she says. “We’re living all over the country, so it was a way for
us all to meet up and reminisce about law school.”
49
and
1
Michigan State Law’s Black Law Students Association
(BLSA), Office of Advancement, and Diversity Services
Office co-hosted the Annual BLSA Scholarship and Alumni
Reception at the MSU Detroit Center on March 15. Guests
gathered to support BLSA’s mission to recruit, retain, and
promote the educational development of minority law
students at MSU Law.
Thank you to the following benefactors for their generous
support of the BLSA Scholarship:
State Representative Brian Banks, ’10
Trustee Maurice Jenkins, ’81
The Honorable Cylenthia LaToye Miller, ’96
The Honorable Beatrice Millender, ’87
Che Peterson, ’09
Eric Sabree, ’96
David Whitaker, ’87
2
Congratulations to the 2013
BLSA Award Recipients:
Jack Apol Award
Adjunct Professor Goldie Pritchard
Alvin L. Storrs Outstanding Mentorship Award
Associate Professor and BLSA Faculty Advisor Nicole Dandridge
Robert L. Millender Visionary Award
Johnny Hawkins, ’96
Distinguished Alumni Award
Ella Bully-Cummings, ’97
1. ( from left) Randall Tatem, 3L, Director of Diversity Services Mary
Ferguson, ’02, and J. Olabisi Ogboye, ’13
2. The Honorable Craig Strong, ’73, and Kanyinsola Olufon, 3L
50
The Jewish Legal Society (JLS) held its 5th Annual Student
& Alumni Networking Night at the McDonald Hopkins law
firm in Bloomfield Hills. The JLS presented Jules Olsman, ’78,
with its Alumni Achievement Award at the March 20 event.
Olsman—who teaches Medical Malpractice Litigation as
an adjunct professor at Michigan State Law—is president of
Olsman, Mueller, Wallace & MacKenzie. He has practiced
personal injury law in Michigan for 35 years. A past
president of the Michigan Association for Justice, Olsman
was appointed by Governor Jennifer Granholm to serve
on the Governor’s Task Force on Elder Abuse, has testified
many times before the Michigan legislature on long-term
care issues, and served as legislative counsel and board
member for the Citizens for Better Care.
This year’s networking event raised nearly $1,800 for
the inaugural JLS Scholarship. Thank you to the following
scholarship benefactors for their generous support:
Michael Battersby, ’78
Samuel L. Bernstein
Brian Einhorn
Elizabeth Gleicher
Mayer Morganroth, ’54
Assistant Dean Elliot Spoon
Daniel J. Weiner
Jason Weiner, ’10
1
Thanks also to McDonald Hopkins attorney Jason Weiner,
’10, for hosting and helping organize the event.
2
1. (from left) Dean Joan Howarth, Jules Olsman, ’78, and Jason Weiner, ’10
2. (from left) Norman Tucker, Hon. Elizabeth Gleicher, and Stephanie Arndt
www.law.msu.edu
51
Alumni Profile
FLYING HIGH
in the Sports and
Entertainment World
Robert E. Carr, ’88
By his own admission, Robert Carr floated through his
undergraduate years somewhat, not the most serious of
students. Michigan State Law—in its earlier incarnation as
Detroit College of Law—brought him back to earth, and set
him on a career path leading to his current roles as senior
vice president of operations and legal affairs for Olympia
Entertainment in Detroit, and general counsel and alternate
governor of the Detroit Red Wings.
“The sports and entertainment industry is dynamic. No two
days are alike—no two hours are alike, for that matter,” Carr
says. “More than anything, I enjoy knowing that my efforts—
and those of everyone working for Olympia Entertainment
and the Detroit Red Wings—create memorable moments for
our guests and fans that will live with them forever. That’s a
potent, rewarding feeling.”
Carr has met an eclectic array of celebrities and sports
figures throughout his career with Olympia. “My most
memorable celebrity encounter was with Elton John. Due to
a shortage of staff on the evening of his concert, I personally
picked him up at the airport and drove his entourage to Joe
Louis Arena under police escort,” he says.
Another memorable moment involved an impromptu
midnight baseball game at Comerica Park with Kid Rock,
John Cusack, and Cuba Gooding Jr., among others.
Growing up, Carr—who always exhibited an affinity for
numbers—envisioned himself in the business world. Deciding
a background in accounting and economics would bode well
for future career endeavors, he headed to Albion College and
earned a bachelor’s degree in those subjects.
“I took a business law course in my last year of college and,
to my surprise, did very well. Business law not only intrigued
me, but I found I had a knack for it,” he says. “It was at that
point that I considered going to law school and ultimately
chose that path.”
52
Earning his J.D., cum laude, in 1988, Carr was a member
of the Law Review and served as case note editor during his
3L year. “DCL challenged me and enabled me to be a more
diligent student. It instilled in me the strong, academic work
ethic I needed to become a successful lawyer,” he says. “The
first phase of my career path focused solely on the practice
of law. However, my current role demands a high level of
accounting skills, so I’m grateful to have that background
now more than ever.”
While at DCL, Carr clerked for several firms in the Detroit
area and completed internships with then U.S. District Judge
Richard Suhrheinrich, who now is on the bench of the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
After graduating, Carr clerked for the Honorable Lawrence
Zatkoff of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Michigan. “Judge Zatkoff also is a DCL alumnus, and I had the
pleasure of serving him for two years,” Carr says. “He was a
great mentor who gave me invaluable insight into the judicial
system. I was fortunate to observe numerous highly skilled
practitioners that appeared before him.”
Carr then joined Dickinson Wright in Detroit, where he
primarily focused on labor and employment litigation. There,
he got his lucky break. Retained by Olympia Entertainment
to provide legal services, he quickly landed an internal
position as general counsel for the Detroit-based sports and
entertainment company owned by Michael and Marian Ilitch.
Carr’s role expanded into the hockey side of the business
when he was named general counsel for the Red Wings.
Carr recently joined MSU Law’s Presidents Club with his
$10,000 pledge to support the planned Detroit College of Law
Plaza and Legacy Scholarship. “DCL meant a lot to me,” he
explains. “Now it’s time to give back to honor DCL and help
MSU Law’s future lawyers.”
Regina Storrs
Continues to Honor Late
Husband with New Pledge
to MSU Law
Professor Alvin Storrs
Regina Storrs, the widow of the late Professor Alvin Storrs,
recently joined Michigan State Law’s Heritage Club—a donor
society for those whose cumulative, lifetime gifts and pledges
total $100,000 or more. Storrs’ new gift will benefit the Alvin
L. Storrs Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, the Alvin Storrs Tax
Scholarship, and the Black Law Students Association.
“I am so very pleased to be able to add support to MSU
Law in Al’s name,” Storrs said. “Al would have wanted the
Taxpayer Clinic that he founded to remain in perpetuity and
thrive. This support will ensure that his legacy carries on.”
Alvin Storrs, who passed away in 2010, was a highly
respected member of the Law College faculty and chair of
the Taxation Law concentration program. In 1999, he led the
effort to obtain funding through the Internal Revenue Service
to establish the Tax Law Clinic, which provides students
with valuable experience and community members with
important tax services that otherwise would be unavailable.
Thanks to the support of generous alumni and friends, the
clinic was renamed in Storrs’ honor in 2012.
(from left) Dean Joan Howarth and Regina Storrs stand in front of the wall
that holds the Storrs Tax Clinic donor recognition artwork
Nominate Distinguished Alumni
The prestigious Honorable George N. Bashara, ’60, Distinguished Alumni Award was established to recognize truly
outstanding Law College graduates. Awards may be given each year to as many as four of our more than 11,000 living alumni,
based on the following criteria:
»» Participation in and contribution to the alumni affairs of the Law College
»» Outstanding personal service to the Law College
»» Personal accomplishments that enhance the reputation
of the Law College
»» Distinguished service in any field of human endeavor (family, community, business, industry, science, or a profession)
Recipients are selected by the Distinguished Alumni Award Committee and honored at the spring commencement ceremony.
Visit www.law.msu.edu/advancement/distinguished-alumni-award.html to submit a nomination.
www.law.msu.edu
53
MSU Law Alumni
Seen
Heard
Alumni Reception in
Washington, DC
Michigan State Law hosted its annual Alumni and Student
Reception in Washington, DC, on March 14. Graduates raised
scholarship funds for future students from the region, while
meeting with current students in the Washington, DC,
Semester Program. The popular spring externship program
gives students a taste of life in the nation’s capital while they
work at a federal government agency. Detroit-based Lucius
Vassar, ’01, director of governmental affairs at Clark Hill,
hosted the reception at his firm’s Pennsylvania Avenue office
in DC.
Career Services Office representatives Naomi Gaynor Neilsen, ’96, and
Assistant Dean Elliot Spoon took part in the festivities in Washington, DC.
Neilsen (on left) and Spoon (on right) are pictured here with
Brenda Doty, ’05.
54
(from left) Rehanna Razack, ’13, Lucius Vassar, ’01,
Deddeh Ansumana-Jones, 3L, and Rafique Anderson, ’01
( from left) Michigan State Bar inductees Professor Kristi Bowman, Jasmine Baker,
Chad Kotrba, Erin Graham, Jie Wang, Latoya Jackson, Lu Wang, and Reshma Sambare.
Alumni Reception in
Midland
State Bar Swearing-In
Ceremony
Dean Joan Howarth visited with MSU Law graduates and
friends at a mid-summer “On the Road” reception at the
H Hotel in Midland. The July 25 event offered a convenient
opportunity for mid-Michigan alumni to reconnect and learn
about recent events and initiatives at their alma mater. Justice
Emeritus Alton Davis, ’74, Robert Dunn, ’81, and Todd Levitt,
’92, hosted the gathering.
Michigan State Law proudly hosted State Bar of Michigan
inductees and their guests for a swearing-in ceremony on
May 23. The Honorable Frank J. DeLuca of the 54A Judicial
District Court presided over the ceremony, which was held
in the Law College’s Moot Courtroom. MSU Law hosts
this biannual function—which is followed by a celebratory
champagne toast and dessert reception—for alumni who
pass the Michigan Bar Examination.
State Bar Annual
Meeting
This year’s MSU Law Alumni Reception at the State Bar of
Michigan Annual Meeting took place at the Lansing Center
on September 19. Bar members from around the state gather
at the event each year to learn the most recent legal news and
reunite with their law school classmates.
Frank Foster and Lauren Dutcher, ’12,
at the Alumni Reception at the State
Bar Annual Meeting
www.law.msu.edu
55
Alumni Notes
1970s
Crowley
Tice
Philip Crowley, ’74, published Possessed, a
novel co-written by Kenneth Wylie. The book
was inspired by one of northern Michigan’s
most sensational murder trials of the last half
century—that of English-born battered wife
Jeanette Smith. The groundbreaking 1979 trial
helped toughen state domestic violence laws
and enforcement.
Robert C. Tice, ’78, joined Collins Einhorn
Farrell’s Employment Practices Liability practice
group. Tice, who has more than 30 years of
experience, focuses his practice on labor and
employment litigation and general civil litigation.
1980s
Thomas P. Vincent, ’81, was re-elected to
Plunkett Cooney’s board of directors. A longtime member of the board, Vincent is an
accomplished trial attorney and a member of
the firm’s Litigation practice group.
Vincent
Bernstein
Ossian
Douglas C. Bernstein, ’82, was re-elected to
Plunkett Cooney’s board of directors. Bernstein—
who previously spent more than 20 years as an
in-house bank attorney—leads the firm’s Banking,
Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights practice group.
Kathryn L. Ossian, ’84, of Ossian Law,
became a member of LexAdvantage—a Michiganbased network made up of independent
practitioners poised to address all aspects of
commercial transactions and litigation. Ossian,
who specializes in Information Technology law,
also edited the Practising Law Institute treatise
on Social Media and the Law.
Scott A. Goodwin, ’86, co-founder and
managing partner of Birmingham-based personal
injury law firm Goodwin & Scieszka, was named
president-elect of the Michigan Association for
Justice. Scieszka’s firm has presented a free legal
aid clinic called Law Day each spring for 26 years.
The 2013 event attracted more than 1,000 visitors
and featured 20 attorneys who met pro bono with
clients. Goodwin’s Law Day, which emphasizes
child safety, has donated and fitted 10,000 free
bicycle helmets since 1987.
John Smallman, ’89, served as the staff judge
advocate for the U.S. Pacific Command’s 2012
Pacific Partnership humanitarian assistance
mission. The five-month mission onboard the
USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) consisted of medical,
dental, veterinary, and civil action events in
Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and
Vietnam. Commander Smallman retired from
Naval Criminal Investigative Service in 2011
and continues to serve in the Navy Reserves.
He currently represents Wounded Warriors at
the Naval Hospital in San Diego.
1990s
Robert A. Cooney, ’92, was elected Grand
Traverse County prosecuting attorney for a term
beginning January 1, 2013.
Ronald L. Buch, ’93, was appointed by
President Barack Obama to the U.S. Tax Court in
January. His term will end in 2028.
Kevin P. Moloughney, ’94, an attorney at
Southfield-based Collins Einhorn Farrell, was
named president of the Association of Defense
Trial Counsel. Moloughney’s practice is focused on
the defense of personal injury and property damage
claims and litigating insurance coverage disputes.
Jerome W. Zimmer Jr., ’95, was named
Michigan Court of Appeals chief clerk. Zimmer
joined the court as a prehearing attorney in 1995.
From 1997 to 2000, he served as regulatory
counsel for First Mercury Financial Corporation,
where he advised corporate offices on regulatory
compliance issues in all 50 states.
Eric Sabree, ’96, was elected president of
Kiwanis Club No. 1 in Detroit, the world’s first
Kiwanis Club. Sabree, who also is Wayne County
deputy treasurer for land management, has been a
Kiwanis member since 1992. The worldwide service
organization was founded in Detroit in 1915.
Goodwin
56
2010s
Brian S. Pickell, ’97, joined Cantor Colburn
in Troy. Pickell’s practice covers all facets of
intellectual property law and focuses on
preparation and prosecution of domestic and
foreign patent applications for mechanical and
electro-mechanical technologies.
2000s
James P. Cone, ’02, celebrated his five-year
anniversary with the global law firm Jones Day.
Cone is an associate in the firm’s Business and
Tort Litigation practice group in Cleveland. He
joined Jones Day after serving as a captain in the
U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
Jeffrey S. Hengeveld, ’03, was named
partner at Plunkett Cooney. Hengeveld, who
works in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, is a
member of the firm’s Professional Liability
practice group.
Charles Adside III, ’11, was appointed
lecturer in the Department of Political Science
at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor,
where he is teaching a class on the American
Chief Executive.
Katherine Cornell, ’12, is an attorney at
the Tracey Law Firm in Houston, Texas. Before
joining the firm in 2012, Cornell held law clerk
positions with Judge F. Kay Behm of the Genesee
County Probate Court and Judge Joseph J. Farah
of the 7th Judicial Circuit Court in Genesee
County. Her primary focus includes personal
injury, dangerous and defective drugs, and
premise liability.
Cooney
Moloughney
Kyle N. Smith, ’12, joined Collins Einhorn
Farrell’s General and Automobile Liability
practice group. Smith will focus his practice on
general and automobile liability defense litigation.
John W. Inhulsen, ’05, shareholder at Foster
Swift Collins & Smith, was named one of Grand
Rapids Business Journal’s “40 under Forty” for 2013.
The annual list recognizes 40 local business
leaders under age 40 for their contributions to
the Grand Rapids business community.
Kristin A. Lusn, ’05, joined the downtown
Detroit office of Hertz Schram. Lusn primarily
will focus her practice in the firm’s Corporate,
Litigation, and Real Estate sections, as well
as on downtown business development
Emily J. Scholler, ’07, joined Lipson Neilson
Law Firm’s Bloomfield Hills office as associate.
Scholler will focus her practice in business and
tax law, as well as estate planning and trust
administration.
In Memoriam
Sabree
Edward J. Proppe, ’54, on August 6, 2013
Melbourne P. King, ’63, on January 9, 2013
Ian MacAulay MacDonald, ’06, on May 19, 2013
Allison P. Weathersby, ’94, on October 25, 2013
Send us your notes!
We encourage all alumni to contribute
information on accomplishments and
special recognition in the legal profession
and other fields.
Pickell
To submit your notes, e-mail
[email protected] or visit
www.law.msu.edu/amicus.
Cone
Smith
www.law.msu.edu
Cornell
Scholler
Lusn
Inhulsen
Hengeveld
57
circle of friends Donor Societies
Many thanks to the following members of Michigan State Law’s Circle of Friends Donor Societies for their cumulative, lifetime giving.
John J. Danhof Society
$1 Million and Above
Mr. Donald L. Castle Sr.†, ’36, and Mrs. Edna P. Castle†
Mr. John A. Downs II†, ’43, and Mrs. Clover E. Downs†
Mr. Geoffrey N. Fieger, ’79, and Mrs. Keenie Fieger
President Emeritus Clif Haley, ’61, and
Mrs. Carolyn A. Haley
Mr. James L. Mattison† and Mrs. Bertha Mattison†
Board Chair Linda Waggoner Orlans, ’87
Trustee Emeritus John F. Schaefer, ’69, and
Mrs. Marta Schaefer
Charles H. King Society
$500,000 to $999,999
Mr. L. D. MacLean†, ’55, and Mrs. Frances MacLean
Ms. Lori E. Talsky, ’96, and Mr. Alan S. Zekelman
Mr. Irvin H. Yackness†, ’41, and Mrs. June Yackness†
A.J. Thomas Society
$250,000 to $499,999
FINRA Investor Education Foundation
Mr. Paul J. Lay, ’69, and Mrs. Carol L. Lay
Mr. Harry B. Letzer †, ’26
Prof. Emeritus Edward J. Littlejohn, ’70
Mr. Glenn C. Wilber †, ’33
Heritage Club
$100,000 to $249,999
A nonymous
Mr. John A. Allen†, ’33, and Mrs. Bernice Allen†
Ms. Irene R. Andes†
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Coleman Foundation, Inc.
Mr. J. Bernard Dawsey †, ’35
Hon. Daniel M. Downey, ’76, and
Mrs. Dawana Downey
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Mr. Samuel P. Frankel†, ’35, and Mrs. Jean Frankel†
Mr. Harold H. Gordon†, ’51, and
Mrs. Marion T. Gordon
Trustee Emeritus Richard W. Heiss, ’63, and
Mrs. Nancy J. Heiss
Mr. Dewitt C. Holbrook†
Dean Joan W. Howarth and Ms. Carmen Estrada
Ida & Benjamin Alpert Foundation
inData Corporation
Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss
Prof. Emeritus Clark C. Johnson, LL.D. ’02
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Kresge Foundation
Trustee Charles E. Langton, ’87, and
Trustee Emeritus Norman L. Lippitt, ’60
Mr. Peter J. Lucido, ’88, and Mrs. Ann Marie Lucido
Ms. Jean A. Marson†, ’72
Ms. Lilyan I. Marx †
Mr. Gerald McKessy †, ’33
Mr. Mayer Morganroth, ’54, and
Mrs. Sheila Morganroth
Trustee Michael G. Morris, ’81, and
Mrs. Linda C. Morris
MSU College of Law Alumni Association
Mr. Willard E. Munro and Mrs. Marion J. Munro†
Mr. Harold W. Oehmke†, ’72, and
Mrs. Elizabeth Oehmke†
Open Society Institute
Mr. Perry W. Richwine†, ’27, and
Mrs. Janet H. Richwine†
Sydney and Elizabeth Ross Family Foundation
†
58
Mr. John R. Selecky †, ’77
Trustee David J. Sparrow †, ’51
Ms. Regina Storrs
Hon. Richard F. Suhrheinrich, ’63, and Mrs. Beverly
Suhrheinrich
Mr. Richard J. Thoma†, ’32
Mr. Richard N. Wiener, ’76, and Mrs. Rajkumari M.
Wiener
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Inc.
Founders Club
$50,000 to $99,999
Mr. Alan T. Ackerman and
Mrs. Sharyl Ackerman
Animal Legal Defense Fund
Anonymous
Arcus Foundation
Mr. Michael Berry, ’50, and
Mrs. Cynthia A. Berry
Ms. Alice R. Bishop†
Ms. Margaret Carrigan†
Mr. Joseph A. Cassese†, ’24
Chicago Title & Trust Company
Mr. David W. Christensen, ’72
Consumers Energy Foundation
Dewitt C. Holbrook Memorial Foundation
Col. Thomas P. Dickinson†, ’28, and
Mrs. Eloise E. Dickinson†
Ms. Jenifer M. Franklin, ’97
General Motors Foundation
Mrs. Marion T. Gordon
Mr. Paul L. Greer†, ’51, and
Mrs. Jacqueline Murphy Greer
Trustee Emeritus Edwin W. Jakeway, ’61, and Mrs.
Suzanne Jakeway
Trustee Charles A. Janssen and
Mrs. Lea Anne L. Janssen
Mrs. Joan R. Kalustian
Mr. Bruce A. Kirk†, ’35
McGregor Fund
Mr. Julian G. McIntosh†, ’28, and
Mrs. Vera McIntosh†
Michigan State Bar Foundation
Mr. Robert V. Parenti, ’51, and
Mrs. Laurie Parenti†
Mr. John D. Pirich and Mrs. Mary Beth Pirich
Ravitz Foundation
Trustee Emeritus Kenneth J. Robinson
Ms. M. Jean Sells†
Ravitz Foundation
Mr. S. Gary Spicer, ’69
Taxpayer Advocate Service
Vital Projects Fund, Inc.
Benefactors Club
$25,000 to $49,999
Anonymous
Allstate Foundation
Mr. George N. Bashara Jr.†, ’60, and
Mrs. Suzanne Bashara
Mr. D. Bruce Beaton, ’81
Mr. James Cyril P. Beattie†, ’24
Trustee Raymond R. Behan, ’60, and Mrs. Lorraine Behan
Mr. James S. Bicknell III†, ’54, and Mrs. Doris Bicknell
Mr. G. Cameron Buchanan†, ’30, and
Mrs. Helen Buchanan†
Butler Family Fund
Trustee Emeritus Joseph J. Buttigieg III, ’75, and
Mrs. Mary K. Buttigieg†
Mr. Russell A. Buyers, ’65, and Mrs. Sue Ellen Buyers
Canadian Consulate General
Capital Region Community Foundation
Mr. Peter J. Carras, ’62, and Mrs. Barbara D. Carras
Center For Death Penalty Litigation, Inc.
Chrysler Corporation Fund
Clark Hill PLC
Prof. Emeritus Charles H. Clarke† and
Mrs. Leticia G. Clarke
Hon. Avern Cohn and Mrs. Lois Cohn
Mr. Russel J. Comer†, ’31
Mr. Timothy J. Conroy, ’58, and Mrs. Janet P. Conroy
Mr. Edward C. Dawda, ’77, and Mrs. Alice I. Buckley, ’79
Mr. Daniel J. Desmet, ’85
Prof. David S. Favre and Mrs. Martha E. Favre
Federal Mogul Corporation
Trustee Elaine Fieldman, ’76, and Mr. Mark Sims
Prof. Emeritus Robert M. Filiatrault, ’70, and
Mrs. Mary H. Christy
Mr. Peter B. Fletcher
Ford Motor Company Fund
Mr. Kim A. Gasior, ’85, and Mrs. Diane K. Gasior
Mr. William B. Giles†
Mr. Philip F. Greco†, ’44, and Mrs. Dolores R. Greco
Prof. Catherine M. Grosso and Mr. Stephen P. Gasteyer
Mr. Thomas Guastello, ’70, and Ms. Susan M. Luch
Prof. Emeritus Nancy D. Heathcote and
Mr. William L. Heathcote
Herbert and Elsa Ponting Foundation
Ambassador David B. Hermelin†, and
Mrs. Doreen N. Hermelin
Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC
Mr. Louis W. Kasischke, ’67, and
Mrs. Sandra A. Kasischke
Mr. Anthony E. Kenny, ’70, and Mrs. Sharon A. Kenny
Mr. Alan J. Lazette and Mrs. Charlene V. P. Lazette
Mr. A. Bart Lewis, ’64
Mr. Albert Lopatin†, ’53, and Mrs. Beverly Lopatin
Maverick Lloyd Foundation
Ms. Sybil M. Lyon†
Microsoft Corporation
Mr. David M. Miro, ’30, and Mrs. Bernice Miro
Mr. Marvin R. Novick†, ’52, and
Mrs. Margaret A. Novick
Mrs. Kathryn L. Ossian, ’84, and Mr. James E. Linn
Mr. David M. Ottenwess, ’86, and
Mrs. Stephanie Ottenwess
Ottenwess, Allman & Taweel PLC
Prof. Kathleen E. Payne, ’77, and Mr. Jeffrey B. Goldsmith
Pepper Hamilton LLP
Mr. Jerry Raymond†, ’64, and Mrs. Justine Raymond
Mr. Carl J. Schoeninger, ’70, and
Mrs. Mary Beth Schoeninger
State Bar of Michigan
Ms. Flora H. Temple†
Hon. Thomas A. Van Tiem Sr., ’60, and
Mrs. Helen Van Tiem
Mr. David II, Mrs. Gail, Erika, David III, Samantha, and
Nicholas Williams
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Winston-Salem Foundation
Presidents Club
$10,000 to $24,999
Anonymous
A.J. Fletcher Foundation
Mr. Camille S. Abood†, ’61
American Natural Resources Company
Mr. Patrick R. Anderson, ’05, and
Mrs. Stephanie Anderson
AT&T Foundation
Mr. Raymond A. Ballard†, ’32
Mr. Ralph W. Barbier Jr., ’63
Deceased
Ms. Christine M. Battle, ’86, and Mr. Timothy E. Battle
Mr. Leon D. Bess, ’63, and Mrs. Debby Bess
Mr. Daniel H. Bliss, ’87, and Mrs. Margaret L. Bliss
Mr. Saul Bluestone†, ’68, and Mrs. Eleanor Bluestone
Mr. Irving R. Blum†, ’59
Mr. Clarence M. Burton† III, ’80
Mr. Milton W. Bush Sr.†, ’34, and Mrs. Lodie Bush
Prof. Emeritus Craig R. Callen†
Prof. Emeritus Donald F. Campbell†, ’61
Mr. Ralph H. Cann Jr., ’51, and Mrs. Eleanor J. Cann
Mr. Henry N. Carnaby, ’84, and Mrs. Cathleen Carnaby
Capital Region Community Foundation
Mr. Donald F. Carney Jr., ’76, and Mrs. Jacqueline M. Carney
Mr. Robert E. Carr, ’88
Mr. Paul F. Carrier†, ’59
Mr. Patrick G. Casey†, ’59, and Ms. Barbara M. Casey
Mr. Daniel E. Castner, ’72, and Ms. Cecilia Castner
Ms. Carole L. Chiamp, ’72
Ms. Karen A. Chopra, ’95
Clarence M. Burton Memorial Foundation
Mr. Daniel M. Clark, ’63, and Mrs. Suzanne Clark
Mr. Earl J. Cline†, ’56
CMS Energy Corporation
Comerica
Mr. Michael G. Conniff Sr., ’70
Ms. Margaret A. Costello, ’88
Mr. Jerry Cotter Jr., ’59
Mr. Thomas A. Cover, ’82, and Mrs. Julianne Cover
Crow Nation
Ms. Barbara M. Dabiero
Mr. Adam J. Dadaou, ’60, and Ms. Effie Dadaou
Justice Emeritus Alton D. Davis, ’74, and Mrs. Sandra K. Davis
Mr. Gilbert H. Davis†, ’31
Mr. Robert A. Deneweth, ’77, and Mrs. Mary L. Deneweth
Mr. George H. Denfield†, ’53, and Mrs. Renee Denfield
Deroy Testamentary Foundation
Trustee Frederick D. Dilley, ’75, and Mrs. Elizabeth E. Dilley
Mr. Douglas L. Dinning, ’77
Mr. Sam DuBois†, ’57
Mr. James W. Duff Sr., ’67, and Mrs. Caroline S. Duff
Ms. Julie I. Duke
Mr. William J. Ewald, ’73, and Mrs. Deanna M. Ewald
Ms. Virginia M. Farhat†
Ms. Joanne B. Faycurry, ’87
Mr. Matthew S. Fedor, ’00, and Ms. Amy C. Slameka, ’99
Mr. David E. Flayer†, ’29
Hon. Charles M. Forster, ’62, and Mrs. Dianna Forster
Prof. Emeritus Elizabeth M. Gallagher†
Mr. Michael D. Gibson, ’80
Mrs. Cheryl A. Gilbert
Mr. Gregory L. Gilbert, ’75, and Ms. Linda Parizon
Gossett Fund
Mr. Donald W. Grant†, ’42
Mr. Paul R. Hahn, ’04, and Ms. Sarah L. Babcock
Hal & Jean Glassen Memorial Foundation
Prof. Michele L. Halloran and Mr. Robert W. Halloran
Mr. Paul E. Hamilton†, ’73
Prof. Emeritus Jeremy T. Harrison and Prof. Laura E. Harrison
Mr. D. Craig Henry, ’71, and Mrs. Judith M. Henry
Mr. Stuart E. Hertzberg
Mr. Thomas H. Hill, ’83, and Mrs. Sue Hill
Mr. Frederick H. Hoffecker, ’70, and Mrs. Elizabeth Hoffecker
Mr. Myles B. Hoffert, ’71, and Ms. Ronna G. Hoffert
Mr. Charles P. Hoffman Jr., ’79, and Mrs. Marcia L. Reed
James and Lynelle Holden Fund
Mr. Lewis L. Hole, ’60
Mr. C. Dale Hubbard, ’55
Dean James P. Huddleston
Hudson-Webber Foundation
Mr. Richard W. Hughes, ’75
Dr. B. J. Humphreys, ’57, and Mrs. Laura Humphreys
InData Corporation
†
Mr. John W. Inhulsen, ’05, and Mrs. Monica C. Inhulsen, ’03
Jackson Lewis LLP
Mr. Michael H. James, ’78, and Ms. Lesli James
Mr. Thomas W. James, ’05, and Mrs. Angela M. James
Hon. Frank E. Jeannette†, ’33
Trustee Maurice G. Jenkins, ’81, and
Mrs. Corlyss Connors-Jenkins
Johnson & Johnson
Mr. Alan E. Joslyn†, ’24
J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation
Kanji & Katzen PLLC
Mr. Edward L. Keller, ’59
Mr. Frank J. Kelley and Mrs. Nancy A. Kelley
Mr. Michael J. Kelly, ’88
Kemp Klein Umphrey & Endelman Foundation
Hon. Kurt G. Kersten, ’53, and Mrs. Lenore E. Kersten
Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti & Sherbrook
Mr. Russell E. Knister†, ’29
Mr. Konrad D. Kohl†, ’51
Mr. Edward J. Kreski, ’81
Mr. Donald A. Kuebler, ’66, and Mrs. Cheryl K. Kuebler
Mr. Lyndon J. Lattie, ’61
Prof. Michael A. Lawrence and Prof. Deanne A. Lawrence
Lear Corporation
Mr. Todd L. Levitt, ’92, and Mrs. Mary E. Levitt
Lexis-Nexis Group
Mr. Daniel A. Lichtman†, ‘75
Mr. Frederick Lichtman†, ’51, and Mrs. Naomi Lichtman†
Mr. Jeffrey C. Littmann, ’84, and Mrs. Cynthia M. Littmann
Hon. Arthur J. Lombard and Mrs. Frederica Lombard
Mrs. Sarah Luick
The Lupton Family
Hon. James B. Mackie, ’70, and Ms. Ruth Mackie
Mr. Charles A. Malone, ’70
Mr. Paul Marco†, ’33, and Mrs. Frances Marco†
Mr. Victor G. Marrocco, ’70, and Ms. Frances Marrocco
Mr. James N. Martin, ’68
Mr. William M. Mazey†, ’51, and Mrs. Emma Mazey
Mr. Joseph F. McCarthy, ’72, and Mrs. Janet A. McCarthy
Mr. Aubrey V. McCutcheon Jr., ’61
Mr. Leroy B. McInally†, ’31, and Mrs. Henrietta McInally†
Mr. Martin McInerney
Mr. Thomas P. McKenney, ’78, and Ms. Jane G. McKenney
Mr. Richard D. McLellan, ’67
Ms. Patricia Mell
Mr. Dean D. Meriwether, ’96
Michigan Humanities Council
Mid-States Petroleum, Inc.
Mr. Frank G. Mixter†, ’24
Hon. Marion A. Moore, ’71
Mr. Wolfgang Mueller, ’90, and Mrs. Shanna J. Bristol-Mueller
Mr. Andrew J. Munro, ’79
Mr. Joseph A. Murphy Jr., ’62, and Mrs. Joanne Becker Murphy
Mr. Eric M. Nemeth, ’90, and Mrs. Paula Nemeth
Trustee James M. Nicholson Jr., and Mrs. Mary B. Nicholson
Mr. John D. Nickola, ’66, and Mrs. Barbara A. Menear Nickola
Mr. Dennis H. Nystrom, ’67,
Trustee Donald D. Nystrom, ’00, and Mrs. Tracy Nystrom
Dr. Jonathan P. O’Brien, ’04, and Ms. Amelia V. Katanski
Mr. Patrick J. O’Brien, ’77, and Mrs. Amy L. O’Brien
Trustee Emeritus John D. O’Hair, ’54, and
Mrs. Barbara O’Hair
Mr. Robert C. Odle Jr., ’69
Mr. Jules B. Olsman, ’78, and
Mrs. Barbara L. Grossman Olsman
Trustee Emeritus Peter J. Palmer, ’68, and
Mrs. Diane D. Palmer
Mr. Michael A. Pelavin†, ’60, and Mrs. Natalie Pelavin
Mr. Alex P. Perry†, ’34
Hon. David M. Peterson, ’70, and Mrs. Marilyn S. Peterson
Mr. Frank M. Polasky, ’50
Ms. Bonnie L. Popp
Ms. Jennifer R. Poteat, ’04, and Mr. Michael Staebler
Proteus Action League
Prof. Albert T. Quick and Prof. Emeritus Brenda J. Quick
Prof. C. Nicholas Revelos†
Mr. Ellsworth G. Reynolds†, ’42
Mr. Gregory A. Reynolds†, ’71
Mr. Harry E. Roer†, ’64
Prof. George T. Roumell Jr., and Mrs. Affie Roumell
Mr. Karl L. Seavitt†, ’42, and Mrs. Margaret Seavitt†
Mr. William J. Sessions†, ’26
Mr. Jeptha W. Schureman†, ’42
Mr. Michael B. Serling, ’70, and Mrs. Elaine K. Serling
Ms. Kathleen A. Sheehan, ’88
Mr. Richard C. Shoop†
Mr. Arthur M. Sills†, ’51
Simkins & Simkins PC
Mr. G. R. Sims, ’73, and Mrs. Ann M. Sims
Mr. Charles M. Sirhal†, ’57, and Mrs. Charlotte Sirhal
Mr. A. Ronald Sirna Jr., ’71, and Mrs. Jessie D. Sirna
Skadden Fellowship Foundation
Mr. William G. Small†, ’83
Dr. William E. Smith, ’74, and Dr. Donna A. Smith
Prof. John Soave Jr.†, ’70
Mr. David W. Sommerfeld, ’67, and Mrs. Anne T. Sommerfeld
Mr. Norman S. Sommers, ’42, and Mrs. Judy Sommers
Mr. Myzell Sowell†, ’52
Mr. Ronald L. Spector†, ’67
Asst. Dean Elliot A. Spoon and Mrs. Madalyn Spoon
Hon. Larry J. Stecco, ’67, and Mrs. Pamela A. Stecco
Mr. Robert J. Stephan, ’67, and Mrs. Mary A. Stephan
Mr. Monte R. Story†, ’71, and Mrs. Barbara B. Story†
Ms. Kathleen Suthers
Assoc. Dean Charles J. Ten Brink
The Charitable Giving Card Program of the Community
Foundation
Mr. Elmo J. Tibaldi†, ’40
Ms. Ann Tomlanovich, ’93
Mr. Robert A. Tremain, ’70, and Mrs. Anne Tremain
Triangle Community Foundation, Inc.
Trott & Trott
UAW
CAP Council
Region 1A CAP
Region 1C CAP
Region 1D Retired Workers
Varnum Riddering Schmidt & Howlett
Mr. Howard J. Victor, ’77, and Ms. Gail R. Victor
Mr. Ronald E. Wagner, ’75, and
Mrs. Kathleen E. Mayor-Wagner
Mr. Chris W. Walker, ’90, and Ms. Jessica Walker, ’13
Mr. Michael J. Watza, ’86, and Mrs. Janet M. Watza
Mr. H. Wayne Wells
Mr. Russel C. Wells, ’64, and Reverend Shirley L. Wells
Mr. Douglas M. West, ’74
Mr. Bert Whitehead, ’72
Mr. J. Dallas Winegarden, ’69, and Mrs. Ronnee P. Winegarden
Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Foundation
Mr. Gene Zamler, ’67, and Mrs. Carol Zamler
Because Michigan State Law is a private, nonprofit
institution and separate 501(c)3 from MSU, donations
from our alumni and friends help fund the Law
College’s programs and operations. Please keep
MSU Law in mind when making your charitable
gifts, and consider the Law College in your estate
planning. Contact Tina Kashat Casoli at
517-432-6840 or [email protected] to learn more.
Deceased
www.law.msu.edu
59
Scholarships:
Investing in Our Future
Michigan State Law is thankful for the many donors each year
who invest in the future of our Law College and our profession
by establishing and supporting student scholarships.
As a private, nonprofit law school that receives no state
funding, MSU Law depends on the generosity of our alumni
and friends to remain competitive and accessible to students
from all backgrounds. Each and every dollar used toward
scholarships reduces the amount of loans students must take
on. With our graduates’ law school debt averaging more than
$114,000 after graduation, donor support is crucial.
“We cannot succeed with tuition alone,” said Dean
Joan Howarth. “Our donors have made many of our recent
accomplishments possible, and they hold the promise of many
more to come.”
To learn more about creating a scholarship in your name
or donating to the general scholarship fund, call the Office of
Advancement at 517-432-6840. By naming a scholarship, you
can help establish selection criteria for future recipients.
Lauren Fritz and S. Gary Spicer Sr
Devin Kenney
Congratulations to the following
recent scholarship award winners:
Alumni Association Scholarship
Autumn Gear, 1L
Daphne Bugell, 1L
Eve August Moot Court Scholarship
Ashley Hanson, 2L
Jean P. Carl Scholarship
Hillary Szawala, 2L
“The PILS scholarship gave me the opportunity to affect
people’s lives. This scholarship provided me with the
opportunity to learn from and assist the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration with rules and regulations that
affect global health, health reform, and pharmaceuticals.”
— Adaeze Teme, 2L, PILS scholarship awardee
McLean Conservation Scholarship from the Glassen Foundation
Devin Kenney, 2L
Michael Berry Endowed Scholarship
Nastassja Cuellar-Wilson, 1L
Public Interest Law Society (PILS) Scholarship
Adaeze Teme, 2L
Russell and Sue Ellen Buyers Scholarship
Joseph Abro, 1L
S. Gary Spicer Sr. Sports Law Scholarship
Lauren Fritz, 3L
Dean Howarth Meets with Spartan
Hockey Team to Promote Scholarship
Dean Joan Howarth visited with the Michigan State University
men’s ice hockey team on October 21 to promote the Daniel
Downey Hockey Scholarship. Downey, a former MSU hockey
defenseman who graduated from the Law College in 1976,
established the scholarship to encourage Spartan hockey
players to consider attending MSU Law when it’s time to
hang up their skates.
60
find us on:
“My experiences working at Michigan
State Law’s Immigration Law Clinic
and helping clients obtain permanent
residence in the U.S. have made me a
stronger advocate. As a first-generation
daughter of Nigerian immigrants,
immigration has always played a role
in my life. At MSU Law, I was able
to channel my passion to fight for
immigrants’ rights.”
—Ejinwaemeonu “Ndidi” Okeagu
J.D. Candidate ’14
Okeagu and her moot
court team won second
place in the Puerto
Rico Trial Advocacy
Competition in October.
Okeagu and teammate
Caitlin Higgins were
recognized for perfect
scores during the
competition.
I Am MSU Law
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
East Lansing
Michigan
Permit No. 21
Law College Building
648 N. Shaw Lane, Room 320
East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1300
Upcoming Events
Join your fellow alumni and friends for the following events.
Visit www.law.msu.edu/advancement for more information and to make a reservation.
February »
March »
Barrister's Scholarship Charity Ball
Florida Alumni Reception
Washington, DC, Area Alumni Reception
Michigan State Law Review Alumni & Student Reception
BLSA Alumni & Student Reception
Public Interest Law Society Student Auction
Jewish Legal Society Alumni & Student Reception

PDF of Full Magazine - Michigan State University College

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