SBM Blog

Attorney Discipline Board Picks A New Executive Director

The Attorney Discipline Board has selected deputy executive director Mark Armitage to succeed the agency's longtime executive director, John Van Bolt, when he retires at the end of September.

Mr. Armitage is a graduate of Albion College and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Prior to joining the Board's staff in 1994, he clerked for the Michigan Court of Appeals, was in private practice, was a volunteer hearing panelist and served on the State Bar's Standing Committee on Grievance. He is a fellow of the Michigan and American Bar Foundations and has taught professional responsibility at Wayne State Law School, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and at Thomas M. Cooley Law School. 

A former president of the National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC), Mr. Armitage has regularly lectured on legal ethics and professional responsibility at seminars sponsored by the State Bar of Michigan, the Institute for Continuing Legal Education (lCLE) and at national conferences conducted by the NOBC and the National Council of Lawyer Disciplinary Boards (NCLDB). He currently serves on councils of the ABA's Center for Professional Responsibility and the Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division of the ABA, and has been invited to serve on ABA consulting teams to review the operation of the discipline systems and present recommendations to the Supreme Courts of New Mexico and Tennessee.

MSU College of Law's ReInvent Law Continues To Grab Headlines

We last highlighted Reinvent Law in March. The buzz continues, the latest from the ABA Journal which provided a forum for "Legal Rebels" and MSU College of Law professors Renee Knake and Dan Katz to explain their vision:

We do not purport to have solved all of the issues in legal education, but we are working thoughtfully and quickly to offer students the additional skills that employers have told us would make a difference in their respective hiring decisions. Most law students are not fully practice-ready at the moment of graduation. However, anyone can make meaningful contributions when they walk in the door, especially those trained in skills relevant to the growing use of technology and data analytics in legal services. To that end, we have launched a set of courses designed to equip a new crop of law students to add value immediately. These courses include: e-discovery, entrepreneurial lawyering, lawyer regulation and ethics in a technology-driven world, legal information engineering, quantitative methods for lawyers, and virtual law practice. Additional courses planned include topics such as project management, legal analytics, economics of the legal market, design thinking for lawyers, and artificial intelligence and law.

Michigan: "World Capital of Anonymity-busting Subpoenas?"

A Court of Appeals decision addressing the right to anonymity of a blogger who is being sued by Cooley for defamation and tortious interference has prompted this post by an "IP maven" speculating that Michigan "just become the world capital of anonymity-busting subpoenas."  The post resides is the amusingly titled blog "Likelihood of Confusion," but, perversely, is clear and worth a read.

Governor Appoints Arthur Cotter To Berrien County District Court

Governor Snyder has appointed Arthur Cotter to the 5th district court, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Angela M. Pasula, who was elected to the Berrien circuit court. Cotter was elected Berrien County prosecutor in 2006 and has served in the prosecutor's office for 27 years. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Detroit School of Law.

Governor Appoints Jeffrey Sauter To Eaton County Circuit Court

Governor Snyder has appointed Eaton County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sauter to the 56^th Circuit Court, to complete the last two years of the judgeship previously held by retired judge Cal Osterhaven. Sauter has served as prosecutor since 1991 and is a past president of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan. He is a graduate of Central Michigan University and Thomas M. Cooley Law School. 

Congratulations, Girls! Women Sweep Top Spots On All Michigan Law Journals

The University of Michigan Law School will experience a first in the fall -- all of the editors-in-chief of all of the student-led law journals, as well as the majority of the managing editors, will be women. This sweep is all the more notable given that there is not quite gender parity in the student body. Of the 1040 J.D. candidates, 570 are men (54.9%) and 470 are women (45.1%).

The editors-in-chief of the six student led law journals are Dayna Zolle, Michigan Law Review, Emma Cox, Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Julia Stuebing, Michigan Journal of International Law, Greer Donley and Gina Myers-Schulz, Michigan Journal of Gender and Law, Emily Gilman, Michigan Journal of Race and Law, and Sarah Cork, Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review (MTTLR). In addition, Michigan also has two provisional law journals, the Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law and the Michigan Journal of Private Equity and Venture Capital Law, whose editors-in-chief are Jamen Tyler and Rachel Shapiro, respectively. 

As they might have said in the nineteen-sixties, "Congratulations, girls!"  When Sally Katzen was chosen as the editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Journal in 1966, it was national news.  The New York Times ran this story:

Sally Katzen, 23 years old, became the first girl to be elected editor in chief of the 65-year-old Michigan Law Review. The Review is a scholarly journal frequently cited in litigants’ briefs and court decisions, and ranks among the top such publications in the United States. “I’ve been told the job will take about 60 hours a week – but I hope I won’t have to give up my social life,” Miss Katzen, a native of Pittsburgh, said after her election.” 

Her local paper chimed in:

Local Lawyer Lass to Edit Michigan Law Review Sally Katzen, University of Michigan Law School student, was elected editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review for 1966-67, the first girl to be so honored since the scholarly journal began publication here in 1902.

Sally Katzen has gone on to a most distinguished legal career and to inspire and entertain untold numbers of women (this blogger among them) with first-hand accounts of sexism and counter-sexism strategies.

Michigan Supreme Court Order On Right To Work Advisory Opinion Hints At Split Over Fundamental Question

The nature of the questions asked and the dissents to the Michigan Supreme Court order released Saturday inviting the solicitor general to "express the views of the state of Michigan" as to whether the Court should grant the governor’s request for an advisory opinion about the new Right to Work legislation hint at an interesting difference of opinion about the advisory opinions. The order asked the solicitor general to address:

1. Why prompt resolution of the constitutional question regarding application to the Civil Service Commission is necessary to guide the state employer in its fall contract negotiations with civil service employees.
2. Why the matter warrants the Court’s present intervention when § 14(4) of 2012 PA 348 and § 10(6) of 2012 PA 349 explicitly grant “exclusive original jurisdiction over any action challenging the validity of [the pertinent subsections]” in the Court of Appeals, which “shall hear the action in an expedited manner.”
3. How the Court’s intervention in the absence of an actual case and controversy would necessarily aid in resolution of the issues presented rather than produce confusion and delay, given that there are adversarial proceedings already pending in several courts, and in light of the non-precedential nature of an advisory opinion, see Anway v Grand Rapids R Co, 211 Mich 592, 603 (1920); Advisory Opinion re Constitutionality of 1972 PA 294, 389 Mich 441, 460 n 1 (1973), .
4. The value of an advisory opinion from this Court addressing federal equal protection issues since federal courts are not bound by state court determinations on federal constitutional issues, see Woods v Holy Cross Hosp, 591 F2d 1164, 1171-1172 (CA 5, 1979).

Justice Cavanagh, in dissent, said that he does not agree with soliciting the solicitor general's contribution while the governor's request remains pending and does not believe that the majority’s order should in any way affect pending adversarial proceedings. Justice Markman, in apparent agreement that the solicitor general's views are not needed, would grant the governor's request without further delay:

If there is an obvious purpose behind the advisory opinion clause of the Constitution, it is to facilitate the resolution of legal disputes of precisely the sort raised by this case.

MSC Aims To Eliminate Confusion With Amendments to Code of Judicial Conduct

In a recent order, the Michigan Supreme Court has clarified which activities are allowed or prohibited under the Code of Judicial Conduct. The order zeroes in specifically on fund raising, strengthening the language prohibiting a judge from individually soliciting funds (noting that the prohibition applies equally to law-related and nonlaw-related activities), but making clear that a judge may engage in certain activities, such as allowing the use of the judge's name in support of an event. The prohibition against a judge accepting a testimonial has also been removed.

The most significant changes are to the language of Canons 4 and 5, which are now combined into one canon. Canon 4D, entitled "Fundraising Activities" indicates that a judge may not individually solicit funds for any organization, including organizations "devoted to the improvement of the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice... ." However, it adds that a judge may "allow his or her name or title to be used in advertising the judge's involvement in an event so long as the judge does not individually solicit funds."

As the staff comment indicates, nearly all of the language in the canons was retained, and the new language was designed to more clearly describe the types of activities that are allowed or prohibited  "which until now had been undefined and therefore the source of confusion."

The amendments take effect on Sept. 1, 2013.

 

Law Day May Day: Focus On Indigent Criminal Defense

Michigan's alarming indigent criminal defense got some much-deserved attention today, Law Day, in the House Criminal Justice committee, which held a hearing on HB 4529 and HB 4530, which would establish a state Indigent Criminal Defense Commission.  The State Bar of Michigan, a longtime advocate of improvements in Michigan's public defense system, supports the legislation.

For first-hand insight into the state of indigent criminal defense in Michigan and why reform is needed, listen to WKAR's Current State interview with Ingham County district judge Thomas Boyd, a member of the Governor's Indigent Defense Advisory Commission.  The Commission's recommendations served as the foundation for the legislation before the House Criminal Justice committee.

Michigan Supreme Court Seeks a New General Counsel

The Michigan Supreme Court is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Supreme Court general counsel. The person in this position provides legal counsel to the chief justice, the justices, the state court administrator, and the staffs of the Michigan Supreme Court and the State Court Administrative Office, and oversees issues involving interaction between the executive and legislative branches of federal and state government.

A qualified applicant will have a juris doctor from an accredited law school, more than seven years of legal experience, and active membership in the State Bar of Michigan. The candidate will also possess strong legal research, writing, and oral presentation skills. Knowledge and background in the legislative process and government administration are preferred.

To apply send your cover letter and resume in Microsoft Word format or as PDFs to jobapps@courts.mi.gov. View the complete job posting.

The new Supreme Court counsel will succeed Matthew Schneider, who has accepted a position as chief legal counsel to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. In March, Schneider was recognized as a “Leader in the Law” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly for, among other achievements, his contributions to court and judicial reform. Before joining the Supreme Court in 2011, her served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit in the Public Corruption Unit, which investigates and prosecutes corrupt public officials, organized crime, drug traffickers, and others. From 2002-2003, Schneider served as senior advisor and assistant general counsel in the White House Budget Office, where he provided legal and policy advice to cabinet members and senior presidential staff. From 2000-2002, he was an associate in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding L.L.P., where he advised clients on business and trade issues. A 2000 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Schneider is an adjunct professor at the Michigan State University College of Law, where he teaches advanced criminal procedure.