SBM Blog

Supreme Court of Washington Adopts Rule for 'Limited License Technicians'

The Washington Supreme Court last Friday adopted a Limited License Legal Technician Rule, which will allow non-lawyers who meet certain educational requirements to provide clients with technical help on simple legal matters. In a press release, the court said its primary goal was to make legal help more accessible to the public. Nine attorneys will be appointed to a 13-member board that will oversee and shape the program.

Critics, including one justice who dissented, said the rule is "extremely unfair to the members of the Washington State Bar Association." But the WSBA, which had opposed the rule, issued a press release  stating that the new rule, "provides Washington with an opportunity to lead the nation in expanding legal services to the people of our state."

California has a legal document assistant program where non lawyers handle document preparation, but the WSB claims this program is the first of its kind in the U.S.

Download the Supreme Court of Washington order.

Posted by SBM staff

Cooley Announces Educational Partnership with Davenport University

The Thomas M. Cooley Law School and Davenport University signed an agreement yesterday to provide an opportunity for students to earn a dual JD/MBA degree from their schools in an accelerated period of time.

Their new partnership will begin this September, and will be offered at the schools' Lansing campuses.

Read more about the new partnership here.

Pictured: Davenport University President Dr. Richard Pappas (left) and Cooley Dean and President Don LeDuc (right) sign an agreement between the two schools allowing students to obtain a dual Juris Doctor and an MBA degree. Photo courtesy of Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Posted by Samantha Meinke

WWSCOTUSD? (What Will SCOTUS Do?)

Speculation is rampant on what the Supreme Court will say in the upcoming health care decision.

A new poll of Supreme Court experts predicts that there is a 57 percent chance that the individual mandate will be ruled unconstitutional: See this Yahoo News story.

And Ilya Somin, in this Volokh Conspiracy blog post, shares interesting insights on why he thinks this poll will prove to be fairly accurate.

Meanwhile, excitement is building that tomorrow may be the day the decision comes down, as the Los Angeles Times speculates.

Stay tuned ...

Posted by Samantha Meinke

City of Detroit Law Department Back in the Spotlight

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is calling for the City Council to fire City Corporation Counsel Krystal A. Crittendon on the heels of the dismissal of the lawsuit she filed in an attempt to void the city and state's consent agreement (see earlier post: Ingham County Judge Dismisses Detroit Consent Agreement Lawsuit). He has already asked that she resign from her job, and she has refused his request.

Mayor Bing needs a two-thirds majority of the Council to vote to terminate her employment, but the Council seems unlikely to do so.

The Detroit Free Press reports this morning that City Council President Charles Pugh called Mayor Bing's request, "an insulting act of political posturing."

Read more in the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.

Posted by Samantha Meinke

Feds Lay Out Their Plan for Kwame Kilpatrick Prosecution

Don't hold your breath because they're in it for the long haul.

That's the message federal prosecutors shared with the public as they laid out their plan for prosecuting Kwame Kilpatrick for allegedly running a criminal enterprise from Detroit's city hall.

They estimate that presenting their evidence in the trial, which is scheduled to begin in early September, will take about four months. During that time they plan to share so much evidence with jurors (over 370,000 text messages, for starters), they have formulated a plan to lay it out in chapters to make it more readily understandable.

See more in the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.

Posted by Samantha Meinke

Buck the Statistics and Become a Physically Fit Attorney

In light of the recent study indicating that lawyers and judges are among the most likely to report weight gain on the job (see previous SBM Blog post Weight Gain Study Fails To Consider Shrinkage) we asked a colleague, who is a current attorney and former fitness trainer, for a nuts-and-bolts blog post about exercise and nutrition.

Here's his advice:

As noted the previous SBM Blog post, sitting at a desk all day, eating at a desk, and eating out too often were among the top reasons listed for packing on the pounds at work. But a few simple changes, based on a little bit of knowledge and preparation, can get you back on track quickly.

You truly are what you eat, and nutrition is the key factor in maintaining a healthy body mass index (BMI), which is the primary tool for telling you where you fall on the scale between ultra thin and morbidly obese. However, with the glut of information and all the fad diets out there, the basics of food science seem to be getting lost in the shuffle.

Here are 5 simple tips for shedding fat and looking great:

• Eat 5 times per day - breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with small, healthy snacks in between. The worst thing you can do is skip breakfast (the meal that jump-starts your metabolism) or starve yourself (your body reacts to starvation by slowing down the metabolism and storing fat);
• Combine your foods properly - each meal should have a serving of protein (eggs, chicken, turkey, fish, lean beef, and low-fat dairy products like cottage cheese and Greek yogurt are excellent options), a serving of carbohydrates (healthy complex carbohydrates like oatmeal, baked potatoes, or brown rice are great sources, as are simple carbohydrates like fresh fruit; fibrous carbohydrates, i.e., vegetables, are better options for later meals), and a serving of healthy fat (olive oil, avocado, and walnuts are some of the best sources); a typical meal should have 20-30 grams of protein, 30-50 grams of carbohydrates, and 10-15 grams of fat (with meals on the higher end, and snacks on the lower end). Also, choose foods that are higher in fiber;
• Drink lots of water - there's a reason you always hear doctors and nutritionists talk about the importance of drinking at least 8 cups of water per day (64 oz.)...it works! In fact, 64 oz. should be the minimum, especially if you're active. Water does everything from flushing out toxins, to helping digestion, to keeping you from having that bloated look (drinking water keeps you from retaining water). Try drinking a cup of water an hour before and an hour after every meal;
• Don't deprive yourself - the best way to sabotage your nutrition plan is to eliminate all of your favorite foods. It's okay, and effective, to slip in a slice of pizza or a burger every so often. In fact, studies have shown that by eating something you crave every fourth day or so, you not only keep your cravings down (and decrease the likelihood of binging), but you actually stimulate your metabolism (almost like shocking your body into speeding up);
• Be prepared - consider preparing your lunch and snacks the day before so that you can take them to work and avoid searching for food, which almost always results in eating the first thing that will satisfy your hunger.

MSC: 'Insurer Can Claim Fraud Even if Easily Ascertainable'

The Michigan Supreme Court held on Monday that an insurance company may contest liability on the grounds of fraud, even though the fraud may have been "easily ascertainable" and the claimant was a third party.

In Titan Insurance Co. v. McKinley Hyten, the defendant collided with another car, causing injuries. The insurance company then sought a declaration that it was not obligated to indemnify the insured for any judgment against her because she failed to reveal that she did not have a valid driver's license when she procured the policy.

The Supreme Court agreed with the insurance company's rationale, noting that it was not required to investigate the insured's assertions when she applied for coverage, and that there is nothing in the law to warrant the establishment of an "easily ascertainable" rule. In so holding, the Court reversed State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co. v. Kurylowicz and its progeny.

Read the full opinion here.

Posted by SBM staff

U.S. Supreme Court says Michigan man can challenge legality of local casino

It's too late for David Patchak to block the opening of a tribal casino near his home in Shelbyville, but he'll still have a chance to shut it down. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to let Patchak's lawsuit proceed. In it, he challenges the transaction behind the opening of the casino, i.e., the federal government's purchase of the 147-acre tract on which the casino was built.

The government and the tribe claimed Patchak's suit was barred by the Federal Quiet Title Act. But the high court disagreed, voting eight to one to affirm the federal appeals court's ruling that the government waived its sovereign immunity under the Administrative Procedure Act. It also found that Patchak had prudential standing to challenge the acquisition.

Of additional interest is the fact that by arguing this case, Patricia Millet, the tribe's attorney, became the woman with the most Supreme Court oral arguments of all time, with a total of 31. 

Click here to read the full text of the decision in Match-E-Be-Nash-She Band v. Patchak.

Read earlier SBM blog posts on this case:

Wayland Area Local Governments File Amicus Brief in U.S. Supreme Court Tribal Casino Case

U.S. Supreme Court Takes Gun Lake Tribal Casino Case

Posted by SBM Staff

Weight Gain Study Fails To Consider Shrinkage

My former law school classmates and I often complain about how much our clothes have shrunk since we graduated. When we saw the results of the recent CareerBuilder survey indicating that lawyers and judges are among the likeliest to report weight gain on the job, we wondered whether survey takers simply failed to consider shrinkage as an option. Surprisingly, it wasn’t even listed among the top reasons for the "perceived" weight gain, which were:

• Sitting at a desk (or bench) most of the day – 56%

• Eating lunch at one’s desk – 54%

• Stress eating – 37%

• Dining out too often – 23%

• Skipping meals because of time constraints – 19%

• The temptation of the office candy jar – 17%

• Pressure to eat food brought in by co-workers – 10%

The study included more than 5,700 workers across multiple industries. But in light of the evidence  presented above, one has to wonder whether the study was statistically valid. If it were up to me, I would run the survey again, with the following two categories listed as options:

• Gradual shrinkage of clothing

• The clothing industry’s trend toward making shirts and pants (e.g., skinny jeans) smaller

SBM Blog will cover this issue again if and when the new results are reported. In the meantime, consider washing your clothes in cold and air drying.

Posted by SBM staff

Fathers Day Sampler of Michigan Father-Son/Daughter Lawyer Combos

This list is the attorney father-child combinations, historic and current, made known to SBM Blog. The list is in no meaningful order and certainly just scratches the surface.  SBM Blog extends an invitation to all Michigan lawyers to salute their father-lawyers through comment to this post. Happy Fathers Day, all.

The Fitzgeralds. The Googasians. The Griffins. The Archers. The Boyle-Pernicks. The Brickleys. The Ryans. The Sawyers. The Bernsteins. The Baughman-Palmers.  The Danhofs. The Cavanaghs. The Brennans. The Levins. The Brakes. The Neckerses. The Rodgerses. The Peterson-Rodgerses. The Granos. The McCrees. The Crowleys. The Charfooses. The Brickleys.  The Diehls. The Kaufmans. The Evanses. The Honigmans. The Van Dusens. The Aboods. The Smiths. The Achos. The Kallmans. The Vivianos. The Adamses. The Kellys. The Witherells. The Agers. The Kaupers. The Allens. The Andarys. The Andersons. The Antkoviaks. The Bairds. The Hathaways. The Jacksons. The Arnolds. The Barrs. The Basiles. The Dingells. The Websters. The Mossners. The Bellancas. The Gilleses. The Bensons. The Lewises. The Johnsons. The Hoffiuses. The Dillons. The Kennedys. The Keatings. The Blacks. The Hersteins. The Bransdorfers. The Callahans. The Demings. The Borchards. The Dressers. The Borrellos. The Bradys. The Haroutunians. The Whitmers. The Browns. The Brundages. The McGinnises. The Camerons. The Badgleys. The Farhats. The Buessers. The Buitewegs. The Burgesses. The Toys. The Butzbaughs. The Campbells. The Dunningses. The Horns. The Hoods.  The Buchanans. The Hathaways. The Murrays. The Murphys. The Sullivans.  The Clarks. The Rashids. The Collinses.  The Colombos. The Conlins. The Burtons. The Szymanskis. The Hurands. The Coopers. The Dobsons. The Grants. The Bishops. The Coxes. The Smiths. The Rutherfords. The Goodmans. The Carmodys. The Butzels. The Cummingses. The Maceronis. The Davises. The Schwedler-Kokotoviches. The Allens. The Fiegers. The McDonalds. The O'Briens. The Jamiesons. The Lesinskis. The Hare-Harwels. The Broderick-McCloreys. The Reids. The Stockmeyer-Shaughnessys. The Hallmarks. The Nebels. The Tilstads. The Lambroses. The Cobbses. The McCloreys-Bernard-McLaughlins. The Rosatis. The Fershtmans. The Jolliffes. The Feikens. The Roumells. The LeVasseurs. The Vercruysse-Welches. The Schuitmakers. The Thompson-Nuckolls. The Rothstein-Minns. The Miller-Browns.

Portraits: James Witherell, Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, 1808-1828,  and his son, Benjamin Witherell, Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court in 1857. They are the only father-son Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court.