Benchmark Column - May 2009 - Thomas M. Cooley Law School

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SCHOOL NEWSenrollment at the American Association of Law Schools2009 Annual Meeting programtitled “Progress? The Academy, the Profession,Race and Gender.”Appointed, to the Eastern District of MichiganFederal Bar Association Diversity Task Force.Moderated, the State Bar of Michigan Equal AccessInitiative at Cooley-Auburn Hills on March 6, 2009, titled“We Can, We Will, We Must: Creating Opportunities forthe Next Generation of Lawyers.”Invited, by Admiral Bruce MacDonald of Navy JAGto become a consultant to the Navy JAG DiversityTask Force.Provided, pro bono legal services to Alpha Company,125th Combat Infantry Battalion, as part of Cooley'sService to Soldiers Program.Donald Petersen,Associate ProfessorAppeared, on numerous radio stationsto discuss sports law issues.Performed, stand-up comedy inMichigan and surrounding states.Authored, a supplement to Security Interests inPersonal Property, 3rd Edition, 2008-2009,Thomson/West Publishers.Authored, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 in Cyber Liability &Insurance: Managing the Risks of Intangible Assets, publishingin 2009. Chapter 1 is “Understanding IntangibleAssets” and Chapter 2 is “Valuation of Intangible Assets.”Authored, Chapter 6 titled “Foreclosure Sales &Disposition,” in Raymond Nimmers’ Commercial AssetBased Financing, publishing in 2009.James D. Robb, Associate Deanof Development and AlumniRelations/General CounselPublished, “Who Is the Client?,” anessay concerning the value of in-housecorporate counsel as a lawyer-statesmanin times of corporate trouble, in 23 Michigan LawyersWeekly, pg. B1, Feb. 16, 2009.Appointed, chairperson of the city of Birmingham,Michigan’s Board of Ethics. He has served on the boardsince 2003.John Rooney, ProfessorTranslated, a speech of ProfessorRooney’s called 'The Misuse ofLanguage in the Pursuit of Justice’ hasbeen translated into Portuguese andwill soon be published in Recife, Brazil.Marjorie Russell, ProfessorPresented, on trial skills, MakingYour Case Come to Life, for the CaliforniaDUI Lawyers Association,March 21, 2009, San Francisco, Calif.Devin Schindler,Associate ProfessorPublished, an article, “A Response toNoah Felman’s ‘When Judges MakeForeign Policy,’” in New York TimesMagazine, in October 2008.Charles Senger, ProfessorElected, Chair of the State Bar ofMichigan's Aviation Section for2008-2009.Paul Shagen, Visiting ProfessorDelivered, a two-day presentation onIndian Taxation for the Falmouth InstituteIndian Taxation Training, in LasVegas, Nev., on Jan. 27-28.Otto Stockmeyer,Emeritus ProfessorPublished, “The Rose of Aberlone”in Chronicle, Vol. 31, No. 4 (HistoricalSociety of Michigan, Winter 2009).Published, “Using MicrosoftWord’s Readability Program,” in the January 2009issue of the Michigan Bar Journal. This is his 10tharticle to be published in the Journal.New Corporate Law and Finance Program Adds to Cooley’s Masterof Laws Degree OfferingsAs today’s global marketplace becomes more complex,so do the laws that shape, define, and regulate a newbreed of business transactions.That is why Cooley Law School is broadening itsadvanced degree program offerings for studentsinterested in deepening the knowledge, skills, andethics they will need in specialized areas of practice.In addition to its master of laws (LL.M.) degrees,one in Intellectual Property and another in Taxation,Cooley will begin offering a Corporate Law andFinance LL.M. program in September 2009, makingit the only American Bar Association-approved lawschool in the country to provide this distinctcombination of degrees.A - d - v - a - n - c - i - n - gOPPORTUNITIESAt the Table of World Commerce“Cooley continues to prepare students to be at thetable of world commerce with confidence,” said DonLeDuc, Cooley’s President and Dean. “Our advanceddegree offerings reflect the needs of the globalmarketplace.”Yet the advanced degree offerings are only part ofCooley’s vision of educational excellence. It’s Cooley’sexpert faculty who give students an edge in the businessworld. Look no further than E. Christopher Johnson,Jr., director of Cooley’s Corporate Law and Financeprogram for example.Johnson, who is developing the Corporate Law andFinance curriculum, is a sought-after national speakeron topics ranging from diversity as a business imperativeto providing global legal counsel. He has created a relevantcurriculum based on his years of experience as apracticing attorney and as vice president and generalcounsel at General Motors North America.“I am blessed to have served with a group of extraordinaryprofessionals on the GM legal staff for 20 years,and my goal is to translate that experience into trainingthe corporate lawyers of the future,” Johnson said.At the core of the 24-credit program will be classesinvolving advanced corporate transactions, corporategovernance and finance, business organizations, andcorporate professional responsibility. Included in theprofessional responsibility course is a segment on alawyer’s professional obligations to embrace diversityand provide pro bono and community service, whichis consistent with Cooley’s nationally recognizedprofessionalism program.In addition to a Corporate Law and Finance master oflaws degree, students can choose to specialize in GlobalPublic Companies Law, which will allow students to beintroduced to the full range of issues within the corporatesetting including litigation, intellectual property, andregulatory matters. This specialization will specificallyprepare attorneys to represent large global companieswhether they are on staff with the company or providingoutside counsel.Johnson also is forming an advisory board of prominentattorneys, including general counsel of global publiccompanies and major law firm partners who providelegal counsel to those companies to support further thedevelopment of the curriculum.Expert FacultyDirectors of the other master of laws programs atCooley also bring their in-depth and pertinent experienceto their respective programs. Gina Torielli,director of the Taxation master of laws program,led a legal team of more than 100 attorneys in herrole as president and chief executive officer ofHoward & Howard Attorneys, P.C. and ran herown practice specializing in taxation and publicfinance before coming to Cooley.Gerald T. Tschura and David Berry collaborate tolead the Intellectual Property master of laws program,tapping into their combined experience in their respectivefields. Tschura was the Divisional Vice President ofIntellectual Property Law with Kmart Corporation andworked with an intellectual property firm handlingpatent and trademark litigation matters before joiningCooley. Berry was a partner at Testa, Hurwitz &Thibeault, LLP, a 400-plus-attorney firm with a nationalpractice in venture capital and technology law, andrepresented companies in patent and license disputesin private practice prior to his Cooley faculty position.These expert faculty and program directors not onlygive students a first-hand perspective, but keep Cooleyclose to the practicing legal and business communitiesand ahead of the curve in advancing opportunities for itsstudents.“We are always looking ahead to the needs of theprofession and how we can deliver a relevant educationtaught by top-notch faculty with exceptionaland practical legal experience,” LeDuc said.E. Christopher JohnsonGina TorielliGerald T. TschuraDavid BerryBENCHMARK COLUMN | MAY 2009 | VOLUME 1 | NUMBER 2
SCHOOL NEWSFor Misty Davis, the law is about protecting those who mostneed protecting – children, the elderly, and the underprivileged.The Access to JusticeClinic has handled morethan 1,000 cases since itsopening in January 2008,overseeing approximately40 cases at any given time.Cooley GraduateS E R V E SThose in NeedMisty DavisLaw is about more than rules, regulations, andstatutes for Misty Davis (William Paterson Class,2002). For her, the law is about protecting thosewho most need protecting – children, the elderly,and the underprivileged. And it is her desire toserve these populations that has created the pathof Davis’ career.“My husband calls me the ‘do-gooder,’” said Davis.As a student at Cooley Law School, she first indulged her desire to helppeople through the Sixty Plus, Inc., Elderlaw Clinic where she helpedelderly individuals with wills, trusts, and other issues.“My time as a law student at Cooley prepared me for every job that I’vehad since,” Davis said.After graduation, Davis clerked for Eaton County Circuit Court, served asan elder law attorney at Legal Aid of South Central Mich. in BattleCreek and was an assistant prosecutor in Barry County, Mich., where shefocused on juvenile work. But it was her time in the prosecutor’s office inMontcalm County, Mich., that has earned her statewide recognition.In a case that grabbed a number of headlines, Davis served as a zealousadvocate on behalf of a nine-year-old child named Nicholas Braman,whom she had never met but believed was in danger. Nicholas was theson of a man who had pled guilty to child abuse for using an electric cattleprod to discipline his two older sons. Concerned about the child’s saftey,Davis repeatedly asked the Michigan Department of Children’s ProtectiveServices to have Nicholas removed from the home during a five-weekperiod following the father’s guilty plea, yet Nicholas remained in thehome. Unfortunately, Davis’ fears became reality.According to published news reports, Nicholas Braman died in a bedwith his father, Oliver Braman, and his stepmother, Nancy Kaczor-Braman, in October 2007. The three ingested nighttime pain relieversand inhaled carbon monoxide that had been funneled into a smallroom by the father.“Unfortunately, I am not the only assistant prosecutor, caseworker,or service provider who has had to deal with a child’s death,” Davislater said. “But, for me, I cannot get him out of my heart, my soul,and my mind.”The state later admitted that violations of Michigan law and departmentprocedures had contributed to Nicholas’ death.According to the Grand Rapids Press (April 30, 2008), an investigatorwith the Office of Children’s Ombudsman said during a state Senatecommittee hearing in April 2008 that “all the facts in the case suggest itshouldn’t have happened. It was bad decision-making all the way around.”Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm has since signed requirementsinto the law mandating better communication between the state andlocal court agencies in child abuse cases, including a condition that theMichigan Department of Human Services collaborate with localFriend of the Court offices on cases in which a child is the subject of aprotective services investigation and is involved in a custody case.Nicholas’ mother had begun legal efforts to gain custody of Nicholasprior to his death.In recognition of Davis’ efforts to remove Nicholas from the homeprior to his death, the Carter-Alexander Institute for Law and Justiceawarded her with its 2008 Advocate for Justice Award. Each year, theInstitute seeks a person who, in the course of his or her life or work,valiantly fought for justice for the vulnerable and forgotten of ourcommunity.An award signifying the honor sits on Davis’ windowsill in her office.“It is a bittersweet thing for me,” said Davis, the mother of two youngboys. “I don’t look at my actions as anything special. I was just doing myjob. As a human, no one could just stand by and allow a child to remainin that kind of environment.”During the ceremony when she accepted the award, Davis spoke publiclyabout the tragic case.“My world came crashing down after I learned of Nicholas’ death andquestions overwhelmed my mind,” Davis said. “What do I do with hisdeath? How do I compartmentalize it? How could this happen? And, howdo I put it behind me so I can fight for the next child?“For the last year, I have struggled to find these answers. The only thing Icould come up with is there are no answers. Nicholas’ death is a freshand raw wound that goes to the core of my being.”Davis left her career in prosecution after Nicholas’ death. Today, she isimpacting the lives of youth in a different way. Davis serves as a staffattorney at the Access to Justice Clinic at Cooley’s Grand Rapidscampus. There, she works closely with eight Cooley students whoprimarily handle family law cases for individuals referred through theLegal Assistance Center in the Kent County, Michigan courthouse.“I remember what it was like to be in their shoes,” she said of herstudents. “They have a great opportunity. They go to court almost everyFriday and deal with the specific issues that they’ll face in their careers.”The Access to Justice Clinic has handled more than 1,000 cases sinceits opening in January 2008, overseeing approximately 40 cases atany given time.“Family law cases are fast-paced, much faster than the cases that I dealt withas a student at the Sixty Plus clinic,” said Davis. “The Access to Justicestudents will file motions on a Wednesday and are in court the followingFriday for the hearing. In between, students are preparing their cases.”The real-life case load of the clinic is an exceptional learning experience,according to Davis.“People’s lives for that particular moment are in the students’ hands,”said Davis. “You learn how to work with different personalities and needsas well as how to manage your time. Sometimes it’s hard to make sureyou’re acting as a lawyer and not a social worker.”Davis acts as a role model to the students, helping guide them along theway toward professional growth. It is a role that continues her view ofthe law as more than just rules, regulations, and statutes.KNOWLEDGE. SKILLS. ETHICS.
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Benchmark Column - May 2009 - Thomas M. Cooley Law School

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