Dennis E. Benner, Giving Back - Thomas M. Cooley Law School

14 Michaelmas Term 2005World Views CollideOver 1,000 attendees gathered at CooleyLaw School’s Lansing campus September13, 2005, for Cooley Law Reviewsymposium, “World Views Collide.”The event featured a spirited debate among renownedscholars and civil rights attorneys about issues involvingchurch and state, including the public display of the TenCommandments, faith-based initiatives and other vital constitutionalissues related to the topic.“As educators of law, we at the Thomas M. Cooley LawSchool are always hoping to have further discussion aboutthe most crucial debates in today’s legal world," said CooleyLaw School President Don LeDuc. “This year’s symposium isa great step in doing just that.”The symposium was held at Cooley’s Lansing campus inconjunction with Cooley’s Center for Ethics & Responsibility,and The Director of the Center for Ethics & Responsibility,Professor William Wagner, stated, “A world view groundedin sincerely held faith-based beliefs, has dramatically differentmoral and policy implications than a world view foundedin secular humanism. We welcome the opportunity to pro-vide a public forum for differing views to debate contemporarypolicy questions such as the public display of the TenCommandments and publicly funded, faith-based initiatives.”The distinguished panel included David Friedman, leadcounsel in the U.S. Supreme Court case McCreary Countyvs. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky; MarvinOlasky, professor of journalism at the University of Texas-Austin and the editor-in-chief of WORLD, a national weeklynews magazine written from a biblical perspective; NadineStrossen, professor of law at the New York School of Lawand the first woman president of the A.C.L.U.; and JefferyVentrella, senior vice president of strategic training at theAlliance Defense Fund. The fund has participated in numerousmatters before the U.S. Supreme Court in connectionwith the protection of religious liberties.Professor Kimble Publishes Bookon Legal LanguageCooley Law School Professor Joseph Kimble recentlypublished a book called Lifting the Fog of Legalese:Essays on Plain Language.The book, which collects many of Kimble’s published essays,is unique. No other American book combines the strongevidence and myth-busting arguments for plain languagewith so much practical advice and so many useful examples.For instance, he takes on such high-profile legalese as theimpeachment order of President Clinton and a section of theUSA Patriot Act and translates the original wording fromlegalese into plain language.The comments on Professor Kimble’s book have been veryfavorable.Bryan A. Garner, perhaps the leading authority on legalwriting, said: “Joseph Kimble is an important, originalthinker on legal language. He is also a virtuoso writer andeditor. In this book he brings all those qualities to bear —and no lawyer can safely ignore the wisdom it contains.”Richard Wydick, the author of Plain English for Lawyers,said: “This book belongs in the library of every lawyerwho takes language seriously.”Justice Michael Kirby, a member of Australia’s High(Supreme) Court, called it “a brilliant book.”The book is available on www.amazon.com (where italready has a five-star rating); from the publisher,Carolina Academic Press (www.cap-press.com); and fromthe Cooley bookstore. If you order from the Cooley bookstore,Professor Kimble will be glad to inscribe the book.BENCHMARK