Wayne Law News

Wayne Law’s 2016 Commencement ceremony Monday, May 16, honored 144 recipients of degrees for December 2015 and candidates for degrees in May 2016 and August 2016.

Wayne Law alumni are invited to a special trip Tuesday, June 14, and Wednesday, June 15, to two of Michigan’s premier golf courses – Arcadia Bluff Golf Club and Forest Dunes Golf Club – with a night's stay at the Little River Casino in between.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation of Menlo Park, California, has awarded Wayne State University a two-year, $200,000 grant to support the Levin Center at Wayne Law.

Adam Taylor, '14, is an environmental attorney working for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. If there’s a violation of Texas’ environmental law, it gets referred to him.

Dean Jocelyn Benson, faculty and alumni greeted admitted students for fall 2016 at a Dean’s Luncheon on Friday, May 13, at the Detroit Athletic Club. 

The Levin Center at Wayne Law has chosen law students Kyle Bruckner and Alexandra Kavieff to serve as legal interns in congressional committee offices in Washington, D.C., this summer.

Student Jessica Hoyer has been awarded a 2016 Peggy Browning Summer Fellowship to work for the United Auto Workers International Union at its Detroit headquarters for 10 weeks.

Sean Riddell, who graduated Monday, May 16, from Wayne Law, was awarded the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Veterans Scholarship in recognition of his work promoting social justice.

Seven Wayne Law students are gaining experience and serving a variety of agencies this summer, thanks to the support of the 2016 Public Interest Law Fellowships.

Professor Peter J. Henning has received a Fulbright Specialist grant to teach for three weeks this summer in Taiwan.

Distinguished Professor Robert Sedler gave a presentation Wednesday, May 18, to a group of Armenian leaders visiting Detroit through Congress’ Open World Program.

Upcoming Events

June 6 - Wayne Law 2016 Golf Outing

June 14, 15 - Alumni golf trip to Arcadia Bluffs, Forest Dunes

Aug. 5 - Mark Weiss Day at Comerica Park 2016

More Events

Alumni Accomplishments

The Honorable Tom Boyd, '90, was elected president of the Michigan District Judges Association. Boyd is an Ingham County District Court judge.

Lori Buiteweg, '90, wrote Big News: the 21st Century Practice Task Force is Out! for her monthly column in the Michigan Bar Journal. Buiteweg is president of the State Bar of Michigan and a partner with Nichols Sacks Slank Sendelbach and Buiteweg PC.

Tim Busch, '78, donated $15 million to Catholic University of America - the largest donation in the school's history. He is the founder of the Busch Firm, which specializes in high net-worth estate planning and real estate and business transactions. Busch also founded and is CEO of Pacific Hospitality Group, a hotel development and management company that owns and manages eight hotels in California.

Mort Collins, '58, has been selected to receive the Oakland County Bar Association's Distinguished Career Achievement Award. Collins is the founding member of Collins Einhorn Farrell PC.

Jerome Crawford, '79, was appointed chief assistant to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

Rebecca Davies, LL.M. '10, was named a Most Valuable Professional by Corp! magazine. She is a shareholder in Butzel Long's Detroit office.

Diane Fears, '89, conducted a career planning webinar for the National Black MBA Association, Detroit Chapter. Fears is Wayne Law's director of career services and Student Voluntary Pro Bono program.

Andrew "Jake" Grove, '93, has joined Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC in Royal Oak. Grove concentrates his practice in patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets matters.

Lee Hornberger, LL.M. '82, presented "Michigan Arbitration & Mediation Case Law Update" at an event in Detroit sponsored by the State Bar of Michigan's Solo and Small Firm Section and Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. Hornberger is an arbitrator and mediator in Traverse City.

Michael Khoury, '82, has joined FisherBroyles LLP as a partner in the Detroit office. He is with the firm's Corporate, Technology and Privacy and Data Protection Practice Groups. He also was honored by Best Lawyers in America for 2016, and he has been named a Michigan Super Lawyer and a DBusiness magazine Top Lawyer.

George Lubienski, '56, will celebrate 60 years of practicing law. His office is in Dearborn.

Tim Murphy, '12, and his wife, Amber, were featured on the HGTV series "House Hunters." The couple was looking for their first home together and toured houses in Beverly Hills, Birmingham and Royal Oak. They chose the house in Birmingham. Murphy is a patent attorney with Carlson Gaskey & Olds PC in Birmingham.

The Honorable Wendy Potts, '77, received a WONder Woman Award from the Women Officials Network Foundation. She is an Oakland County Circuit Court judge.

Kerry Rhoads-Reith, '96, was elected shareholder of Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney Ltd in Novi.

John Runyan, '72, wrote a book review of A Good Killing, written by Allison Leotta, who grew up in Michigan. His review appears in the May issue of the Michigan Bar Journal. Runyan is managing director of Sachs Waldman in Detroit.

Don Studt, '83, retired as Birmingham police chief in May after a 42-year career in law enforcement. He will join Beier Howlett, the law firm that serves as general counsel for the city of Birmingham.

The Honorable Isidore Torres, '76, was appointed director of the Wayne County Fraud and Corruption Investigation Unit. Torres is of counsel with Williams Acosta in Detroit.


More Alumni Accomplishments

Student Accomplishments

Brandon Barlog was featured in the Oakland County Legal News for its report, Wayne Law student has the bench in his sights.

Hannah Fielstra was featured in the Detroit Legal News for its report, Prison project sparked student's interest in law.

Shanika Owens was featured in the Oakland County Legal News for its report, Law student served as policy analyst for Detroit.


More Student Accomplishments

Faculty Accomplishments

Linda Beale has become a member of The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. Membership, which is through a peer nomination and election process, is limited to one-third of 1 percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction.

Stephen Calkins presented "Teaching Consumer Law in Ireland" at the University of Houston Law Center's Teaching Consumer Law Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Susan Cancelosi presented "Government Income and Health Programs for the Elderly and Those with Disabilities" at the Institute of Continuing Legal Education's program on Basics of Advising Elderly Clients and Those With Disabilities in Plymouth.

Paul Dubinsky was a U.S. delegate to a meeting of the Executive Council of the International Law Association at the House of Lords in London. He attended in his capacity as vice president of the U.S. branch of the association.

Noah Hall presented on critical laws influencing the Great Lakes at Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute.

Peter Hammer served as master of ceremonies for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Michigan's 17th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Banquet in Dearborn.

Carl Levin presented the keynote speech at TaxCOOP, co-sponsored by and presented at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. TaxCOOP is an international nonpartisan conference on tax competition and the weaknesses of the current international tax system. Text of Levin's speech (as prepared prior to delivery).

Nick Schroeck spoke on a panel for the Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources conference "Urban Infrastructure: Water, Energy & Emissions in Detroit." The title of his panel discussion was "Clearing the Air: Industrial Emissions, Human Health and Pending Lawsuits."

Robert Sedler presented "The Constitution and Marriage Equality" to the Adult Learning Institute, an Elderhostel Project at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills.

Rachel Settlage moderated a panel on Middle Eastern Communities in Michigan at Michigan State University's 2016 Immigration Law Teachers Workshop.

Jonathan Weinberg spoke at the Adult Learning Institute on "The Obama Administration's Actions on Immigration."

Eric Zacks presented his latest article, The Restatement (Second) of Contracts §211: Unfulfilled Expectations and the Future of Modern Standardized Consumer Contracts, to the law faculty at Marquette University Law School. The article was published in the William & Mary Business Law Review.

Paul Dubinsky delivered "Private Law Treaties and Federalism: Can the United States Lead?" as part of the scholar-in-residence program at the London office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Noah Hall spoke about the Great Lakes region's approach to oil production at an event hosted by The Freshwater Lab, a program of the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

Robert Sedler presented "Our 18th Century Constitution, Congress, the President, and Our Two Party Political System" to the Society of Active Retirees.


More Faculty Accomplishments

Professors in the News

Blanche Cook was featured in the Detroit Legal News' regular profile brief column "Step by Step" in an article, Professor guides students through criminal procedure.

Noah Hall was cited in The Wall Street Journal for its report, Oregon ban on commercial water bottling could leave industry high and dry.

Peter Hammer was quoted by the Detroit Metro Times for its report, Are real estate investors from Oakland County to Hong Kong driving Detroit's blight?

Peter Henning was quoted by the Detroit Free Press for its report, Corruption schemes ran deep at DPS.  

Carl Levin was quoted in a McClatchy report, Obama proposes to close loopholes amid Panama Papers.

John Mogk was quoted by the Detroit Free Press for its report, Can Paradise be regained in Detroit today?  

Nick Schroeck was quoted by The Atlantic for its report, Who gets to drink from the Great Lakes?

Robert Sedler was quoted by the Detroit Free Press for its report, Chalk writer kicked by DPS cop wants apology.

Eric Williams and Erik Zacks were quoted in the Detroit Free Press for its report, Detroit may have had stronger claim on Red Wings' TV revenue.

Peter Henning was quoted by Business Insider for its report, One of TransferWire's US banking partners had 'unsafe and unsound banking practices.'

Carl Levin was quoted extensively in TaxNotes for its report, Beneficial Ownership is Urgent U.S. Issue, Ex-Senator Levin Says.

John Mogk was cited in a C&G Newspaper report, Utica joins movement to sue state over revenue sharing.

Robert Sedler spoke with host Warren Pierce on WJR radio about the Constitution and gender identity.

John Mogk wrote a guest column, State's dereliction in funding cities violates constitution, for the Detroit Free Press.


More Professors in the News