Wayne Law News

"Brothers on the Line," an award-winning labor movement documentary about the Reuther brothers – Walter, Roy and Victor – will have its Detroit debut Thursday, Oct. 16, at Wayne Law.

Current issues in international commercial arbitration will be the topic of a panel discussion Thursday, Oct. 2, sponsored by the Program for International Legal Studies at Wayne Law.

National Labor Relations Board member Nancy J. Schiffer will give the keynote address during the Bernard Gottfried Memorial Labor Law Symposium on Thursday, Oct. 16, at Wayne Law.

Labor law will be the topic Thursday, Oct. 2, for the opening presentation of the 2014-15 Wayne Law Alumni Speaker Series.

Members of the Wayne Law class of 1964 gathered for a three-day 50th Reunion Celebration weekend Sept. 12, 13 and 14.

Wayne Law's growing Student Trial Advocacy Program, also known as mock trial, is in need of practicing attorneys to conduct trials as judges. Upcoming trial dates are Oct. 4, 18 and 30.

Remember to join us Thursday, Oct. 9, to represent Wayne Law as Wayne State University launches our fundraising campaign.

Tony Paris, '07, fights for workers’ civil rights every day – work he finds compelling and meaningful.

Michigan Super Lawyers magazine has released its 2014 lists of top attorneys, and Wayne Law graduates represent nearly 30 percent of the Top 100 Michigan Super Lawyers.

John McSorley and the late Hilda Gage, both '71, were among those honored during the State Bar of Michigan’s Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids.

Part of what drew Homayune Ghaussi to becoming a lawyer was the way that war altered the course of his life.    

Activist Julian Bond will speak about the role the law has played in encouraging and thwarting the civil rights movement Thursday, Oct. 23, for the sixth Damon J. Keith Biennial Lecture at Wayne Law.

A Sept. 26 celebration at the London Chop House drew 58 attendees and raised more than $7,500 (with donations still coming in) for the endowed scholarship fund the late James K. Robinson created to help students at Wayne Law.

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, spoke Sept. 8 at Wayne Law.

This year’s Wayne Law Review Symposium will bring together judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, academic experts and a former criminal Friday, Oct. 24, to discuss the topic “Sentencing White Collar Defendants: How Much Is Enough?”

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission and Wayne Law’s Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights presented a daylong symposium Sept. 19 focusing on the past, present and future of civil rights in Michigan.

Wayne Law’s Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights is inviting leaders from local organizations to apply to join a yearlong cohort group for the new Detroit Equity Action Lab.

Wayne Law’s newest assistant professor, Blanche B. Cook, brings decades of experience with legal practice to her students and a deep commitment to helping them achieve bright futures.

Wayne Law Professor Charles Brower will be listed for the first time in the global edition of Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration 2015. He also has been elected and invited to become a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Wayne Law Assistant (Clinical) Professor Nick Schroeck has been appointed as The Year in Review vice chair for the Water Resources Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources.

Wayne Law’s Program for International Legal Studies opened its Fall 2014 Speaker Series on Sept. 4 with Thomas D. Grant, an international law expert at the University of Cambridge in England.

One in a free series of Land Forum workshops – an initiative of Wayne Law and others to help Detroit residents through the process of buying vacant property in the city – was Sept. 16 at Don Bosco Hall’s Community Resource Center.

Students working in Wayne Law’s clinics for fall semester 2014 participated in a swearing-in ceremony Sept. 4.

Upcoming Events

Oct. 2 - Current Issues in International Commercial Arbitration

Oct. 2 - Wayne Law Alumni Speaker Series - Labor Law

Oct. 9 - Law School Showcase

Oct. 16 - 22nd annual Bernard Gottfried Memorial Labor Law Symposium

Oct. 18 - Wayne Law - Class of 1984 - 30th Reunion

Oct. 20 - The Use of Force against ISIS: Political and Legal Perspectives

Oct. 9 - WSU campaign launch

Oct. 16 - Detroit debut of "Brothers on the Line" by Sasha Reuther

Oct. 23 - Julian Bond presents the sixth Keith Biennial Lecture

Oct. 24 - Wayne Law Review Symposium - "Sentencing White Collar Defendants: How Much Is Enough?"

Oct. 30 - Legal Aspects of Investment in Three Emerging Markets: China, India and the Middle East

Nov. 7 - Wayne Law Recent Grads Reunion - Classes of 2010 to 2014

Nov. 11 - A Convention for Crimes Against Humanity

Nov. 29 - Wayne Law - Class of 2004 - 10th Reunion

More Events

Alumni Accomplishments

Corey Beaubien, '06, co-authored an article, "Patent Eligibility and Medical Diagnostic and Treatment Methods-Principles to Apply," published in BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal in September. He is a shareholder at the intellectual property law firm Reising Ethington PC.

Miriam Blanks-Smart, '89, was appointed to the Executive Committee of The Institute of Continuing Legal Education, the education provider of the State Bar of Michigan. Blanks-Smart was appointed by the Board of Commissioners of the State Bar and will serve a four-year term. She is the manager of administrative hearings at the city of Detroit's Department of Administrative Hearings, or "blight court."

Megan Bonanni, '93, of Pitt McGehee Palmer & Rivers has been named to the Michigan Association of Justice Executive Board for the 2014-15 term. Bonanni, a partner with the firm, specializes in employment, civil rights and wage and hour law.

Thomas Cronkright II and Lawrence Duthler, both '00, are co-owners, founders, and CEO and president, respectively, of Sun Title, which been recognized recently on Inc. Magazine's Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country.

Richard Finch, '96, was named as an administrative law judge with the Michigan Administrative Hearing System. He is formerly of Hardy Lewis & Page PC and Lacey & Jones LLP, where his practice included commercial litigation, negligence and ERISA.

Deborah Fisch, '11, a legal researcher with the Program for Sexual Rights and Reproductive Justice at the University of Michigan Medical School, is vice president and chair of the Research and Advocacy Committee of the newly launched Birth Rights Bar Association. 

John Forrest, '87, (LL.M.), has joined Butzel Long. He focuses his practice in the areas of franchise and distribution law, commercial contracts, and business planning and corporate law.

Elizabeth Gotham, '14, joined Honigman's Labor and Employment Department in the firm's Detroit office.

Elise Iafrate, '03, has joined Rain BDM, a Bloomfield Hills business development and marketing consultancy for law firms and professional services.   

Aimee Jachym, '09, rejoined Miller Canfield as an associate in the Kalamazoo office. Jachym was previously with Miller Canfield's Corporate Group from 2009 to 2011, before spending two years in South Korea serving as president and chief administrator of Korean Kids and Orphanage Outreach Mission, a nonprofit she founded in 2007. Upon returning to the United States in 2013, she was a commercial contracts manager for Parker Hannifin Corp.'s Aerospace Group Hydraulics Systems Division in Kalamazoo.

Maryam Karnib, '14, joined Honigman's Real Estate Department in the firm's Detroit office.

Klint Kesto, '06, was honored with the State Leadership Award by the Arab American and Chaldean Council. Kesto, the first Chaldean elected to serve in the Michigan House of Representatives, has represented the city of Wixom, Commerce Township, a portion of West Bloomfield and the Village of Wolverine Lake since 2012.

Lawrence McLaughlin, '77, of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, chair of the firm's Real Estate Department, was named co-chair of the International Council of Shopping Centers 2015 U.S. Law Conference and will serve as chair of the conference in 2016. He has served on the conference Program Planning Committee since 2004.    

Susan Patton, '79, of Butzel Long has been named a Fellow, Health Care Law Section, State Bar of Michigan. The Fellows Program recognizes those individuals who have made sustained, outstanding contributions to the section and who are regarded as top health care attorneys in Michigan. 

Rasul Raheem, '84, LL.M. '03, hosted the National Bar Association Commercial Law Section Executive Committee's Fall Planning Retreat on Sept. 28-29 in Detroit. He is senior vice president and assistant general counsel for Bank of America and president of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Foundation.

Elizabeth Stafford, '93, was appointed as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Ruth Swartout Tyska, '01, worked with two other local artists to create a sculpture, "Just Listening," of a contemporary Lady Justice for exhibition at the 2014 ArtPrize art competition in Grand Rapids.

John Willems, '80, of Miller Canfield has been awarded the 2014 John Hensel Award by the State Bar of Michigan's Arts, Communication, Entertainment and Sports Section. Willems is a longtime member and supporter of ArtServe Michigan, serving as chair-elect for its board of directors. He was also a longtime member and past chair of the Downriver Council for the Arts in Wyandotte and an advisory board member for Lawyers for the Creative Economy and was a member of its predecessor organization, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

Chelsea Zuzindlak, '12, joined Honigman as a staff attorney in its Business Immigration Practice Group.


More Alumni Accomplishments

Faculty Accomplishments

Blanche Cook presented "Prostitutes, Pimps, Prosecutors and Politicians: Navigating the Dangerous World of Hegemony, Pseudospeciation and Patriarchy" at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn. The lecture was based on an upcoming law review article Cook is preparing.

Peter Hammer spoke at Marygrove College in a talk sponsored by the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights. He addressed fundamental problems and suggested improvements in the city of Detroit's post-bankruptcy plan of adjustment, as well as the regional water plan, Detroit's water shut-off crisis, the proposed Ilitch hockey arena complex and ongoing developments regarding emergency financial manager situations in Michigan cities and school districts.

D'lorah Hughes was co-presenter of "Currrent Issues in Law Practice: Externships" with Hannah Brenner at the Midwest Clinic Teachers Conference at Michigan State University.

Nick Schroeck presented a seminar, "Hydraulic Fracturing and Great Lakes Water Resource Management," for Water@Wayne in the WSU Welcome Center auditorium.

Robert Sedler presented a program at Wayne Law for a delegation from the Republic of Georgia visiting the United States under the U.S. State Department's Open World Program. Sedler compared constitutional governance under the U.S. Constitution and the Georgian Constitution and discussed judicial independence, transparency in the legal system and differences in the protection of press freedom.

Rachel Settlage was a panelist discussing "Does Success Really Matter? Accepting or Continuing Representation of Clients who have Little Hope of Winning their Cases" for the Midwest Clinic Teachers Conference at Michigan State University.

Katherine White presented "Patent Eligibility: Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank - What It Reveals: Past, Present and Future" at the seventh annual Information Technology Law Seminar in Plymouth.


More Faculty Accomplishments

Professors in the News

Laura Bartell was interviewed for a BBC World Service report about Detroit's bankruptcy and water woes. The professor also was quoted regarding ongoing phases of Detroit's bankruptcy proceedings by a variety of other news sources, including Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, Milwaukee Public Radio, National Public Radio and Reuters.

Jocelyn Benson wrote an opinion piece, Do corporations have Constitutional rights? printed in The Detroit News.

Kingsley Browne was quoted in The Guardian (United Kingdom) in an article, Backlash at Catholic high school over firing of pregnant gay teacher.

Peter Hammer is co-author of an opinion column, A Plan to Fix All of America's Detroits, for Time.

Peter Henning was quoted in a CBS News Money Watch article, Holder calls for bigger rewards for whistleblowers.

John Mogk was quoted in a Detroit News article, Creditor Syncora bets big on downtown Detroit's future.

Nick Schroeck was interviewed on a WDET radio report, How green is the water deal?

Robert Sedler was quoted in an article in LGBTQ Nation, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg to officiate another same-sex wedding.

Jonathan Weinberg was quoted in a Crain's Detroit Business report, Privacy concerns over vehicle telematics heat up.

Peter Hammer was quoted in The Guardian (United Kingdom) in an article, Detroit demolishes its ruins: 'The capitalists will take care of the rest'.

Peter Henning was quoted in a Bloomberg News report, S&P Faces Squeeze After $1.3 Billion Countrywide Fine.

John Mogk was quoted in a Detroit Free Press article, Detroit's on a development fast track.

Nick Schroeck was quoted in a South End article, Great Lakes Environmental Law Center celebrates five years at WSU.

Peter Henning was interviewed by Fox 2 Detroit TV for a report, Taxpayers may get legal fees from county jail debacle.

Peter Hammer was quoted in a Detroit Free Press article, Is Wayne County jail project right fit for downtown?


More Professors in the News