Wayne Law News

Four of five Champion of Justice Awards given this year by the State Bar of Michigan will go to Wayne Law alumni and professors. The Unsung Hero Award also will go to a Wayne Law alumna.

The 119 members of the incoming class at Wayne Law hail from 33 colleges and universities, where they pursued undergraduate and graduate majors in 36 different fields. They range in age from 21 to 72, and all but eight are from Michigan.

Thomas D. Grant, an international law expert at the University of Cambridge, will present “International Law and the Independence of Scotland” on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Wayne Law.

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, will offer a free lecture from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, at Wayne Law.

Wayne Law's annual Ambulance Chase 5K pokes fun at the stereotype of the ambulance-chasing lawyer and helps support a good cause.

Wayne Law Assistant Professor Rachel Settlage is co-author of a new book written to help those who work with noncitizen victims of crime.

Wayne Law’s Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights and Program for Entrepreneurship and Business Law are among sponsors of a Land Forum workshop series being offered to help Detroit residents through the process of buying vacant property in the city.

The fifth annual An Evening at the Ballpark with Wayne Law on Aug. 13 at Comerica Park introduced Wayne Law’s rising second-year and third-year students to the Michigan legal community.

Wayne Law recently presented its top scholar awards for 2013-14 academic coursework by first-year students.

Orientation Week activities for incoming first-year Wayne Law students included a New Student Convocation on Aug. 18.

Faculty and staff greeted incoming new students at Wayne Law with a Taste of Detroit barbecue Aug. 20.

Incoming first-year students, as well as some faculty and staff, from Wayne Law participated in a service project Aug. 21 at the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative in Detroit.

Wayne Law concluded Orientation Week for first-year students Aug. 22 with a scenic cruise of Detroit’s riverfront aboard the Diamond Belle.

Upcoming Events

Sept. 4 - International Law and the Independence of Scotland

Sept. 8 - The State of Hate and Extremism in America and the Work of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Sept. 9 - Money in Judicial Politics: A Panel Discussion

Sept. 12, 13 and 14 - Wayne Law Class of 1964 - 50th Reunion

Sept. 16 - Land Forum Workshop

Sept. 17 - Detroit Community Meeting - Youth Behind Bars

Sept. 18 - Law School Alumni Reception during SBM Annual Meeting

Sept. 19 - 50 Years of Justice - Celebrating Civil Rights in Michigan

Sept. 26 - James K. Robinson Scholarship Event

Sept. 26 - Ambulance Chase 5K fundraiser for charity

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

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

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

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

More Events

Alumni Accomplishments

Diane Akers, '85, a longtime associate and partner with the Detroit office of Bodman PLC, has been named the recipient of the ninth annual Stephen H. Schulman Outstanding Business Lawyer Award by the State Bar of Michigan Business Law Section. Akers is of counsel to Bodman. She retired from full-time practice in 2010 but is still involved in business courts and other business law issues.

Theresa Asoklis, '89, of Collins Einhorn Farrell PC has been named the Best Lawyers' 2015 Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants "Lawyer of the Year" in metro Detroit. Only a single lawyer in each practice area in each community is honored as the "Lawyer of the Year."

Allison Bach, '04, was named as one of six Top Young Lawyers by DBusiness magazine for 2014. She is partner at Dickinson Wright and focuses her practice on advising and representing secured lenders and other creditors in out-of-court workouts and restructurings, bankruptcy proceedings and enforcement litigation.

Kaitlyn Cramer, '13, has joined Zausmer Kaufman August & Caldwell PC as an associate.

John Gustafson, '85, was appointed as a U.S. bankruptcy judge for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division. He was sworn in by the Hon. Vernelis K. Armstrong, '60, U.S. magistrate judge for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division.

Robert Labe, '84, has been selected to become a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Selection confirms recognition of a lawyer whose career has demonstrated leadership, service and commitment to the ideals and objectives of the American Bar Association. Only 1 percent of lawyers nationwide are selected. Labe is a partner with Williams Williams Rattner and Plunkett PC of Birmingham.

Stephen Ravas, '05, joined the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, as an investigative attorney. He is responsible for conducting both preliminary and full, comprehensive criminal, civil and administrative inquiries and investigations based on allegations of abuse, fraud and waste within the department and its agencies.

Martin Reisig, '70, was named the Best Lawyers' 2015 Detroit Mediation "Lawyer of the Year." Only a single lawyer in each practice area in each community is honored as the "Lawyer of the Year."

Joycelyn Ward, '87, was hired as a staff attorney in the Legal Aid and Defender Association Inc.'s Civil Law Group. She received the organization's Pro Bono Spirit Oakland County Award in 2013.

Jack Wheatley, '67, was reappointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission, which reviews appeals decisions in cases involving unemployment insurance benefits and workers' compensation. Wheatley served as a labor law attorney with Lacey & Jones LLP, worked as a special assistant to the attorney general representing the state in workers' compensation second injury fund cases and served as director of the Michigan Unemployment Agency and director of the Bureau of Workers' Disability Compensation.

Anne Yantus, '86, wrote an article, "Sentence Creep: Increasing Penalties in Michigan and the Need for Sentencing Reform," which was published in the spring issue of the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. She serves as managing attorney of the plea unit of the State Appellate Defender Office and teaches Appellate Advocacy and Criminal Sentencing as an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Kimberly Yapchai, '93, received a 2014 First Chair Award for Top Assistant General Counsel.


More Alumni Accomplishments

Faculty Accomplishments

Thomas Helmholdt spoke about the Wayne Law Patent Procurement Clinic at the Macomb-OU INCubator event, "Get Out of the Garage: Patent Your Idea!" at Aug. 19 in Sterling Heights. Patent attorney Bonnie Smith, a Wayne Law alumna who particpated in the clinic during law school, also spoke.

Nick Schroeck presented "Water Quality: Great Lakes Water Levels and Requests for Water Withdrawal" on Aug. 16 at the national summit of the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators in Minneapolis. The group comprises more than 1,000 legislators from all 50 states and the Canadian province of Ontario.


More Faculty Accomplishments

Professors in the News

Laura Bartell was quoted in a Detroit Free Press article, Detroit bankruptcy judge may consider sanctions for Syncora attorneys.

Jocelyn Benson was quoted in a Detroit Free Press article, Claudia House Morcom, legal pioneer and champion for human rights, dies at 82.

Peter Hammer was quoted in a Huffington Post report, How Detroit's Water Crisis Is Part Of A Much Bigger Problem.

Peter Henning was quoted in a Reuters report in the New York Times, Michigan Porch Shooter Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder, and on that topic and other unrelated criminal and financial legal matters in a variety of other media, including two Detroit newspapers, two California newspapers, the Fiscal Times, Automotive News, Newsday and The Hill.

Justin Long was quoted in a Detroit Free Press article, Attorney: Suspending charter school authorizers is lengthy process.

John Mogk was quoted in a Columbia Journalism Review article, Detroit's Dan Gilbert and the ‘savior complex,' and in several other media, including the Detroit Free Press and Michigan Radio, speaking about Gilbert and others working to rebuild downtown Detroit.

Nick Schroeck was interviewed for a report on WDET radio, Flooding May Be More Common in The Future.

Robert Sedler was quoted in an MLive report, Split decision predicted in Michigan gay marriage appeal.


More Professors in the News