Wayne Law News

This year’s honorees were U.S. Rep. John Conyers, Class of 1958, a Democrat serving his 24th term in Congress; Michael Pitt, Class of 1974, a founding member and managing partner of Pitt McGehee Palmer Rivers and Golden; Michael Steinberg, Class of 1989, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan; and Gary Torgow, Class of 1982, chairman of Talmer Bancorp and president and founder of the Sterling Group.

Wayne Law’s 2013 Treasure of Detroit Gala and Reunion Celebration Weekend kicked off with a reunion reception Friday, Sept. 27, at Ford Field Hall of Legends in Detroit.

A $50,000 donation has established an endowed scholarship at Wayne Law in honor of U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr.

Wayne Law Review's 2013 symposium, “A Wave of Change: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Michigan’s Constitution and the Evolution of State Constitutionalism,” will be Friday, Oct. 11. Frank Kelley, former Michigan attorney general, will present the keynote address.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James P. Hoffa will give the keynote address during the 21st annual Bernard Gottfried Memorial Labor Law Symposium on Thursday, Oct. 17, at Wayne Law. Alumni, students and anyone interested in furthering their insight into labor law are invited to attend.

Nathan Inks, a second-year student at Wayne Law, has won first place in the Michigan Environmental Law Journal writing competition.

A Sept. 6 celebration drew 56 attendees and raised nearly $13,000 for the endowed scholarship fund the late James K. Robinson created to help students at Wayne Law.

Michigan Super Lawyers magazine has released its 2013 lists of top attorneys, and Wayne Law graduates represent more than a quarter of the Top 100 Michigan Super Lawyers. Twenty-eight of the Top 100 are Wayne Law alumni, more than any other law school’s total. Two of the state’s Top 10 Super Lawyers are Wayne Law graduates: Eugene Driker, '61, and E. Powell Miller, '86, (shown here).

The Wayne Law Student Bar Association Board of Governors sponsored the 28th annual Ambulance Chase Charity Run/Walk on Sept. 26. The 5K event helped support the student group and also Cass Community Social Services, a Detroit charity helping those in need. 

The People’s Law School, a seven-week program to help the community learn about the legal system, is getting support from Wayne Law, including a professor and three alumni. Distinguished Professor of Law Robert Sedler, one of the world’s foremost authorities on constitutional law, led a Sept. 17 session on “Hot Issues in Constitutional Law,” for the venture.

From left, professors Tarek Masoud, Haider Hamoudi, Gregory Fox and Mark Tessler pose for a photo together in front of Wayne Law’s Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium. More than 60 students and members of the community attended a Sept. 6 panel discussion on “The Future of Reform Movements in the Arab World” where the professors were speakers.

Upcoming Events

Oct. 11 - Wayne Law Review Symposium, “A Wave of Change: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Michigan's Constitution and the Evolution of State Constitutionalism”

Oct. 2 - Doing Business with China: What Every American Lawyer Needs to Know

Oct. 9 - Diversity in Prosecution panel discussion

Oct. 17 - 21st annual Bernard Gottfried Memorial Labor Law Symposium

More Events

Alumni Accomplishments

Dan Gilbert, '87, has been selected by The Harvard Business School Club of Michigan as its annual Business Leader of the Year. Gilbert is the founder and chairman of Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. A dinner to honor Gilbert will take place Thursday, Oct. 10, at Qzine at the Chase Building in Detroit. Proceeds from the event will be used to fund scholarships for Michigan nonprofit leaders to attend the 2014 Strategic Perspectives for Non-Profit Management program, an intensive six-day course presented each July at the Harvard Business School in Boston. The announcement was made by Harvard Business School Club of Michigan board chair Richard Shapack. "The Harvard Business School Club of Michigan supports the Harvard Business School mission to train business leaders to make a difference in their communities. Dan Gilbert is the standout recipient for this year's award. His business success is internationally recognized as is his unwavering commitment to support Detroit in its comeback efforts," Shapack said.

Damon J. Keith, '56, (LL.M.), was honored at West Virginia State University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1943, when the school's new residence hall was christened the Judge Damon J. Keith Scholars Hall in his honor. He has served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit since 1977. He's been awarded the NAACP's highest honor, the Spingarn Medal; written a number of notable court decisions; been the subject of a biography (to be released in November); and made a name for himself as an defender of constitutional and civil rights. Wayne Law's Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights also is named in his honor.  

Daniel Minkus, '85, was named the recipient of the eighth annual Stephen H. Schulman Outstanding Business Lawyer Award by the State Bar of Michigan Business Law Section. Minkus, a Farmington Hills resident, is a member with Clark Hill PLC in Birmingham. Minkus practices in the Corporate Practice Group at Clark Hill and concentrates in the areas of business and real estate, advising and counseling clients with respect to a wide range of matters. A longtime member of the State Bar's Business Section, Minkus is a past chairman and served on the Council from 1994 to 2001. He has been the chairman of the Section's Unincorporated Enterprises Committee since 1991 and has been active in the Institute for Continuing Legal Education. He has served as the director of training for the Section's Business Boot Camp. Minkus has authored several articles, lectures frequently on a variety of business topics and is a contributing author to the book Michigan Contract Law and Michigan Business Formbook.

Chad Schmucker, '77, was selected to be the eighth president of the National Judicial College. After 20 years as a Jackson County Circuit Court Judge, Schmucker became the Michigan state court administrator in 2011. In that post, he oversaw management of the state's 246 trial courts, implemented a Michigan version of trial court performance measures, and developed a plan for court governance to promote cooperation and efficiency among courts. The National Judicial College was founded in 1963 and is one of the nation's leading providers of judicial education and justice improvement initiatives. It is housed at the University of Nevada, Reno. The National Judicial College is a Nevada not-for-profit educational entity affiliated with the American Bar Association and governed by an 18-member Board of Trustees.

Lois Swartzell, '94, was appointed to serve as senior tax advisor for GE Capital EMEA and EMRG. In 2007, she joined GE Capital Corp. as a senior international tax counsel, serving the Capital Solutions Europe business from 2007 to 2009. In 2009, she was appointed transfer pricing leader of GE Capital EMEA, and in 2011, she moved into the role of senior tax manager of Treasury Tax Matters for GE Capital EMEA and EMRG. A Connecticut resident, she retains membership in the Michigan Bar Association and is also an authorized in-house counsel member of the Connecticut Bar Association.


More Alumni Accomplishments

Faculty Accomplishments

Paul Dubinsky spoke at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis on Sept. 20 on the subject of regional and international human rights courts and whether the technocratic nature of much of their current work dilutes their influence in terms of moral force. And on Sept. 21, Dubinsky served as moderator and commentator during a two-day conference, "Justice Beyond the State," held at the University of Windsor Law School, Ontario, Canada. The conference explored developments in private international law and theories of legal pluralism as applied to transnational regulatory problems.

Noah Hall is co-author of a new casebook, Modern Water Law: Private Property, Public Rights, and Environmental Protections. Hall co-wrote the book with Robert W. Adler, interim dean and James I. Farr Chair in Law at the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law, and Robin K. Craig, the William H. Leary Professor of Law at Quinney. The book, published by Foundation Press, provides a comprehensive text to study the range of legal issues and doctrines that affect water resources.

Peter Hammer has a new book, Change and Continuity at the World Bank: Reforming Paradoxes of Economic Development, published in September by Edward Elgar Publishing, a British firm that specializes in books on international law and economics. The book examines what role the training and background of the economists who lead the World Bank have made in efforts to reform it.

Peter Henning's latest book, his 10th, was published Sept. 10. The book, White Collar Crime, is a treatise on the topic. Its publisher, West Academic Publishing, is calling it an indispensible guide for students and practitioners alike. Co-authors with Henning are professors Jerold H. Israel of the University of Michigan Law School, Nancy J. King of Vanderbilt University Law School and Ellen S. Podgor of Stetson University College of Law. 

Nick Schroeck has been elected by his peers to a seat on the State Bar of Michigan's Environmental Law Section Council. He's the only public-interest attorney and academic on the council. In addition to his new three-year post on the governing council, he serves as co-chair of the section's Great Lakes and Inland Waters Committee.


More Faculty Accomplishments

Professors in the News

Jocelyn Benson wrote a column, It's time for more transparency in election ads, published in the Detroit Free Press.

Paul Dubinsky was quoted in a Symposium magazine article, From the ACLU to Spy World to Academia.