Wayne Law News

Judge Nancy Edmunds has presided over numerous high-profile cases during her more than 20 years on the federal bench. She’ll share her wisdom with the 2013 Wayne Law graduating class when she keynotes Commencement and receives an honorary doctor of laws degree May 13 at the Max M. Fisher Music Center.

Wayne Law’s Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court team members Klaudia Nikolli (left); Jessica Wayne; Bonsitu Kitaba; Kaitlyn Cramer; and Rachel Hom, chancellor of the team, show off their Detroit Tigers garb, while Professor Gregory Fox, faculty advisor for the team, sports a Red Sox jersey. Competitors at the final round of the competition were invited to wear the dress of their home countries for a “Go National Ball” after the finals. The team, dubbed “the famous ladies of Wayne State,” finished 18th in the world, and Hom finished as seventh best speaker in the world.

Wayne State University Law School Dean Jocelyn Benson (shown here with her husband, Ryan Friedrichs) has advocated for voting rights for many years, created and directed the Michigan Allies Project to track hate incidents and give legal support to victims, and supported equality in a hundred other ways.Now, Benson has been honored by the Detroit Branch of the NAACP with its 2013 Great Expectations Award.

Students, clients and professors are singing the praises of Wayne State University Law School’s new Patent Procurement Law Clinic after its first year. Eric Williams is the clinic's director.

Air Force veteran Kimberly Adams, after graduation from Wayne State University Law School this spring, will be using her legal skills and the insights she’s gained from her life’s experience to help other veterans through an Equal Justice Fellowship.

Justice Marilyn Kelly, Wayne State University Law School’s first distinguished jurist in residence, has been living up to her dynamic reputation since she joined the faculty in March. She has had a full speaking schedule this month, as she advocates for education and judicial reform.

The three students — Robert Johns, Jessica Wayne and Kenneth Cox — on Wayne Law’s environmental moot court team have completely different backgrounds, but together, they mesh into an award-winning unit.

A new Student Board of Governors has been elected by Wayne State University Law School students, and so have professors of the year. Associate Professor Janet Findlater came out on top as First-Year Professor of the Year for the 18th time since she joined the Wayne Law faculty in 1976. Assistant Professor Eric Zacks was named Upperclass Professor of the Year for the second year in a row.

Wayne Law transactional law team members Weiling Chou (left), Chris Attar and Chris Banerian parlayed countless hours of preparation into a top-notch learning experience — and a fine finish, as well.

Alumni Accomplishments

Gregory Reed, '78, (LL.M.) is the author of 16 books, including "Obama Talks Back: Global Lessons - A Dialogue with America's Young Leaders," which was awarded the 2013 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature.


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Student Accomplishments

Robert Thomas has been appointed by the Detroit City Council to the city's Board of Zoning Appeals. Thomas is active in the Program for Entrepreneurial and Business Law at Wayne Law.


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Faculty Accomplishments

Lance Gable was a co-author and signatory of a recent  amicus brief filed in the case New York Statewide Coalition v. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene supporting the authority of the New York City health department to limit cup sizes for sugar-sweetened beverages and to act incrementally to protect the public's health. The case is currently on appeal from a state court judge's ruling that the ban on large cup sizes exceeded the power of the health department and was arbitrary and capricious.


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Professors in the News

Thomas Helmholdt  was quoted in a CBS-Detroit report titled "Wayne Law Patent Clinic Part Of World Intellectual Property Day."


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