Wayne Law News

The 84th Wayne State University Law School Commencement Ceremony was held on May 16, 2011, at the Max Fisher Music Center in Detroit. Faculty and staff members, family and friends were on hand as 226 degrees were awarded. The Honorable Avern Cohn gave an inspiring commencement address and was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree.

Wayne Law and its Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights announced the creation of the Michigan Allies Project. The project will collect data and report on “hate” incidents in Michigan that target individuals based on their race, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

Wayne Law and the Law Alumni Association are pleased to present the 2011 Wayne Law Alumni Reunion Weekend on Sept. 23-24, 2011. The reception will honor graduates of the milestone classes of 1961, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991 and 2001.

Two outstanding individuals will join our faculty this year. They are Assistant Professor Kirsten M. Carlson and Assistant (Clinical) Professor Eric C. Williams.

The DTE Energy Foundation presented a $25,000 check to Wayne Law's Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights. The gift was presented at a recent reception by event host Joyce Hayes Giles, DTE’s senior vice president of customer service and a Wayne Law alumna, to Judge Damon J. Keith.

2011 alumna Kathryn Smolinski was awarded a prestigious two-year fellowship from Equal Justice Works. As a fellow, Smolinski will work with Wayne Law’s Disability Law Clinic to develop a medical-legal partnership with the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center focused on the legal needs of low-income cancer patients in Detroit. The fellowship is sponsored by Pfizer Inc. and the law firms of Kaye Scholer LLP and Jackson Lewis LLP.

We recently announced the 2011 Public Interest Law Fellowship recipients. With the support of the $4,500 fellowships, 13 students will work for a variety of agencies and legal clinics in Michigan and beyond.

Wayne Law’s Program for International Legal Studies announced the 2011 International Public Interest Law Fellowship recipients. Rachel Hom, Jamal Koussan, Megan Mathewsand Clairissa Radyko will gain valuable legal experience through $5,000 fellowships that will allow them to work at various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Middle East, Asia, India and Eastern Europe.

Students recently elected the 2011-12 Student Board of Governors (SBG). They also voted Associate Professor Janet Findlater First-Year Professor of the Year and Assistant Professor Christopher Lund Upperclass Professor of the Year.

Graduating and returning editors of the Wayne Law Review gathered May 13, 2011, at Midtown Detroit’s Traffic Jam and Snug to celebrate a year of achievements and to announce awards for the Law Review’s most accomplished members.

Wayne Law congratulates Nadia Igram and Alex Baum on their performances at the 35th annual Robert F. Wagner National Labor and Employment Law Moot Court Competition, which took place at New York Law School on March 16-20. Igram won second place best oralist of the preliminary rounds out of 100 oralists, and Baum was ranked in the top 25 percent of oralists in the preliminary round.

Wayne Law students continue to raise the bar in national moot court and mock trial competitions. Second-year students Lauren Kwapis and Michael LaMarra came in second place overall in the John J. Gibbons National Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition at Seton Hall University in Newark, New Jersey, April 1-2, 2011.  

Check out Wayne Law's video playlist on YouTube to view select faculty, student and alumni videos, as well as past events and lectures. Forward on to friends and prospective students!

2011 Wayne Law alumna Anisa Lari has always known she wanted to be a lawyer. As a child in Albania, she had the opportunity to meet the president of the country. “That day was so important for me and I recall the arguments in favor of making progressive laws for a new, democratic Albanian country. Growing up and remembering that moment encouraged me to become involved in law,” Lari said.

Wayne Law congratulates student members of the 2011-12 Wayne Law Review Editorial Board.

Wayne Law congratulates nine students recently elected to the Journal of Law in Society 2011-12 Board.

The Career Services Office helps employers identify and recruit the Wayne Law students and graduates who best meet their needs. It offers a variety of established recruitment methods that have a proven record of success for hundreds of employers throughout Michigan and the nation.

Click the below link to view photos from past Wayne Law events.

Upcoming Events

Law Alumni Association Detroit Happy Hour, June 16

Law Alumni Association Grand Rapids Happy Hour, June 23

More Events

Alumni Accomplishments

Julie Nichols, '98, was hired by Southfield-based Collins Einhorn Farrell and Ulanoff PC. Nichols devotes a significant portion of her practice to insurance coverage matters, providing coverage opinions and analysis and litigating matters involving commercial liability, automobile, homeowners and employment policies.


More Alumni Accomplishments

Faculty Accomplishments

Brad Roth gave a lecture on "Sovereign Equality and Moral Disagreement: Premises of a Pluralist International Legal Order" at Oxford University. Click here for the podcast.


More Faculty Accomplishments

Professors in the News

Jonathan Weinberg was featured in a recent Legal News article titled "Frontier lawman: WSU professor helps decode mysteries of cyberspace law."


More Professors in the News

Additional Links

Wayne Law Career Services Office

Wayne Law LL.M. Program

Wayne Law Board of Visitors

Wayne Law Alumni Association

Wayne Law Home

Wayne Law News Archive

Make a Gift