Amicus winter 2014

Amicus

M I C H I G A N

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U N I V E R S I T Y

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WINTER 2014

DOLLARS AND ENSE Helping Students Minimize Educational Debts

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Empower Extraordinary Campaign Harold Beznos, ’64, Honors His Father’s Memory Keep MSU Law in Your Estate Charitable Giving

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Tina Kashat Casoli CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Maya Forbes April Jones Sheila Pursglove Ann Marie Scholten Colleen Gehoski Steinman PHOTOGRAPHY Tom Gennara Ann Marie Scholten Colleen Gehoski Steinman DESIGN Brenda J. Sanborn BOARD OF TRUSTEES Lou Anna K. Simon, President Linda M. Orlans, ’87, Chair Frederick D. Dilley, ’75, Vice Chair Raymond R. Behan, ’60 Elaine Fieldman, ’76 Clifton E. Haley, ’61, President Emeritus Charles A. Janssen Maurice G. Jenkins, ’81 Charles E. Langton, ’87 Douglas Laycock Cary S. McGehee, ’89 Hon. David W. McKeague Richard D. McLellan Colleen M. McNamara Mayer (Mike) Morganroth, ’54 Michael G. Morris, ’81 Bryan T. Newland, ’07 James M. Nicholson Donald Nystrom, ’00 Stacy L. Erwin Oakes, ’01 David L. Porteous Jennifer Poteat, ’04 G. Scott Romney TRUSTEES EMERITI Hon. Marianne O. Battani, ’72 Joseph J. Buttigieg III, ’75 Richard W. Heiss, ’63, President Emeritus Edwin W. Jakeway, ’61 Hon. Norman L. Lippitt, ’60 John D. O’Hair, ’54 Peter J. Palmer, ’68 Kenneth J. Robinson John F. Schaefer, ’69 David J. Sparrow, ’51 (posthumous) Hon. Richard F. Suhrheinrich, ’63, President Emeritus ALUMNI ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE BOARD Howard Victor, ’77, President Bryan Melvin, III ’77, President-Elect Octavio Duran, Jr, ’11, Vice President Ronald Estes, ’05, Treasurer Jeffery Sattler, ’08, Secretary Brian Hall, ’07, Parliamentarian PARLIAMENTARIAN BOARD Anthony Becknek, ’11 Daniel Bliss, ’87 Ugo Buzzi, ’08 Sherri Marie Carr, ’07 Mario Cascante, ’10 John Conniff, ’11 Jerome Crawford, ’12 Mallory Field, ’11 Kimberly Gehling, ’11 James Geroux, ’70 Colleen Kelley Gomos, ’07 Beverly Helm, ’80 Elinor Jordan, ’11 Aaron Lloyd, ’10 Brian T. Lynch, ’05 David Ottenwess, ’86

A MESSAGE from the Dean In Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future, author Richard Susskind makes the case that legal institutions and the practice of law are poised to change more radically over the next two decades than they have over the last two centuries. Perhaps you have experienced these changes.

The MSU College is Law is committed to positioning our students to be at the forefront of our evolving profession. In November, MSU Law faculty gathered for a two-day retreat to ask how our courses and curriculum can best meet the needs of our students. Our goal is to continue to be more forward leaning than other law schools, providing a rock-solid foundation and also helping students prepare for the new opportunities that will emerge from these changes.

This fall, we welcomed more than 300 students to MSU Law for Juris Doctor and graduate law degrees. They are a diverse group of aspiring lawyers from 34 states and six countries who represent the future of this profession. They are entrepreneurial.

They are savvy about technology. And they are already working toward the legal career of their dreams. Our students are diverse, but they share one common goal: the desire for a quality legal education that leads them to a career in a challenging profession.

As alumni and friends, you also play a critical role in attracting high-caliber, successful students from the shrinking national applicant pool. Scholarships have become a significant recruiting tool for attracting students ready to embrace the challenges of our evolving profession. One primary goal of the MSU Law’s Empower Extraordinary Campaign is to raise $5 million for new scholarships for deserving students who dream of a legal education. With your help, we can reach that goal.

Your gift helps students achieve their dream of a quality legal education, helps them obtain clinical practice experience, and gives them access to the latest technology in the classroom. You also make it possible for students to graduate with smaller, more manageable debt. Your contributions of time by serving as a judge for Moot Court competition, mentoring a young associate, or offering an externship to qualified students also are invaluable ways to support MSU Law students. Thank you for all you have done this past year to help our students.

My warmest holiday wishes to you and your families.

Joan W. Howarth Dean, Michigan State University College of Law

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DOLLARS AND $ENSE.........................................................................................2 MSU Law Alumnae Earns Fellowship.............................................................5 A Message from the Office of Admissions..................................................5 Hospitality Law Course Helps Entrepreneurs............................................6 Dan Linna Jr. Takes Lead in CSO.....................................................................7 Changing Attitudes...............................................................................................8 New Professor Impressed with Students.....................................................9 Alumni Profiles Teresa M. Sebastian................................................................................ 10 Stephen Vella............................................................................................ 11

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Alumnus Donation Honors the Memory of His Father......................... 17 Your Gifts in Action............................................................................................ 19 Annual Alumni Celebration............................................................................ 22 Law Firm Challenge Results........................................................................... 24 DCL Reunion......................................................................................................... 25 Estate Charitable Giving.................................................................................. 26 Chicago Alums Gather to Support Scholarships....................................27 Fund Started to Honor Professor Roumell................................................27 Alumni Association Golf Outing................................................................... 28

Curtis Warner............................................................................................. 12 Circle of Friends.................................................................................................. 29 MSU Law Professors Recognized........................................................... 13 Circle of Friends Donor Societies................................................................. 30 Detroit Bankruptcy Judge Reflects on “Unprecedented” Case....... 14 Alumni Notes.........................................................................................................32 A Message from the Office of Advancement........................................... 15 In Memoriam..........................................................................................................35 Empower Extraordinary Campaign............................................................... 16 All U Faculty and Staff Campaign .............................................................. 36

Amicus is published by Michigan State University College of Law, Law College Building, 648 N. Shaw Lane, East Lansing, MI 48824-1300. Reproduction or use, in whole or in part, by any means and without the express written consent of the publisher, is prohibited. Manuscripts, artwork, and photographs are submitted at the sender’s risk; please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope requesting return of material. The magazine and its associated parties and agencies assume no responsibility for unsolicited materials and reserve the right to accept or reject any editorial material.

Submission of letters implies the right to reproduce same in magazine. Views expressed herein are not necessarily those of this magazine or the Law College. No article herein shall constitute an endorsement by this magazine, the Law College, or the persons and organizations associated with it.

Michigan State University College of Law programs, activities, and facilities shall be available to all without regard to race, color, genetic information, gender identity, religion, national origin, political persuasion, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, height, weight, veteran status, age, or familial status. Neither Michigan State University nor the State of Michigan is liable for any financial obligation incurred by Michigan State University College of Law. The Law College is an independent institution that is not financially supported by MSU or the State.

DOLLARS AND ENSE Helping Students Minimize Anne Strawbridge always knew that she wanted to practice public interest law, working to make the law more accessible to people from all walks of life, not just those who could afford legal counsel.

“I knew salaries weren’t always the highest, so that meant I couldn’t take on much debt for my legal education,” she explained.

A native of Charlevoix, Strawbridge journeyed to Winthrop University in South Carolina for her undergraduate degree in early childhood education. She wanted to return home and experience a large research university to fulfill her personal and professional goals.

Michigan State Law was one of her top choices for its experiential learning opportunities and its generous scholarship programs. The choice was easy when she was offered a full-tuition scholarship. Now in her third year, Stawbridge is on track to graduate in the spring with law school loans totaling about $50,000 and another estimated $12,000 from her undergraduate.

Loans have covered Strawbridge’s living expenses while attending MSU Law. She considers her education debts manageable, but the lower salaries traditionally offered to attorneys in her chosen field will mean living on a tight budget to repay them after graduation.

Strawbridge’s education debts are well below the average compared to her peers. For newly minted attorneys, the debt level exceeds $75,000 for graduates of public universities and $115,000 for graduates of private institutions.

Like their peers across the nation, MSU Law students leave law school with average loan debts totaling close to six figures.

“ It’s not enough to give our students a solid legal education – which we do,” MSU Law Dean Joan W. Howarth said.

“ We also must launch them into their careers, and that includes helping them address their loans and debts once they start working in the profession.”

About 85 percent of MSU Law graduates have borrowed funds for law school; however, a series of financial literacy initiatives implemented at MSU Law has reduced the average student debt amount by $20,000 in the last two years.

In 2010, MSU Law surveyed its graduates from the Classes of 1995 through 2009 to learn more about the impact of law school debts. The survey revealed sobering statistics: •2 6 percent of respondents had borrowed $100,000 or more during law school.

• 50 percent had borrowed $75,000 or more.

• 1 2 percent had not taken out any federal or private loans.

•3 0 percent of the respondents had monthly loan payments equaling at least 20 percent of their monthly income.

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Anne Strawbridge, 3L

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Educational Debts Some survey respondents reported that heavy debt kept them from getting married, starting families, or buying homes. Others indicated that they chose jobs on the basis of whether the salary would allow them to pay back their educational loans.

While the graduates didn’t regret their investment in law school, some were shocked by the tight job market and the average starting salaries for jobs that were available. They offered myriad suggestions to help current and future law students better manage their debt.

MSU Law’s financial literacy initiatives have reduced the average student debt amount by $20,000 in the last two years.

The results of the survey spurred MSU Law and its administration into action to implement the alumni suggestions, and build increased financial literacy among incoming students.

Helping students understand the impact loans will have on their future is one of the most critical aspects of MSU Law’s approach to financial literacy. That’s where Financial Aid Director John Garcia comes in. With nine years of experience in his role, Garcia is an active member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and the Access Group.

“It’s relatively easy to qualify for a school loan,” he said. “But understanding what it means to take on that debt is much more complicated. Students need to consider how they’ll pay it back.”

For MSU Law students, the average indebtedness for 2014 graduates was $95,494. Using the current Stafford unsubsidized loan rate of 6.2 percent makes the standard repayment $1,070 a month for 10 years. The extended-fixed repayment would be $627 a month over 25 years.

“What John is doing is really unparalleled,” Dean Howarth said. “I don’t know of any other Big Ten law school that helps its students minimize borrowing the way we do.”

The Financial Aid Office offers personal financial counseling, panel discussions with financial experts, webinars about minimizing debt, and a host of online tools. An online budget worksheet helps students estimate their monthly expenses in addition to tuition, fees, and books – all based on the college’s Thrifty Budget, a default cost of attendance that covers the most basic living expenses in the mid-Michigan area.

Garcia has made many of these tools available online through the college’s website. Along with handy links to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), students can learn more about their U.S. Department of Education loans, check balances, disbursements, and the status of their accounts. Another online resource, iGrad, offers interactive sessions with financial literacy experts, as well as articles, videos, and test modules. continued

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The efforts are paying off for students. Thirdyear student Kevin Stokes said the Office of Financial Aid helped him when he needed additional loans to purchase a computer and health insurance.

“The office gave me the materials so I could decide whether I could afford to take out additional loans and make an informed decision,” he explained.

During exit interviews with graduating 3L students, Garcia often reviews repayment plans in detail, urging students to make some sacrifices to pay off their loans within 10 years.

“Many of these students have high hopes of being able to make the standard payments,” he explained. “But I realize that standard repayment may not be realistic for all students.”

One of the key things that Garcia emphasizes with students is keeping expenses down while enrolled. Taking a roommate, purchasing food from a grocery store instead of eating out, and buying clothing from thrift shops will hold the line on a student’s monthly expenses.

Gabby Boyer, in her second year at MSU Law, has taken that advice to heart. She shares an apartment with three roommates, and they split the cost of groceries and utilities. She canceled her gym membership and cable television.

A Trustee Scholarship covers 75 percent of her tuition, and she works part time. Her loans will be far less because of her efforts to keep costs down.

Along with helping students with financial literacy, MSU Law has made a concerted effort to minimize annual tuition increases while simultaneously boosting scholarship aid for students, Dean Howarth said.

Scholarship funding is the top priority for MSU Law’s Empower Extraordinary Campaign, a reflection of its commitment to maintain high standards during the

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“ The office gave me the materials so I could decide whether I could afford to take out additional loans and make an informed decision.”

— Kevin Stokes

national decline of law school applicants.

The campaign seeks to raise $5 million for scholarships to students. [See Page 16 for more information.]

Student Kevin Stokes said he chose MSU Law over Ohio State University because he was offered a full-tuition scholarship.

“The scholarship has made it possible to even pursue my degree, let alone allow me the opportunity to seek employment that may not pay as well, or wait until I find a job that I feel would be advantageous to me,” he explained.

“It is a large reason why I chose MSU; I will have fewer loans to pay off than if I had chosen OSU.” In her second year of law school, Mallory Donick was awarded a Faculty Merit scholarship that covered 50 percent of her tuition based on her academic record during her first year of study.

“It was nice to be rewarded for my hard work, so it made it easier for me to stay motived,” she explained. “It will also be nice not having quite so much debt when I graduate.”

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Scholarships have become a critical recruiting tool. Sophia Brelvi’s scholarship covers 75 percent of her tuition, and was a key element in her decision to leave North Carolina to become the first member of her family to complete a law degree.

With the support of her parents, she won’t be burdened with debts and can pursue her dream job in healthcare or corporate law, combining her undergraduate degree in international business and minor in political science.

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MSU Law Alumna Earns Fellowship for Legal Aid Work Michelle Fitzsimmons, ’07, recently was awarded a $50,000 fellowship from the Chicago Bar Foundation for her legal aid work. She was one of five honored with a Sun-Times Public Interest Fellowship designed to help attorneys in legal aid and public interest law with education debts.

Fitzsimmons began her legal career at the Rock Island office of Prairie State Legal Services (PSLS), where she continues to work today. Since graduation, she has represented low-income clients in civil legal matters including evictions, orders of protection, public benefits denials, divorce, and custody/visitation matters. She also serves as PSLS’ Housing Task Force co-chair, providing substantive law trainings to attorneys and social service agencies as well as housing law guidance and support to her colleagues.

During Fitzsimmons’ tenure at PSLS, she has also spearheaded and implemented a successful courtbased Volunteer Lawyer Courthouse Project in Rock Island County through which volunteer attorneys assist low-income tenants facing wrongful evictions.

“We are proud of the work these exceptional attorneys are doing to ensure that the most vulnerable people in our community have access to the protections of our justice system,” said David Mann, who chaired the selection committee. “Many legal aid attorneys face mortgage-sized law school debt, and it is our hope that this fellowship will alleviate some of these financial concerns and enable these dedicated fellows to stay in legal aid.”

Michelle Fitzsimmons, ‘07, was one of five recipients of The Chicago Bar Foundation’s Sun-Times Public Interest Law Fellowship. She is shown here with David Mann (R), chair of the Sun-Times Fellowship selection Committee, and Bob Glaves, executive director of the Chicago Bar Foundation. Photo from the Chicago Bar Foundation.

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A Message from the OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS

By Courtney Gabbara, ’12, Assistant Director of Admissions

Over the past several years, the Admissions Office has taken great strides to develop strong and robust application pools. Our team works enthusiastically to stay on top of trends in the legal market and adapt accordingly to maintain our competitive edge. These Courtney Gabbara, ‘12 efforts have led to the successful admission of hundreds of bright and promising future Spartans. However, we cannot take all of the credit for this success. The time and support given by alumni like you has truly helped our office take admissions recruiting to the next level.

Through several initiatives, our alumni have shared their stories and encouraged prospective and admitted students to look deeper into their future legal education with MSU Law. Such initiatives have included meeting with admitted students for lunch or dinner in their respective cities, participating in letter-writing campaigns, and discussing their career paths through our nationally-recognized webinars. We appreciate this help.

As the application pool continues to decline nationally, our admissions team remains positive. Welcoming the challenge head on, we are excited to begin building our fall 2015 entering class. We cannot do it alone, and this is why I am reaching out to you. As a fellow alumna, I valued my time at the Law College and what it taught me. Now, seeing law school through the lens of an admissions officer, it is all the more clear how important it is for prospective students to gain an alumni perspective.

If you or an alum you know may be interested in giving back to the Law College through the Admissions Office, I would love to hear from you! For more information regarding how you can help, please email me at gabbarac@law.msu.edu or contact me by phone at (517) 432-6825.

Thank you again for all that you do and all that you have done to help continue to propel the Law College forward.

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MSU Law Creates HOSPITALITY LAW COURSE Helping entrepreneurs negotiate the myriad legal issues of small business creation is the focus of a new two-credit hospitality law class developed at the MSU College of Law, one of only three law colleges in the nation with such a course.

A total of 26 second- and third-year students enrolled for a comprehensive review and case studies about issues entrepreneurs often face when creating a small business. While many of the legal topics may appear on the students’ bar exams, the goal of the course is to bring together the widely Professor Charles Ten Brink, Associate Dean for varied potential legal issues.

Library and Technology “The goal is to teach them how Services to be of assistance to their client, the local entrepreneur who wants to redevelop a small business like a brew-pub, a restaurant, a tavern, a farmers market or something else,” said Charles Ten Brink, associate dean for library and technology services and professor of law.

Topics to be covered include business organizations, duties to guests, serving food and alcohol, lodging, and land use issues. The class is team taught with Professor Ten Brink and Adjunct Professors Michael Brower from Stariha & Brower in Muskegon and Brad Deacon, ’04, who manages emergency management and administrative law issues for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Each professor brings his area of expertise. Guest lecturers and a field trip to a local business owner expand the traditional Socratic methods used in law school instruction.

Professor Brower’s business card lists his title as “Liquor Lawyer” and his clients are mostly individuals who are either seeking a liquor license or are seeking advice to ensure they comply with liquor laws. A DePaul University College of Law graduate, he has written several publications about legal Professor Brad Deacon, ’04 issues around alcohol.

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“I’ve always wanted to be a law professor,” he explained.

“This is my opportunity. Food and beverage law is my life. I live, sleep, eat, and breathe it.”

Brower arranged for Michigan Assistant Attorney General Jason Geissler, ’05, to join him during a recent class session about the complexities of serving alcohol. His goal was to educate people not only about the specific Michigan rules and regulations, but to demonstrate how cooperation, negotiation, and professionalism can make the process easier for clients.

“We really look at the most rational way we can resolve an issue,” Geissler explained. “It’s all about seeking compliance.”

Deacon, who also teaches agriculture law courses, said he’s been impressed with the high level of student engagement.

“It’s not esoteric to them at all,” Deacon said. “Many of them have worked in the hospitality industry before, and they are bringing their own experiences, talking about how this or that has happened.”

That’s been one of the primary goals of the course as it was originally envisioned over a few pints at the Grand Rapids Beer Festival, Ten Brink explained. While researching the material for the class, he discovered very few law schools offer such a comprehensive course to explore all potential areas for small business Professor Michael Brower entrepreneurs.

The class field trip included a visit to Zoobie’s Old Town Tavern in Lansing and a meeting with owners Aaron Matthews, Al Hooper, and Sam Short. Being able to talk directly with the owners as they reclaim and refurbish an older building has helped the students understand the complexities business owners face. The students also gain an understanding of how their own legal advice can help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.

The entire second half of the course will involve students working in teams on actual case studies. The student groups will have to research and present their recommendations to the rest of the class as if the other students were the clients.

“There are no textbooks on this subject,” Ten Brink said.

“There’s very little decided case law, so the students really have to explore some very different areas.”

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DAN LINNA JR. TAKES LEAD In the Career Services Office For MSU Law’s new Assistant Dean for Career Development Daniel W. Linna Jr., easing slowly into his new position wasn’t an option.

His first week on the job was spent hosting employers for on-campus interviewing. His second week was spent calling alumni and employers to arrange a Chicago visit. By his third week, he – and his staff – set the tone very early during Immersion Week for the 1L students.

“As part of their Foundations of Law class, we created a Career Jumpstart worksheet,” he said. “This is a different job market. It requires a different mindset. We are teaching students principles from The Start-Up of You, co-authored by the founder of LinkedIn. Students can’t be passive. We are teaching them to be entrepreneurial. To identify the skills they need to succeed and acquire them. To be life-long learners. And to get out there and connect with students, professors, alumni, and practitioners who can help them— and are more than willing to help them—achieve career success. We want them to start making a plan right now – from day one. And we’re there to help them execute that plan.”

It’s a lesson Assistant Dean Linna, who is also a professor of law in residence, knows well. Before accepting his leadership role with MSU Law, he was an equity partner at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn in its Litigation Department. He also was a member of Honigman’s Automotive and Manufacturing, e-Discovery and Information Management, Commercial Transactions, and Social, Mobile, and Emerging Media groups. Before he began his legal career, he worked in information technology, designing databases, websites, and information systems.

This combination of experiences and skills has been critical in recognizing the emerging skills required by new attorneys, Linna said. “Systems” thinkers who apply lean principles to law and excel at project management will have a decided advantage, as will those who think and act like entrepreneurs. Today’s and tomorrow’s legal profession requires lawyers who fully utilize technology and are comfortable analyzing data. Students embracing these principles can distinguish themselves. www.law.msu.edu

Daniel W. Linna Jr., Assistant Dean for Career Development

One way students can demonstrate entrepreneurship is through social media.

“By using LinkedIn and Twitter, and even blogging, students can build their personal brand by putting their expertise and skills on display,” Linna explained. “Students can use social media to connect with the legal industry and launch their legal careers.”

Linna is quick to add that traditional networking remains an integral part of career development. He and his colleagues coordinate numerous events that allow students to meet alumni and practitioners.

Linna says that about one-quarter of jobs are filled solely based on a connection. These jobs are not posted. If a student is not connected, the student never knows about the opening.

Social media exponentially expands the number of possible connections for a student and establishes a brand in a way traditional networking cannot. Students who attend alumni, meet-the-practitioner, or bar-association events and engage in social media greatly increase their odds for rapid career success.

Alumni have a critical role in helping current students explore career options. In return, MSU Law students can play an integral role in helping reinvent the law profession.

Together, MSU Law and its alumni create a brand of a nationally ranked law college with graduates in great demand.

This is why Linna traveled with the MSU Law Office of Advancement team to Chicago in August and Detroit and Grand Rapids alumni events in September and New York in November. Forging relationships with alumni working in the profession will help facilitate the kind of professional networking connections he advocates for students.

“It’s just so important to cultivate those relationships,” Linna said. “By working together, we can advance MSU Law, our students, and the profession.”

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CHANGING ATTITUDES: McCormicks’ Research Makes the New York Times “Once you see something differently, you can’t unsee it,” said Robert McCormick, MSU Law professor emeritus. “That’s what happened to us.”

What Bob and Amy McCormick “saw” was how college athletes were treated. The pair believed these students were missing out on what potentially was the most economically lucrative time in their lives and how, in some cases, their skills were being exploited.

The McCormicks don’t see these athletes as “student-athletes,” the term coined by the NCAA in the 1950s.

Instead, they see them as college and university “employees” who have been denied potential earnings from their athletic prowess and multiple benefits that come from being an employee of universities and colleges.

This was the premise of their 2006 article “The Myth of the StudentAt h lete: The Col le ge A t h let e a s E mploye e” published in the Washington Law Review – a piece of scholarship that was recently cited in a New York Times editorial about the O’Bannon case.

Judge Claudia Wilken agreed with the McCormicks and has not allowed the plaintiff in the case to be defined as a “student-athlete.” Her decision means the student may be eligible for compensation when his name, image or likeness is used to promote college athletic events and ticket sales. It’s one of many cases in various stages of appeal that could change the NCAA rules that guide how students who play sports are treated. Indeed, the McCormicks’ article served as the template for another act ion i nvolv i n g a n e f for t by Northwestern University football players to unionize.

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“Many people think that we’re against sports, and that’s simply not the case,” said Professor Emeritus Amy McCormick, who is a current professor. “We go to football and basketball games and enjoy athletics a great deal, but we’re also concerned about these young people, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Money is being made, but it’s being kept by other people.”

Increasingly, people are beginning to see the same things that the McCormicks realized, and court cases are beginning to be decided in favor of the students. The change is coming much sooner than they expected. Amy McCormick said she thought it would be many years before people even started to accept the idea that students who play sports ought to be eligible for more than scholarships.

“The NCAA eventually will be forced to change some of its rules and regulations,” Bob McCormick predicted.

“And of course, it will be a long, slow process that some will resist. But the more people see the reality of the situation, the more possible change becomes. We’re hopeful, but we’re also realistic.”

Robert and Amy McCormick

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New Professor IMPRESSED WITH STUDENTS Saying that he’s “thrilled to be at the Law College and to have had such a warm reception from his new colleagues,” Professor David Blankfein-Tabachnick is settling into his new office and his first semester of classes.

“I was immediately drawn to the Law College by its international reputation and its superb and highly engaged faculty,” he said. “This is a place where sophisticated, interdisciplinary legal scholarship flourishes, and this is just one of MSU Law’s many competitive advantages.”

Prior to his appointment at MSU Law, Professor BlankfeinTabachnick was a visiting faculty member at Penn State Law and a visiting scholar at the Yale Law School. In addition, he is an affiliated transnational faculty member at the Peking University School of Transnational Law, the first American JD granting law school in China, where he served as a member of the founding faculty.

He holds a PhD in legal and political philosophy from the University of Virginia and an MSL from the Yale Law School.

He’s published extensively in leading law reviews and peer-edited journals on a wide range of topics including taxation and tax policy, contracts, intellectual property, torts and legal, and political theory. His work focuses on private law w ith particular attention to its relationship to questions of taxation and public distributive values.

His recent work on intellectual property was published in the California Law Review with a reply by California Law Professor Robert Merges. His articles have appeared in Cambridge University Press’ Social Philosophy and Policy, and his work on tort law, which originally appeared in the Virginia Law Review, was recently reprinted in Rawls and Law, a collection of articles by acclaimed legal scholars. His articles have been reprinted in Cambridge University Press volumes on taxation and the freedom of association.

Professor Blankfein-Tabachnick’s courses this fall include Decedents’ Estates and Trusts. He says he is really impressed with the students.

“ This is a

David Blankfein-Tabachnick

place where sophisticated, interdisciplinary legal scholarship flourishes, and this is just one of MSU Law’s many competitive advantages.”

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“They are fantastic,” he said. “They ask insightful questions and are very interactive.”

He will teach courses on Taxation and Tax Policy in the spring.

“Questions concerning taxation and tax policy are critical to my research and writing,” he said.

Blank fein-Tabachnick has been working on such questions since 2003 when the Virginia Law Review published “Tax and the Philosopher’s Stone,” a wellreceived piece that provided an extended commentary and a lively perspective on NYU Law Professors Liam Murphy and Thomas Nagel’s book The Myth of Ownership: Taxes and Justice.

An accomplished classroom teacher, he was the recipient of a university-wide teaching award from the University

of Virginia.

“I love training and mentoring legal minds and helping law students publish their student notes and comments,” he said.

“It’s very rewarding to see my students flourish.”

Outside of the classroom, Professor Blankfein-Tabachnick is an avid swimmer, logging three miles a day and has been introduced to the Michigan Athletic Center. He also enjoys dining out with friends and colleagues.

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ALUMNI Profile

Teresa M. Sebastian, ’93

Alumna GRATEFUL FOR HER SCHOLARSHIP

When Teresa Sebastian attended law school, she was not the typical law student.

With ten years of finance experience, an MBA, and two small children, she left her job with Michigan Consolidated Gas and enrolled in 1990 at the Detroit College of Law, now MSU Law. “Ever since I was a little, I wanted to be a corporate attorney, before I really knew what that meant,” she said. “I just knew that when I loaned my sisters money, I needed to get back more than I loaned out - not knowing that I was really charging them interest.”

She graduated magna cum laude from DCL in 1993, a dream that might not have been possible except for a Trustee Scholarship that made quitting her job an option, she explained. Through her law degree, she effectively combined her legal and her corporate careers and became a corporate attorney practicing securities and finance law. She furthered this passion by adding a master of law degree in corporate and finance in 2003.

“It’s one of the primary reasons that I feel it’s so important to become involved with my educational institutions,” Sebastian said. “It’s important to give back and allow today’s students to have the appropriate resources the universities need to create the education today’s students need.”

Since 2010, she has been with Darden Restaurants in Orlando, Florida. Darden owns and operates more than 1,500

restaurants, employs more than 150,000, and features some of the most recognizable and successful brands in full-service dining: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V’s, and Yard House.

Until July 2014, the company also owned Red Lobster. As its senior vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary, and chief compliance officer, she oversees the law, internal audit, and compliance functions and manages about 75 employees.

She has been honored by several service organizations, including the 2012 M&S Atlas Award-Deal of the Year from the Global M&A Network, the Corporate Counsel Women of Color “Diamond Award of Excellence,” and the NBA-CLS Diversity Challenge Award.

She remains true to her childhood passion and finds great happiness in the satisfaction of a job well done.

“Not every day is fine, but every day is satisfying,” she said. “No one should become a lawyer for the money or because it’s a cool profession, but only because one has a passion for the trade.”

And those two small children aren’t so small anymore. Her daughter Simone Sebastian is a deputy editor of the Washington Post and her son George Tunis is a filmmaker and CEO of A2A Productions.

“Neither wanted to become a lawyer, but they found their own passions and are very successful in their own right,” she said.

“ No one should

become a lawyer for the money or because it’s a cool profession, but only because one has a passion for the trade.”

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ALUMNI Profile

Stephen P. Vella, ’82, with his wife Nancy

Stephen and Nancy Vella Among NEWEST CONTRIBUTORS to DCL Plaza

In his career, Stephen Vella spends his days addressing complainants about potential unethical behavior of Michigan attorneys. As counsel for the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission, he investigates and prosecutes attorney misconduct according to the rules established by the Michigan Supreme Court.

“As attorneys, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct and act in an ethical way that generates public trust and respect for our profession,” he said.

“My job is to ensure that attorneys follow that code.”

The best way to help attorneys understand their ethical obligations is to begin training early. He established and supervises a law student internship program at his office; volunteers with the student mentor, moot court, and trial advocacy programs; and guest lectured the Professional Responsibility course at the Michigan State University College of Law. He also is an adjunct professor of the Professional Responsibility class at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. “I enjoy working with the students,” he said. “They are the future of our profession, and I hope more of my colleagues and alumni see that it is time well spent to help prepare them for their careers. It’s a very important part of being a professional.”

Stephen Vella graduated cum laude from the Detroit College of Law in 1982. He participated in the ABA Moot Court competition and served on the school’s Moot Court Executive Board. He said his training equipped him to take on his first position as an associate with the law firm then known as Harvey, Kruse, Western and Milan, where he eventually became a shareholder. In 1996, he joined the staff of the Attorney Grievance Commission.

While working toward his bachelor’s degree in business administraton at Michigan State University, he met his wife Nancy, who graduated with him in 1979.

She is a CPA, certified financial planner, and director with Deloitte Tax. Together, they make regular donations to MSU Law as well as to the business college.

Stephen Vella and his wife Karen are some of the newest donors to support the DCL Plaza, recently making a $10,000 pledge in support.

“We take a long-term approach to our giving,” he said. “Deloitte Tax also offers matching funds for every dollar we donate to the College of Law, which gives our donations a bigger impact.

“I encourage my fellow alumni to investigate if their firms offer a matching funds program. Every dollar helps the College of Law maintain its high standards and continue to offer affordable quality legal education.”

“ Every dollar

helps the College of Law maintain its high standards and continue to offer affordable quality legal education.”

www.law.msu.edu

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ALUMNI Profile

Curtis C. Warner, ’02, with his wife, Kathleen, and their two children

SOLO PRACTITIONER Balances Legal Career and Family

Curtis C. Warner, ’02, didn’t plan to become a solo practitioner after law school, but as owner and founder of the Warner Law Firm in Chicago, he says it’s been a good move to balance his family life and career.

“Being my own boss allows me to actively be involved with my children’s schooling and sports activities,” Curtis said.

As to the practice of law, “The legal profession is tough,” he said. “Solo practice is not for everyone.”

Curtis first began his career as a litigator at Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project, now known as Migrant Legal Aid, in Grand Rapids. It was in Grand Rapids where he met his wife Kathleen, who after finishing a federal judicial clerkship accepted an offer from a large international law firm in Chicago. The two dated for two years before Curtis moved to Chicago after accepting employment with a consumer class action law firm.

“I learned a lot while I was with them,” he explained, “I was able to do some work that helped consumers who were being taken advantage of.”

Some of the work he is most proud of started during his own experience with MSU Law Rental Housing Clinic, where he developed his passion for helping people with their own financial and legal challenges. In one case Curtis took on a pro bono basis upon opening up his firm and co-counseling with the Legal Aid Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago helped an elderly woman achieve a six-figure settlement with several banking institutions and won a five-figure verdict at

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trial against the only fraudster who could be found after she lost her house.

“She thought she was signing a loan to make home repairs,” Curtis said. “Instead, she was signing over her home and no one was checking the papers. They stole her house from her and no one caught it or questioned why hundreds of thousands of dollars where transferred for ‘repairs’ leaving the ‘seller’ with no proceeds from a home she had 100 percent equity in.”

Curtis urges MSU Law students to gain as much clinical experience as possible, to focus on preparation and writing, and always look for ways to gain experience.

“The classes I valued the most weren’t just learning about the law, they were focused on doing the work,” Curtis said.

Curtis recently argued two cases before the Seventh Circuit, which were later consolidated. He has been appointed class counsel in several consumer class actions brought in the federal courts of Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana.

Curtis is an involved supporter of Atia’s Project Ladybug Fund, helping children who are undergoing cancer treatment at Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago. He also supports the Chicago-area scholarship efforts at MSU Law and believes it’s important to give back either by volunteering or in the form of philanthropy.

He lives in the Chicago metropolitan area with Kathleen and their two children.

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FACULTY Profile

MSU Law Professors Recognized for SERVICE-LEARNING AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT MSU Law faculty members Jennifer Rosa and Veronica Thronson were recognized this fall for their innovative and sustained contributions in connecting students with servicebased learning opportunities. The MSU Center for ServiceLearning and Civic Engagement, in partnership with the Office of the Associate Provost for University Outreach and Engagement, annually recognizes faculty members for their collaborative efforts.

Professor Jennifer Rosa directs the Street Law program at MSU Law. Established in 2009, Street Law participants use interactive instructional techniques to teach constitutional law, individual rights, criminal law, and the basic elements of the legal system to students in Lansing high schools.

Professor Veronica Thronson joined the MSU Law faculty in 2010 to establish and direct the Immigration Law Clinic.

Professor Veronica Thronson

Professor Jennifer Rosa

Student clinicians serve a diverse population of refugees and unaccompanied minors from around the world, and have represented clients from nearly 67 countries.

Service-based learning opportunities provide law students with the chance to apply their classroom knowledge and instill an ethic of public service in the legal profession.

Wease Returns TO MSU CLINIC For Joshua Wease, an opportunity to join the ranks of professors at MSU L aw Cl i n ics was a n opportunity to come home. And not even the commute from his home in the Grand Rapids area could deter his decision to join the law college.

Joshua Wease, ’04 JD, LLM He first came to MSU in 1990.

He completed an undergraduate degree in psychology in 1995.

While employed as a website and database administrator at MSU, he completed his JD in 2004. His first position after law school was as the Equal Justice Works Public Interest Law Fellow at the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic.

He also earned an LLM from the Beasley School of Law at Temple University.

www.law.msu.edu

Professor Wease believes that clinical education is a fantastic opportunity for students to get their first experience at law practice.

“They learn how to interact with clients, to manage a caseload, and to solve real-world tax problems,” he said.

Along with his teaching, he is beginning to build his research on tax reform. He is also developing a computer application that will help clinical faculty assess and evaluate students and provide more timely feedback to the students.

His goals include maintaining the strong reputation of the clinic, increasing public outreach to Michigan’s low-income population, developing a student-driven web site for reliable, accurate information about tax compliance and self-help problem resolution.

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Detroit Bankruptcy Judge REFLECTS ON “UNPRECEDENTED” CASE Two days before his historic decision in November, the Honorable Steve W. Rhodes, U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge, came to MSU Law to talk about the case and his role.

He could not talk about his decision to allow Detroit to exit bankruptcy, but Rhodes did discuss and respond to questions for nearly 90 minutes on a number of decisions he’d already ruled on and legal issues that likely will carry statewide and national implications about future municipality bankruptcy cases.

Rhodes called the Detroit case “unprecedented” for a number of reasons: the political backdrop; the speed at which the settlements have been reached with creditors; the use of mediation; the so-called Grand Bargain that brought in more than $460 million from foundations; intense media scrutiny; and the roles of state and city political leaders.

“Bankruptcy was not a voluntary act by the city of Detroit,” Rhodes explained. “That made a lot of people in Detroit really mad. They felt their city was being taken away from them.”

Questions about the Detroit Institute of Art and its collection of art, Detroit’s underfunded pension system and contributions from the state of Michigan all played out in a court that Rhodes felt had to be transparent for the media.

“The smartest thing I ever did, and the first thing I ever did, was get a mediator,” Rhodes said.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen, Rhodes’ boss, became the mediator and created what became known as the “Grand Bargain.”

“He had the weight of his office, the political connections, the grit, the determination and the love for Detroit,” Rhodes explained. “He put the Grand Bargain together . . . . It was unprecedented in bankruptcy cases or in any kind of mediation for a mediator to go outside the parties of the case and get additional money that resolved the debts.”

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Judge Rosen’s efforts saved the pensions of some 20,000 retirees from substantial cuts. Instead, police, fire and other uniformed safety workers will not see a cut in base pension, but a cut in cost of living increases. Other retirees will see a 4.5 percent cut in their base pension and cuts in cost of living increases.

The mediated settlements didn’t always go as planned. The first time Rhodes rejected a settlement, “there was a woodshed involved,” Rhodes explained as the audience laughed. “But I did get a free dinner out of it.”

Ultimately, the two men came to an understanding of their roles in the case and worked through the difficulties. Rhodes does know that his decision on Friday will commend all the attorneys and legal professionals who worked on the case.

“It has been a dream case, with interesting issues and good lawyers who have been civil, respectful, zealous advocates,” Rhodes said. “I certainly do intend to express my appreciation to the lawyers for their service.”

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A MESSAGE from the Office of Advancement Dear Alumni and Friends, It’s been a busy and great year at MSU Law. The Office of Advancement hosted more than 25 events and outreach activities. More than 1,200 alumni and friends joined us and Dean Joan Howarth in Boca Raton, Orlando, Sarasota, Bonita Springs, Naples, Chicago, Washington D.C., Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and East Lansing.

As you can see, MSU Law alumni are in many places, and we are glad to bring MSU Law to you so that you can stay connected to what is happening at your law alma mater. I have said it before yet it is worth repeating, our alumni are invaluable to the success of the future of the legal profession.

We need you to meet with newly accepted students and encourage them to follow through and attend MSU Law. We need you to open the doors to hiring law firms and hire our graduates; we need you to continue to judge moot court and ADR competitions. We need you to give back in the form of philanthropy.

On page 16 of Amicus, you can read more about the College’s Capital Campaign fund-raising efforts Empower Extraordinary across campus and at MSU Law. Our goals are ambitious, and our needs are great. We have fabulous and generous alumni and friends whom I know will step up to make significant gifts that accomplish their philanthropic vision and help MSU Law achieve its mission at the same time.

Thank you for your continued interest and support. We will provide you with periodic campaign updates as things progress.

Warm regards,

Tina Kashat Casoli Director, Office of Advancement

www.law.msu.edu

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Supporting the COLLEGE OF LAW

Capital Campaign Announced

$13 MILLION RAISED TO DATE “ MSU College of Law needs our help. As alumni we have an opportunity to make a difference and Empower Extraordinary. Our goal is to raise $23 million over the next four years which aligns with the campaign efforts at Michigan State University. Please make a gift today and join me in reaching our goal.”

— MSU Law Board President Emeritus Clif Haley, ’61

MSU College of Law joins MSU in formally launching the Capital Campaign Empower Extraordinary. Announcements occurred during festivities at MSU in late October, where members of the Campaign Committee met to energize and develop plans for ongoing fundraising and engagement among alumni and friends.

“MSU Law has been fundraising for this effort over the past four years during the quiet stage of the campaign,” said Tina Kashat Casoli, director of the MSU Law Office of Advancement.

“During that time, fundraising priorities are developed and goals are set, all while fundraising is underway.”

MSU Law has a goal of $23 million with more than $13 million already raised from generous alumni and friends. The campaign will take place through fiscal year 2018.

MSU Law Board President Emeritus Clif Haley, ’61, and Trustee Jennifer Poteat, ’04, are serving as co-chairs of the campaign.

Dean Joan W. Howarth said. “This fund-raising campaign will allow us to achieve some of the priorities set forth to improve facilities, scholarship, endowments, and other efforts crucial to graduating top students who are the future of the legal profession.”

Scholarship is one of the most critical areas of need. MSU Law students graduate with law school debt over six figures, not including any undergraduate loans. More than $5 million in scholarship support is needed.

Other priorities include: Endowments for our Clinics and Faculty: This will provide financial support that remains in perpetuity. MSU Law lags behind its peer institutions in the number of professorships and program endowments.

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“ We know what a great twentieth century law school looks like – we’ve seen the lecture halls, the imperious Professor Kingsfields in life and on the movie screen, and the ivy. But the great twenty-first century law school is just now being envisioned, built on a dynamic private-public partnership forged when a private law school—the Detroit College of Law—affiliated with a powerhouse land-grant university—Michigan State University.”

— Joan W. Howarth, Dean and Professor of Law

Technology, Facilities and Programs: To keep our facilities top-notch, they need updates: routine repairs and refurbishing of carpets, furniture, and cosmetic features. In addition, we seek resources for state-of-the-art hardware and software that our students need to be ready to take on their first assignment right out of MSU Law. A new Detroit College of Law Commemorative Plaza: This plaza will honor our founding institution’s accomplishments, add a welcoming patio area, and create a new main entrance to the college.

This campaign offers donors an opportunity to help define the twenty-first century law school—building on the strengths of the Detroit College of Law and MSU. MSU Law’s future impact will be both immediate and long-lasting, both nationally and globally—especially here in Michigan. Progress in the public or private sectors cannot take place without skillful knowledge and use of the law.

“Our alumni and friends are invaluable when it comes to giving back of their time and talent, and with this campaign, their resources,” Casoli said. “Now is the time to invest in your law alma mater. Give back to scholarships if you received one as a student. Help preserve the legacy of DCL by supporting the Plaza effort or make an unrestricted gift so that Dean Howarth can use your support for the most critical areas.”

Gifts of cash, securities, simple bequests through your will and planned gifts such as charitable gift annuities (see page 26) are all welcome and important to the campaign.

“Giving back in the form of your time or your philanthropic support should be a natural extension to all alumni. The stronger our law college, the more valuable our law degree becomes. I hope that you will join us in this effort.”

— Trustee Jennifer Poteat, ’04

www.law.msu.edu

To make a gift or become involved in the campaign, contact Tina Kashat Casoli at (517) 432-6840 or via email casoli@law.msu.edu.

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Supporting the COLLEGE OF LAW

ALUMNUS DONATION FUNDS FIRST MSU LAW FULL TUITION SCHOLARSHIP; Honors the Memory of His Father

Harold Beznos, Class of ’64

Fifty years ago, Harold Beznos, Class of ’64, earned his JD from policies. For several years, his multi-lingual ability paved Detroit College of Law – and in celebration, is honoring the Samuel’s road to success, and he was even honored as the memory of his father, Samuel Beznos, by funding a three-year, number one insurance salesperson in the country in his field. full-tuition scholarship, a first for MSU Law. Samuel’s interest in real estate investment began after “My father helped to improve the lives of many people. He buying and reselling a house. Starting Bird Realty on was very interested in education and donated Woodward Avenue in the 1940s, he worked to various schools, as well as to charities,” I’m doing this as a real estate broker, buying and selling Harold said. “He also felt strongly that if you scholarship program houses, investing in apartments and small were successful in business, it was important to honor the memory shopping centers, and investing in land to help others in need of a helping hand.” contracts, a method of financing homes in of my father, inspired In his native Poland, Samuel and his the ’40s and ’50s, through private investors family bought and sold wheat and other by his example to rather than banks. commodities. But when he and his fiancée, support someone “Buying a house was a more personal Faye, decided the future in their homeland process at that time, not the remote process with high ethical it is today,” Harold explained. “My father was questionable, Faye joined relatives in New York, gained U.S. citizenship and then standards who may worked closely with his customers and if returned to Poland where and when they wed. need assistance, and someone missed payments because he or she Immigrating to the United States in 1935, who will become a was laid off or sick, my father helped them Samuel and Faye settled in Detroit where by postponing or restructuring their debt.” good lawyer with relatives lived. At the height of the Great At age 15, Harold started working for his Depression, finding work was difficult. respect for the law, father, closely observing his talents and his Samuel tried to secure a job at Ford Motor code of ethics, and admiration and respect for the law.

Company in Highland Park – but found the Constitution.

“My father understood the law and was himself in an endless, unmoving line of other more sophisticated than the average real hopefuls. estate broker, entrepreneurial enough to modify standard Undeterred, Samuel returned to sales, selling merchandise contracts for his use,” he recalled. such as ties and housewares. One day as he sold ties in a Samuel is a true American success story who left an amazing bar/restaurant, the regional manager for American National legacy of entrepreneurship and work ethic for his family and Insurance Company was so impressed with his salesmanship community. and ability to speak several languages – including German, “He understood we had a country ruled by laws, not men – Ukrainian and Polish – that he offered him a job selling debit and was proud to live in a country that believed in the rights

“

”

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of its citizens and small government, one that encouraged entrepreneurship and the belief that if you worked hard you could achieve great things,” Harold said. “I respected my father’s conservative principles of law and what it meant to live in a country that had a legal system that worked.”

Samuel counted judges and lawyers amongst his friends and gave many young lawyers a helping hand by providing office space and referring real estate clients who needed help with the legalities of buying a house, filling out tax returns, and other legal issues.

He also encouraged Harold – who joined his father’s business full time after earning his bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Michigan – to enroll at Detroit College of Law. When his father fell ill and was unable to work full time, Harold and his brother Norman became involved in the day-to-day business. Samuel, by then, had altered the course of the business. He had purchased several vacant parcels of property, including one in Southfield.

“I spent time in the real estate office, attended law school, studied, and worked at having the Southfield parcel rezoned to permit the construction of an apartment project,” Harold said.

Once this was accomplished, the Beznos family, with a partner, built its first project in Southfield, which helped launch Harold’s career as a lawyer and as a real estate developer with his brothers, Norman and Jerry.

“My father’s coaching, and my law degree, laid the foundation of our business today,” Harold said.

After his father’s death in 1966, Harold worked with other lawyers to settle the estate. He met attorney Jerry Luptak and asked him to finish the estate matters.

www.law.msu.edu

“I was very impressed with Jerry’s knowledge of the law and how dignified and articulate he was,” Harold said. “We had an instantaneous exchange of ideas, which developed into a lifelong friendship and business partnership that continued until his recent death. My DCL degree along with my BBA, and the experience I gained working with my father and brothers, were instrumental in developing this partnership.”

Jerry Luptak and Harold co-founded The Beztak Companies, a real estate development and property management company, where Harold and his brothers, Norman and Jerry, are still active and where his son, Sam, is following in Harold and Samuel’s footsteps.

Beztak’s first acquisition was the purchase of the Buhl Realty Company in the late 1960s – at that time, one of the largest real estate acquisitions in the history of Michigan.

Beztak has since grown to include developing and building single family homes, independent senior living communities, apartment complexes, commercial retail and office buildings, and also has branched out into the banking industry and industrial manufacturing businesses.

Knowledge learned at Detroit College of Law was crucial in helping his career in business and real estate, Harold explained: “I’m doing this scholarship program to honor the memory of my father, inspired by his example to support someone with high ethical standards who may need assistance, and who will become a good lawyer with respect for the law, code of ethics, and the Constitution. The need for good lawyers is greater than ever, because of the complexity of our legal system and laws.”

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Your Gifts In Action Twice a year, MSU College of Law awards donorfunded scholarship support to deserving law students. With the average student debt load reaching six figures, scholarship support is more important now than ever before. The help of generous alumni and friends, provides many students the opportunity to achieve their dreams of becoming attorneys. Below are a few sample stories.

Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute’s Bernard J. Fieger Scholarship The Bernard J. Fieger Scholarship is awarded to the most promising students in the Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute entering class. This year’s recipients went to two outstanding students: Patricia Jjemba, 2L, and Devon Shallman, 2L. “During my time at MSU College of Law, I have developed a strong interest Devon Shallman, 2L in litigation. Receiving the Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute’s Bernard J. Fieger Scholarship affords me the freedom to develop this interest further by augmenting my classes with internships and volunteer opportunities. Moreover, it allows me to devote time to extracurriculars that will help hone my litigation skills, like competing with the Moot Court Trial Advocacy Board at the Case Classic Mock Trial Competition in November. I am incredibly thankful to have been awarded this scholarship and am looking forward to a beneficial experience in the Trial Practice Institute.” Devon Shallman, 2L

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Jewish Legal Society Scholarship This spring, Aaron Chapman, 3L, and Leah Hurvitz, 3L, both received a scholarship from the Jewish Legal Society. These two students are hardworking and enjoy giving back to their communities. They will be able to help more people after graduation without having such a burden of law school tuition because of donors like you.

“Being awarded the Jewish Legal Society Scholarship will allow me to continue my legal education, and will allow me to continue to focus on my studies and worry less about how to pay for them. All law students incur financial debt in one form or the other; being honored with this scholarship makes my ability to complete my Aaron Chapman, 3L degree more feasible.”

– Aaron Chapman, 3L “Throughout my course study in undergrad and my professional experiences, I have gained a strong interest and passion for government and public policy work. I strive to help others and make a difference in someone’s life. By receiving the JLS Scholarship I will be able to continue my dream and passion to help others, while not worrying as much about the cost of living.”

– Leah Hurvitz, 3L

Leah Hurvitz, 3L

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Through Scholarships “ . . . this scholarship was just one example of the outstanding support I received throughout my — Mary Elizabeth Oshei, ’14 law school education.”

Stokes-Hoffman LGBT Scholarship

Washington DC Scholarship

The Stokes-Hoffman LGBT Scholarship recently was awarded to an active member in good standing of the Triangle Bar Association. The first recipient of this scholarship was Mary Elizabeth Oshei, a 2014 graduate.

“As a graduating 3L, I was awarded the Stokes-Hoffman scholarship just in time for bar study. This scholarship helped offset my considerable bar exam expenses, which enabled me to study full time and to really focus my summer on passing the exam. Without the generous support of Mr. Stokes and Mr. Hoffman, I would have needed to work full time. Any bar applicant knows that is not the best position to be in to pass the exam. I am so grateful to Mr. Stokes, Mr. Hoffman, and to MSU Law, because this scholarship was just one example of the outstanding support I received throughout my law school education.”

The Washington DC Scholarship was awarded to Taylor Strosnider, a 3L who participated in a DC Externship program this past spring. Taylor had the opportunity to extern in the Government Appellate Division of the United States Army Legal Services.

“I entered law school in an effort to give back to the community I love and to proudly serve my country.

This scholarship helps alleviate the financial burden of turning this dream into a reality.”

Taylor Strosnider, 3L

Other scholarships awarded in spring 2014:

Lauren Fritz, ’14

www.law.msu.edu

Nicholas Wittner Endowed Scholarship in Memory of Robert C. Trojanowicz

State Bar of Michigan Health Care Law Section Academic Achievement Award Alexa Schneider, 3L

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Past,Present ALUMNI GATHER TO HONOR 50-YEAR GRADUATES; (from left) Gayle Victor with Howard J. Victor, ’77; Trustee Charles Langton, ’87, with Lisa Langton, ’88; and Trustee Mayer Morganroth, ’54

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(from left) Aliya Sabree, ’10; Steve Cooley, ’12; and Robert Carollo, Jr., ’12

1. (from left) Dean Joan Howarth, President Emeritus Richard W. Heiss, ’63, with Nancy Heiss; Hon. James Kersten, ’81; Joseph Campbell, ’11; Trustee Mayer Morganroth, ’54; Hon. Kurt Kersten, ’53; Marlene Toby with Charles Toby, ’64

More than 150 alumni and friends gathered at Comerica Park’s Tiger Club on Friday, September 19, 2014, for the MSU Law: Past, Present, and Future Class Reunion Celebration. This year’s event honored all alumni from Detroit College of Law and MSU College of Law and paid special honor to DCL graduates from the class of 1964, commemorating their 50th anniversary.

and Future REUNITE FOR ANNUAL REUNION CELEBRATION

Ernest Smith and Jevona Watson, ’04

News reporter Charlie Langton, ’87, “cross-examined” many guests including Alayiah Sabree, ’10, who shared her appreciation for retired Prof. Robert Filitrault, noting he was a great support and always available to answer questions and provide guidance.

Next year’s reunion will take place next year in September. The event will specially recognize graduates from class years ending in 5 and 0. If you are interested in serving on the host committee and encouraging your classmates to attend, contact April Jones at jonesap@law.msu.edu. (from left) Bobby Ficklin, Jr., ’11; Barnet Levine, ’13; Adam Sabree, ’11; and Joseph Campbell, ’11

LAW FIRM

Raises Support and Alumni Involvement

The fifth annual Law Firm Challenge launched in June, kicking off a unique opportunity for alumni to support their law alma mater. This year’s challenge follows a successful fourth year in which 31 participating firms collectively raised more than $200,000 for MSU Law, including gifts from alumni who worked at participating firms. The Challenge had an overall participation rate of 55 percent.

The Law Firm Challenge uses friendly competition among firms to raise awareness of the value of giving back to MSU Law and provides a fun networking opportunity for graduates. Firms and businesses with three or more alumni are encouraged to participate. Team captains help support the target of 100 percent participation within each firm.

Law Firm Challenge participants may designate gifts to support any number of programs and initiatives. Options include the DCL Plaza, Alumni Association Scholarship, the Dean’s Fund for Excellence, and scholarship funds for the Black Law Students Association, Clinical Programs, the Michigan State Law Review, Moot Court, Trial Advocacy Board, and many more.

Congratulations to the following firms for achieving 100 percent participation: 1. Center Management Services 2. Fedor, Camargo & Weston 3. Miller Johnson Snell & Cummiskey 4. Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge 5. Traverse Legal

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Participating Firms: Berry Moorman Bodman Center Management Services Clark Hill Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler Dickinson Wright Dykema Gossett Fedor, Camargo & Weston Foster Swift Collins & Smith G. Reynolds Sims and Associates Gasiorek, Morgan, Greco & McCauley Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton Harness, Dickey & Pierce Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti & Sherbrook Frank R. Langton & Associates Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth & Heller Michigan Attorney General’s Office Michigan Auto Law Miller Canfield Orlans Plunkett Cooney Quinn Law Group Rutledge, Manion, Rabaut, Terry and Thomas Secrest Wardle Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge Sommers Schwartz Traverse Legal Varnum Warner Norcross & Judd Amicus | W I N T ER 2 01 4

Alumni Reception

SPARKS GREAT DCL MEMORIES More than 50 alumni and friends gathered at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club to learn more about preserving the legacy of Detroit College of Law at a reception on September 24, 2014.

Doug Dempsey, ’88, along with Wayne County 3rd Circuit Court Judge Annette Berry, ‘88, hosted attendees who had the opportunity to reminisce about the excellent education they received at DCL. They also had a chance to express their sadness that DCL and the name no longer exist, but alumni understand how far their alma mater has grown now as MSU College of Law. “The value of our law degrees have increased dramatically since DCL affiliated with MSU,” said Audrey Monaghan, ’90, who also hosted the event. “DCL is in a much better place with many, many more opportunities for our students. My daughter graduated from MSU Law last year, and she received a fine education that is on par with other excellent law schools.”

www.law.msu.edu

Dean Joan Howarth spoke about the values from DCL that carried over to MSU Law: opportunity and access.

“Entrance into DCL may have been easy, but graduating was hard,” she said. “Our DCL graduates received a rigorous education, and the faculty was immersed in the profession. We graduated top judges, attorneys, and business professionals – many of whom are top in their field. We are proud of them and welcome their involvement at MSU Law.” Judge Berry is one of many ambassadors for the DCL Plaza project which will help connect DCL alumni to the MSU Law Building and honors MSU Law’s history.

“I am proud to be affiliated with MSU Law, and I am looking forward to helping support current students in their career efforts,” Judge Berry said. “I encourage all alumni to take part in honoring the heritage of Detroit College of Law.”

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KEEP MSU LAW in Your Estate Charitable Giving You’ve worked hard. You’ve achieved success with your law degree. Now you have the opportunity to give back. You can make a difference to the future of your law alma mater and the legal profession. Consider leaving a lasting legacy through a future gift incorporated within and, often times, enhancing your personal estate plans. Whether you graduated from Detroit College of Law in downtown Detroit or since the Law College’s move to Michigan State University in East Lansing, there are as many giving opportunities as there are avenues of interest for our alumni and friends. MSU Law welcomes gifts of all sizes.

One of the most popular and efficient ways to support MSU Law is with a charitable bequest. A charitable bequest simply designates MSU Law as a beneficiary with a specific amount or percent in your will, personal trust, or other estate plan.

It also allows you to retain full use of your assets throughout your lifetime. You are not locked into commitments that eliminate future financial options or opportunities.

Contact the Office of Advancement at alumni@law.msu.edu or (517) 432-6840.

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Your gift to MSU College of Law can: • Provide student scholarships • Support a department, program, or student organization of your choosing • Create your personal named endowment

Benefits of a charitable bequest: • No out-of-pocket costs • Flexibility that allows you to change your bequest arrangement • Retain use of your assets during your lifetime • Recognition during your life in Amicus and other promotional materials

Three easy steps to a meaningful bequest: • Decide what impact you would like your legacy to have.

• Consult an attorney to create or modify your will or personal trust. Development professionals in the Office of Advancement can provide you with bequest language.

• Ensure your future gift intentions are understood at MSU Law by working with advancement staff to prepare a gift agreement.

Paul J. Lay, ’69, and Carol Lockwood Lay Memorial Scholarship Fund

Rodney M. and Muriel Lockwood Scholarship Fund

Paul and Carol Lay support two scholarship funds at MSU Law College. During his career, Paul recognized how helpful and important it had been for him to hold both MBA and JD degrees. The couple wished to create opportunities for students and to highlight MSU Law’s dual JD/MBA degree program. They worked with advancement staff to prepare a gift agreement that established the endowed scholarship fund with the understanding that assets from their IRA will one day fund the scholarship. Using funds from IRAs also provides tremendous tax advantages. Paul said he and Carol are stunned by the financial challenges created these days for most students wishing to obtain a law degree. It is their wish to help these students.

They established these funds as their personal commitment to the betterment of MSU Law. Scholarship recipients will be selected with preference given to students participating in the JD/MBA dual degree program who have an above average academic record, strong work background, and demonstrated financial need.

Also set up by the Lays, this endowed scholarship honors Rodney M. Lockwood, ’33 and Muriel Lockwood. Rodney served as law partner for decades before he began work to develop and build residential homes. Muriel was a social worker in the city of Detroit. Deeply valuing a law school education, they established this endowed scholarship fund, which was enhanced by additional gifts from family and friends.

(from left) Paul J. Lay ’69, Dean Joan Howarth, and Carol Lockwood Lay

To set up a charitable bequest or include MSU Law in your will or estate plans, contact a member of the Office of Advancement at (517) 432-6840 or email alumni@law.msu. edu. You can also visit www.law.msu.edu/advancement for more information.

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Chicago Alums Gather,

GENERATE SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT More than 50 alumni attended the recent Chicago Area Alumni Reception at the law firm of Seyfarth Shaw. The guests enjoyed connecting and networking with fellow alumni and friends, all while raising money for the Chicago Area Scholarship which supports law students from the area.

More than $700 was raised for the scholarship that will be awarded this fall.

“I look forward to attending more of these events,” said John Conniff, ’11, a new member of the Alumni Association Board. “I love learning more about what my alma mater is doing to raise scholarship funding, as well as how I can help and give back, whether it be my time or resources.”

Thank you to the host committee: John E. Clady II, ’01, Octavio Duran, ’11, Colleen Kelly Gomos, ’07, and Jacqueline Boulin-Romain, ’12.

Sam Mass, ’10, and John Conniff, ’11, enjoyed reconnecting with fellow classmates as well as meeting new alumni and friends from Chicago

Chicago area alumni and current Alumni Association Board members Beverly Helm, ’80, Octavio Duran, Jr, ’11, Colleen Kelley Gomos, ’07, and Anthony Becknek, ‘11, enjoyed the view from the law office of Seyfarth Shaw

FUND STARTED TO HONOR Professor Roumell MSU College of Law is pleased to recognize Professor George Roumell’s distinguished career teaching labor and arbitration law as an adjunct at MSU Law since 1957. Thanks to the generosity of the Ravitz Foundation and many alumni and friends, a fund has been created to honor his service.

MSU Law will plan a reception in his honor in 2015. Donors and friends will be invited. You may make a gift in his honor, by visiting http://www.law.msu.edu/donate and designate your gift for Professor Roumell. Should you wish to speak with a member of the Office of Advancement, contact Director Tina Kashat Casoli at casoli@law.msu.edu or (517) 432-6840.

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ALUMNI & FRIENDS TEE OFF

in Support of Student Scholarship Programs

This year’s Alumni Association Golf Outing was a huge success thanks to many sponsors and players who supported the August event at Forest Akers West in East Lansing.

Nearly $38,000 was raised to support the MSU College of Law Alumni Association Scholarship and other programs including student outreach initiatives, bar exam meals, and more.

“We greatly appreciate the effort that members of the Alumni Association Board put into this year’s event,” said Tina Kashat Casoli, director of the MSU Law Office of Advancement.

“Members worked very hard to secure sponsorships in an effort to increase support to their alma mater.”

Save the date for the 18th Annual Alumni Association Golf Outing on August 7, 2015, at Forest Akers-West in East Lansing.

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LAW COLLEGE HONORS ALUMNI, FRIENDS AT DONOR RECOGNITION EVENT Michigan State University College of Law saluted members of the Circle of Friends for their generosity to MSU Law. Donors who recently joined the President’s Club by making a gift or pledge of $10,000 or more of lifetime giving and members who moved giving levels received special recognition for their gifts of time and treasure. Current students who received scholarship funding also attended to connect with benefactors and share their experience about how much the scholarships have helped them.

Special thanks to Geoffrey N. Fieger, ’79, and Keenie Fieger who hosted the 2014 Circle of Friends event at their home.

(from left) Jason Weiner, ’10, Trustee Mayer (Mike) Morganroth, ’54.

www.law.msu.edu

Geoffrey N. Fieger, ’79, and Keenie Fieger opened their lovely home in Bloomfield Hills to nearly 100 alumni and guests in May 2014.

( from left) Dean Joan W. Howarth with MSU Law students Jake Satin, Daphne Bugelli, 2L, and Karlie Kashat, MSU class of 2014.

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CIRCLE OF FRIENDS Donor Societies Many thanks to the following members of Michigan State Law’s Circle of Friends Donor Societies for their cumulative, lifetime giving.

John J. Danhof Society $1 Million and Above Mr. Donald L. Castle Sr.†, ’36, and Mrs. Edna P. Castle† Mr. John A. Downs II†, ’43, and Mrs. Clover E. Downs† Mr. Geoffrey N. Fieger, ’79, and Mrs. Keenie Fieger President Emeritus Clif Haley, ’61, and Mrs. Carolyn A. Haley Mr. James L. Mattison† and Mrs. Bertha Mattison† Board Chair Linda Waggoner Orlans, ’87 Trustee Emeritus John F. Schaefer, ’69, and Mrs. Marta Schaefer

Charles H. King Society $500,000 to $999,999 Mr. L. D. MacLean†, ’55, and Mrs. Frances MacLean Ms. Lori E. Talsky, ’96, and Mr. Alan S. Zekelman Mr. Irvin H. Yackness†, ’41, and Mrs. June Yackness†

A.J. Thomas Society $250,000 to $499,999 FINRA Investor Education Foundation Mr. Paul J. Lay, ’69, and Mrs. Carol L. Lay Mr. Harry B. Letzer †, ’26 Prof. Emeritus Edward J. Littlejohn, ’70 Mr. Glenn C. Wilber†, ’33

Heritage Club $100,000 to $249,999 Anonymous Mr. John A. Allen†, ’33, and Mrs. Bernice Allen† Ms. Irene R. Andes† Mr. Harold Beznos, ’64 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Coleman Foundation, Inc. Mr. J. Bernard Dawsey†, ’35 Dewitt C. Holbrook Memorial Foundation Hon. Daniel M. Downey, ’76, and Mrs. Dawana Downey Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Mr. Samuel P. Frankel†, ’35, and Mrs. Jean Frankel† Mr. Harold H. Gordon†, ’51, and Mrs. Marion T. Gordon† Trustee Emeritus Richard W. Heiss, ’63, and Mrs. Nancy J. Heiss Dean Joan W. Howarth and Ms. Carmen Estrada Ida & Benjamin Alpert Foundation InData Corporation Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss Prof. Emeritus Clark C. Johnson, LLD ’02 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Kresge Foundation Trustee Charles E. Langton, ’87, and Mrs. Lisa A. Langton, ’88 Trustee Emeritus Norman L. Lippitt, ’60 Mr. Peter J. Lucido, ’88, and Mrs. Ann Marie Lucido Ms. Jean A. Marson†, ’72 Ms. Lilyan I. Marx† Mr. Gerald McKessy†, ’33 Mr. Mayer Morganroth, ’54, and Mrs. Sheila Morganroth Trustee Michael G. Morris, ’81, and Mrs. Linda C. Morris MSU College of Law Alumni Association Mr. Willard E. Munro and Mrs. Marion J. Munro† Mr. Harold W. Oehmke†, ’72, and Mrs. Elizabeth Oehmke† Open Society Institute Mr. Perry W. Richwine†, ’27, and Mrs. Janet H. Richwine† Sydney and Elizabeth Ross Family Foundation Mr. John R. Selecky†, ’77 Trustee David J. Sparrow†, ’51 Hon. Richard F. Suhrheinrich, ’63, and Mrs. Beverly Suhrheinrich

†

30

Mr. Richard J. Thoma†, ’32 Mr. Richard N. Wiener, ’76, and Mrs. Rajkumari M. Wiener Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Inc.

Founders Club $50,000 to $99,999 Anonymous Mr. Alan T. Ackerman and Mrs. Sharyl Ackerman Animal Legal Defense Fund Arcus Foundation Mr. Michael Berry, ’50, and Mrs. Cynthia A. Berry Ms. Alice R. Bishop† Trustee Jean P. Carl, ’68† Ms. Margaret Carrigan† Mr. Joseph A. Cassese†, ’24 Chicago Title & Trust Company Mr. David W. Christensen, ’72 Consumers Energy Foundation Col. Thomas P. Dickinson†, ’28, and Mrs. Eloise E. Dickinson† Ms. Jenifer M. Franklin, ’97 General Motors Foundation Hal & Jean Glassen Memorial Foundation Mr. Paul L. Greer†, ’51, and Mrs. Jacqueline Murphy Greer Prof. Catherine M. Grosso and Mr. Stephen P. Gasteyer Prof. Michele L. Halloran and Mr. Robert W. Halloran Trustee Emeritus Edwin W. Jakeway, ’61, and Mrs. Suzanne Jakeway Trustee Charles A. Janssen and Mrs. Lea Anne L. Janssen Mr. Bruce A. Kirk†, ’35 McGregor Fund Mr. Julian G. McIntosh†, ’28, and Mrs. Vera McIntosh† Michigan State Bar Foundation Mr. Robert V. Parenti, ’51, and Mrs. Laurie Parenti† Mr. John D. Pirich and Mrs. Mary Beth Pirich Ravitz Foundation Trustee Emeritus Kenneth J. Robinson Ms. M. Jean Sells† Mr. Burt Shifman Mr. S. Gary Spicer, ’69 Taxpayer Advocate Service Vital Projects Fund, Inc.

Benefactors Club $25,000 to $49,999 Anonymous Allstate Foundation Mr. George N. Bashara Jr.†, ’60, and Mrs. Suzanne Bashara Mr. D. Bruce Beaton, ’81 Mr. James Cyril P. Beattie†, ’24 Trustee Raymond R. Behan, ’60, and Mrs. Lorraine Behan Mr. James S. Bicknell III†, ’54, and Mrs. Doris Bicknell Mr. G. Cameron Buchanan†, ’30, and Mrs. Helen Buchanan† Butler Family Fund Trustee Emeritus Joseph J. Buttigieg III, ’75, and Mrs. Mary K. Buttigieg† Mr. Russell A. Buyers, ’65, and Mrs. Sue Ellen Buyers Canadian Consulate General Capital Region Community Foundation Mr. Peter J. Carras, ’62, and Mrs. Barbara D. Carras Center For Death Penalty Litigation, Inc. Chrysler Corporation Fund Clark Hill PLC Prof. Emeritus Charles H. Clarke† and Mrs. Leticia G. Clarke Hon. Avern Cohn and Mrs. Lois Cohn Mr. Russel J. Comer†, ’31 Mr. Timothy J. Conroy, ’58, and Mrs. Janet P. Conroy

Mr. Edward C. Dawda, ’77, and Mrs. Alice I. Buckley, ’79 Mr. Daniel J. Desmet, ’85 Prof. David S. Favre and Mrs. Martha E. Favre Federal Mogul Corporation Trustee Elaine Fieldman, ’76 Prof. Emeritus Robert M. Filiatrault, ’70, and Mrs. Mary H. Christy Mr. Peter B. Fletcher Ford Motor Company Fund Mr. Kim Adam Gasior, ’85, and Mrs. Diane Kay Gasior Mr. William B. Giles† Mr. Philip F. Greco†, ’44, and Mrs. Dolores R. Greco Mr. Thomas Guastello, ’70, and Ms. Susan M. Luch Prof. Emeritus Nancy D. Heathcote and Mr. William L. Heathcote Herbert and Elsa Ponting Foundation Ambassador David B. Hermelin†, and Mrs. Doreen N. Hermelin Mr. Frederick W. Hoffman, IV, ’85, and Mr. James R. Stokes, ’88 Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC Mr. John W. Inhulsen, ’05, and Mrs. Monica C. Inhulsen, ’03 Mr. Louis W. Kasischke, ’67, and Mrs. Sandra A. Kasischke Mr. Anthony E. Kenny, ’70, and Mrs. Sharon A. Kenny Mr. Donald A. Kuebler, ’66, and Mrs. Cheryl K. Kuebler Mr. Alan J. Lazette and Mrs. Charlene V. P. Lazette Mr. A. Bart Lewis, ’64 Mr. Albert Lopatin†, ’53, and Mrs. Beverly Lopatin Maverick Lloyd Foundation Ms. Sybil M. Lyon† Microsoft Corporation Mr. David M. Miro, ’30, and Mrs. Bernice Miro Mr. Marvin R. Novick†, ’52, and Mrs. Margaret A. Novick Mr. Jules B. Olsman, ’78, and Mrs. Barbara L. Grossman Olsman Mrs. Kathryn L. Ossian, ’84, and Mr. James E. Linn Mr. David M. Ottenwess, ’86, and Mrs. Stephanie Ottenwess Ottenwess, Allman & Taweel PLC Prof. Kathleen E. Payne, ’77, and Mr. Jeffrey B. Goldsmith Pepper Hamilton LLP Mr. Jerry Raymond†, ’64, and Mrs. Justine Raymond Mr. Carl J. Schoeninger, ’70, and Mrs. Mary Beth Schoeninger State Bar of Michigan Ms. Regina Storrs Ms. Flora H. Temple† Hon. Thomas A. Van Tiem Sr., ’60, and Mrs. Helen Van Tiem Mr. David II, Mrs. Gail, Erika, David III, Samantha, and Nicholas Williams W.K. Kellogg Foundation Winston-Salem Foundation

Presidents Club $10,000 to $24,999 Anonymous A.J. Fletcher Foundation Mr. Camille S. Abood†, ’61 Assoc. Dean Connell Alsup, ‘90 American Natural Resources Company Mr. Patrick R. Anderson, ’05, and Mrs. Stephanie Anderson AT&T Foundation Dr. Sarah Babcock, ‘04, and Mr. Paul Hahn, ’04 Mr. Raymond A. Ballard†, ’32 Mr. Ralph W. Barbier Jr., ’63 Hon. Marianne O. Battani, ’72 Ms. Christine M. Battle, ’86, and Mr. Timothy E. Battle Mr. Leon D. Bess, ’63, and Mrs. Debby Bess Mr. Robert Berliner, ‘61

Deceased

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Mr. Daniel H. Bliss, ’87, and Mrs. Margaret L. Bliss Mr. Saul Bluestone†, ’68, and Mrs. Eleanor Bluestone Mr. Irving R. Blum†, ’59 Mr. Kenneth E. Burchfield, ’73, and Mrs. Keven S. Burchfield Mr. Clarence M. Burton† III, ’80 Mr. Milton W. Bush Sr.†, ’34, and Mrs. Lodie Bush Prof. Emeritus Craig R. Callen† Prof. Emeritus Donald F. Campbell†, ’61 Mr. Ralph H. Cann Jr., ’51, and Mrs. Eleanor J. Cann Mr. Henry N. Carnaby, ’84, and Mrs. Cathleen Carnaby Capital Region Community Foundation Mr. Donald F. Carney Jr., ’76, and Mrs. Jacqueline M. Carney Mr. Robert E. Carr, ’88 Mr. Paul F. Carrier†, ’59 Mr. Patrick G. Casey†, ’59, and Ms. Barbara M. Casey Mr. Daniel E. Castner, ’72, and Ms. Cecilia Castner Ms. Carole L. Chiamp, ’72 Ms. Karen A. Chopra, ’95 Clarence M. Burton Memorial Foundation Mr. Daniel M. Clark, ’63, and Mrs. Suzanne Clark Mr. Earl J. Cline†, ’56 CMS Energy Corporation Comerica Mr. Michael G. Conniff Sr., ’70 Ms. Margaret A. Costello, ’88 Mr. Jerry Cotter Jr., ’59 Mr. Thomas A. Cover, ’82, and Mrs. Julianne Cover Crow Nation Ms. Barbara M. Dabiero Mr. Adam J. Dadaou, ’60, and Ms. Effie Dadaou Justice Emeritus Alton D. Davis, ’74, and Mrs. Sandra K. Davis Mr. Gilbert H. Davis†, ’31 Mr. Ronald A. Deneweth, ’77, and Mrs. Mary L. Deneweth Mr. George H. Denfield†, ’53, and Mrs. Renee Denfield Deroy Testamentary Foundation Trustee Frederick D. Dilley, ’75, and Mrs. Elizabeth E. Dilley Mr. Douglas L. Dinning, ’77 Mr. Sam DuBois†, ’57 Mr. James W. Duff Sr., ’67, and Mrs. Caroline S. Duff Mr. William J. Ewald, ’73, and Mrs. Deanna M. Ewald Ms. Virginia M. Farhat† Ms. Joanne B. Faycurry, ’87 Mr. Matthew S. Fedor, ’00, and Ms. Amy C. Slameka, ’99 Mr. David E. Flayer†, ’29 Hon. Charles M. Forster, ’62, and Mrs. Dianna Forster Prof. Emeritus Elizabeth M. Gallagher† Mr. Michael D. Gibson, ’80, and Mrs. Christine E. Gibson Mrs. Cheryl A. Gilbert Mr. Gregory L. Gilbert, ’75, and Ms. Linda Parizon Gossett Fund Mr. Donald W. Grant†, ’42 Mr. Paul E. Hamilton†, ’73 Prof. Emeritus Jeremy T. Harrison and Prof. Laura E. Harrison Mr. D. Craig Henry, ’71, and Mrs. Judith M. Henry Mr. Stuart E. Hertzberg Mr. Thomas H. Hill, ’83, and Mrs. Sue Hill Mr. Frederick H. Hoffecker, ’70, and Mrs. Elizabeth Hoffecker Mr. Myles B. Hoffert, ’71, and Ms. Ronna G. Hoffert Mr. Charles P. Hoffman Jr., ’79, and Mrs. Marcia L. Reed James and Lynelle Holden Fund Mr. Lewis L. Hole, ’60 Mr. C. Dale Hubbard, ’55 Dean James P. Huddleston Hudson-Webber Foundation Mr. Richard W. Hughes, ’75 Dr. B. J. Humphreys, ’57, and Mrs. Laura Humphreys Jackson Lewis LLP Mr. Michael H. James, ’78, and Ms. Lesli James Mr. Thomas W. James, ’05, and Mrs. Angela M. James Hon. Frank E. Jeannette†, ’33 Trustee Maurice G. Jenkins, ’81, and Mrs. Corlyss Connors-Jenkins Johnson & Johnson Mr. Alan E. Joslyn†, ’24

†

J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation Kanji & Katzen PLLC Mr. Edward L. Keller, ’59 Mr. Frank J. Kelley and Mrs. Nancy A. Kelley Mr. Michael J. Kelly, ’88 Kemp Klein Umphrey & Endelman Foundation Hon. Kurt G. Kersten, ’53, and Mrs. Lenore E. Kersten Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti & Sherbrook Mr. Russell E. Knister†, ’29 Mr. Konrad D. Kohl†, ’51 Mr. Edward J. Kreski, ’81 Mr. Lyndon J. Lattie, ’61 Prof. Michael A. Lawrence and Prof. Deanne A. Lawrence Lear Corporation Mr. Todd L. Levitt, ’92, and Mrs. Mary E. Levitt Lexis-Nexis Group Mr. Daniel A. Lichtman†, ‘75 Mr. Frederick Lichtman†, ’51, and Mrs. Naomi Lichtman† Mr. Jeffrey C. Littmann, ’84, and Mrs. Cynthia M. Littmann Hon. Arthur J. Lombard and Mrs. Frederica Lombard Mrs. Sarah Luick The Lupton Family Hon. James B. Mackie, ’70, and Ms. Ruth Mackie Mr. Charles A. Malone, ’70 Mr. Paul Marco†, ’33, and Mrs. Frances Marco† Mr. Victor G. Marrocco, ’70, and Ms. Frances Marrocco Mr. James N. Martin, ’68 Mr. William M. Mazey†, ’51, and Mrs. Emma Mazey Mr. Joseph F. McCarthy, ’72, and Mrs. Janet A. McCarthy Mr. Aubrey V. McCutcheon Jr., ’61 Mr. Leroy B. McInally†, ’31, and Mrs. Henrietta McInally† Mr. Martin McInerney Mr. Thomas P. McKenney, ’78, and Ms. Jane G. McKenney Mr. Michael D. McLauchlan, ’85, and Mrs. Terrie A. McLauchlan Trustee Richard D. McLellan, ’67 Ms. Patricia Mell Mr. Dean D. Meriwether, ’96 Michigan Humanities Council Mid-States Petroleum, Inc. Mr. Frank G. Mixter†, ’24 Hon. Marion A. Moore, ’71 Mr. Andrew J. Munro, ’79 Mr. Joseph A. Murphy Jr., ’62, and Mrs. Joanne Becker Murphy Mr. Eric M. Nemeth, ’90, and Mrs. Paula Nemeth Trustee James M. Nicholson Jr. and Mrs. Mary B. Nicholson Mr. John D. Nickola, ’66, and Mrs. Barbara A. Menear Nickola Mr. Dennis H. Nystrom, ’67, Trustee Donald D. Nystrom, ’00, and Mrs. Tracy Nystrom Dr. Jonathan P. O’Brien, ’04, and Ms. Amelia V. Katanski Mr. Patrick J. O’Brien, ’77, and Mrs. Amy L. O’Brien Trustee Emeritus John D. O’Hair, ’54, and Mrs. Barbara O’Hair Mr. Robert C. Odle Jr., ’69 Trustee Emeritus Peter J. Palmer, ’68, and Mrs. Diane D. Palmer Mr. Michael A. Pelavin†, ’60, and Mrs. Natalie Pelavin Mr. Alex P. Perry†, ’34 Hon. David M. Peterson, ’70, and Mrs. Marilyn S. Peterson Mr. Frank M. Polasky, ’50 Ms. Bonnie L. Popp Ms. Jennifer R. Poteat, ’04, and Mr. Michael Staebler Proteus Action League Prof. Albert T. Quick and Prof. Emeritus Brenda J. Quick Prof. C. Nicholas Revelos† Mr. Ellsworth G. Reynolds†, ’42 Mr. Gregory A. Reynolds†, ’71 Mr. Harry E. Roer†, ’64 Prof. George T. Roumell Jr., and Mrs. Affie Roumell Mr. Eric R. Sabree, ’96, and Mrs. Badriyyah Sabree Hon. Gene Schnelz, ’57 Mr. Kurt E. Schnelz, ’85 Mr. Jeptha W. Schureman†, ’42 Mr. Karl L. Seavitt†, ’42, and Mrs. Margaret Seavitt† Mr. William J. Sessions†, ’26 Mr. Michael B. Serling, ’70, and Mrs. Elaine K. Serling

Ms. Kathleen A. Sheehan, ’88 Mr. Richard C. Shoop† Mr. Arthur M. Sills†, ’51 Simkins & Simkins PC Mr. G. R. Sims, ’73, and Mrs. Ann M. Sims Mr. Charles M. Sirhal†, ’57, and Mrs. Charlotte Sirhal Mr. A. Ronald Sirna Jr., ’71, and Mrs. Jessie D. Sirna Skadden Fellowship Foundation Mr. William G. Small†, ’83 Dr. William E. Smith, ’74, and Dr. Donna A. Smith Trustee Cary Smith-McGehee, ’89 Prof. John Soave Jr.†, ’70 Mr. David W. Sommerfeld, ’67, and Mrs. Anne T. Sommerfeld Mr. Norman S. Sommers, ’42, and Mrs. Judy Sommers Mr. Myzell Sowell†, ’52 Mr. Ronald L. Spector†, ’67 Prof. Elliot A. Spoon and Mrs. Madalyn Spoon Hon. Larry J. Stecco, ’67, and Mrs. Pamela A. Stecco Mr. Robert J. Stephan, ’67, and Mrs. Mary A. Stephan Mr. Monte R. Story†, ’71, and Mrs. Barbara B. Story† Ms. Kathleen Suthers Assoc. Dean Charles J. Ten Brink The Charitable Giving Card Program of the Community Foundation Ms. Maureen E. Thomas, ‘86 Mrs. Lori Ann Thornhill-Childress, ’93, and Mr. George Z. Childress Mr. Elmo J. Tibaldi†, ’40 Ms. Ann Tomlanovich, ’93 Mr. Robert A. Tremain, ’70, and Mrs. Anne Tremain Triangle Community Foundation, Inc. Trott & Trott UAW CAP Council Region 1A CAP Region 1C CAP Region 1D Retired Workers Varnum Riddering Schmidt & Howlett Mr. Howard J. Victor, ’77, and Ms. Gail R. Victor Mr. Ronald E. Wagner, ’75, and Mrs. Kathleen E. Mayor-Wagner Mr. Chris W. Walker, ’90, and Ms. Jessica Walker, ’13 Mr. Michael J. Watza, ’86, and Mrs. Janet M. Watza Mr. H. Wayne Wells Mr. Russel C. Wells, ’64, and Rev. Shirley L. Wells Mr. Douglas M. West, ’74 Mr. Bert Whitehead, ’72 Mr. Amos E. Williams, ’86, and Hon. Carole F. Youngblood†, ‘86 Mr. J. Dallas Winegarden, ’69, and Mrs. Ronnee P. Winegarden Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Foundation In memory of Hon. Carole F. Youngblood†, ‘86 Mr. Gene Zamler, ’67, and Mrs. Carol Zamler

Because Michigan State Law is a private, nonprofit institution and separate 501(c)3 from MSU, donations from our alumni and friends help fund the Law College’s programs and operations. Please keep MSU Law in mind when making your charitable gifts, and consider the Law College in your estate planning. Contact Tina Kashat Casoli at (517) 432-6840 or casoli@law. msu.edu to learn more.

Deceased

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ALUMNI Notes

1960s Trustee CLIF HALEY, ’61, president emeritus of the Michigan State University College of Law Board of Trustees and owner of Drummond Island Resort and Conference Center, was an honored speaker at Lake Superior State University’s “BE Inspired Speaker Series” on March 11.

Haley

EDWARD J. KENNEDY, ’69, published his book, The Zone, on September 1, 2014. The Zone features a photo of the Detroit College of Law that Edward took prior to its demolition.

1970s

Kennedy

RICHARD S. VICTOR, ’75, has formed a new law firm, The Law Offices of Richard S. Victor, and has become of counsel to Hertz Schram in Bloomfield Hills. He has been selected as one of only 95 attorneys in the country to be a Diplomate of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers.

1980s The Honorable ALEXIS A. GLENDENING, ’80, was recently appointed Wayne County 3rd Circuit Court judge by Governor Rick Snyder.

Victor

The Honorable BEVERLY HELM, ’80, was appointed as an administrative law judge in the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Trustee MICHAEL G. MORRIS, ’81, was selected for the Honorable George N. Bashara, ’60, Distinguished Alumni Award. The award was created to recognize outstanding alumni from

Detroit College of Law or the Michigan State University College of Law who demonstrate outstanding personal service to the college, distinguished service in any field of human endeavor, and contribution to alumni affairs.

THOMAS HILL, ’83, was recently named senior executive and general counsel of General Electric’s Global EHS organization. Tom will lead a legal staff of 30 supporting GE’s Global EHS team of more than 265 professionals located throughout the world.

KATHY OSSIAN, ’84, was elected secretary of the Armenian Bar Association’s Board of Governors. She has been a member of the board since 2010, and will hold this Executive Committee position for a two-year term.

SCOTT A. GOODWIN, ’86, began his new duties as president of the Michigan Association for Justice.

J. M. HUGET, ’86, has been recognized as a 2014 IP Stars in the directory published by Managing Intellectual Property. He is co-chair of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn’s Litigation Department and leads the IP Litigation Practice Group. He is also a partner in the firm’s IP Department and the Trademark and Copyright Practice Group.

The Honorable CATHERINE L. (WEST) HEISE, ’88, was appointed judge of the 3rd Circuit Court

by Governor Rick Snyder. She serves on the criminal bench.

Glendening

Helm

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Morris

Ossian

Goodwin

Huget

Heise

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JOHN SMALLMAN, ’89, is now employed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California. He began as an adult probation officer with The Lake County Superior Court. Afterwards, he was a special agent with the FBI, investigating interstate theft, narcotics violations, political corruption, and arson. He then began his career with the U.S. Navy, working as a judge advocate, trial attorney, and as a special agent.

1990s SARAH COLEGROVE, ’92, swam 21 miles across Lake St. Clair. At 6:30 a.m. on August 7, 2014, Sarah started her solo international crossing of Lake St. Clair from the southern tip of Walpole Island Indian Reserve, Ontario, Canada. After 9 hours and 27 minutes of swimming, she arrived back in the United States and finished at the Grosse Pointe Farms Pier beach in Grosse Pointe Farms. Sarah’s law firm, Briggs Colegrove, started in 2000 and concentrates in probate matters.

ROBIN L. HERRMANN, ’93, Butzel Long attorney and shareholder, has been appointed as chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Law and the Media Committee for 2014-2015. She was appointed to the committee in 2011. Herrmann, a practice department chair for one of Butzel Long’s two business litigation groups, concentrates her practice in the areas of media law, particularly defamation and access issues; commercial litigation, including Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO); non-competes and trade secrets; and civil rights. She also is general counsel of the Michigan Press Association.

MARK KELLEY SCHWARTZ, ’95, was designated as a Board Certified Specialist (BCS) in aviation law by The Florida Bar. Board certification represents the highest level of competency and experience for attorneys in an area of law and represents “Legal Expert” status following peer review, examination, and substantial involvement in the field of aviation law by The Florida Bar. Admitted in both Michigan and Florida, Mark Kelley Schwartz practices aviation law and represents individuals in hotel, resort, cruise ship, and travel-related personal injury matters.

Johnson

www.law.msu.edu

Deel

W. RICHARD BRAUN III, ’99, has joined the asbestos/toxic tort practice group at Collins Einhorn Farrell, a Southfield based firm. Braun will focus his practice on the defense of asbestos claims. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan and U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

2000s JOHN P. KAPITAN, ’00, of Trott & Trott, a Farmington Hills-based real estate finance law firm, was selected to sit on a panel discussion regarding lien-stripping in consumer bankruptcy at the American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) 21st Annual Central States Bankruptcy Workshop on June 12-15 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

ELIZABETH T. CLEMENT, ’01, was appointed to the position of deputy chief of staff in the Executive Office of the Governor. She has been a legal adviser for Governor Snyder since 2011, focused on emergency management, criminal justice, judicial appointments, labor, and public safety.

Smallman

MELINDA N. DEEL, ’01, was elected to the 2014-15 board of directors for the Oakland County Bar Association. She has been an active member of the bar association through various committee positions and programs. In 2007, she was the recipient of the distinguished service award.

She is the owner of her namesake firm, which specializes in juvenile law, family law, probate and appeals.

Colegrove

PROF. EMERITUS CLARK C. JOHNSON, JD, PHD, LLD, ’02, was elected by the students of MSU Law as this year’s Distinguished Doctrinal Faculty Member of the Year. He served as assistant attorney general of Michigan and was a partner in the law firm of Schmidt, Nahas, Coburn and Johnson. He joined the faculty in 1973 and served as associate dean from 1984 to 1985. He has published in the areas of commercial law, as well as medicine and law.

Herrmann

Schwartz

Clement

Kapitan

Braun

33

JASON EVANS, ’03, was recently promoted to major in the Michigan Army National Guard. In addition to serving as a judge advocate in the Army National Guard since 2008, he served as the first assistant attorney general in the Michigan Department of Attorney General, Health Care Fraud Division.

Kukainis

MATISS D. KUKAINIS, ’04, was elected president and chairman of the board for AmCham on March 21, 2014. He has been on the board since 2008 and was elected vice president in 2010.

Matiss is licensed to practice law in both Latvia and Illinois and is a partner at ZAB Spigulis and Kukainis.

O’Brien

JONATHAN P. O’BRIEN, PHD, ’04, has been recognized as 2014 IP Stars in the directory published by Managing Intellectual Property.

O’Brien is the chair of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP’s IP Department and leads the firm’s Patent Practice Group. He concentrates his practice on life sciences (pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device), industrial chemistry, battery technology, and nanotechnology.

Burke

SHANNON BURKE, ’05, former president of the MSU Law Alumni Board, recently accepted a position as associate director of education programs at the American Bar Association in Chicago.

JOHN W. INHULSEN, ’05, of Foster Swift, was appointed to a three-year term on the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board by the Michigan Supreme Court.

Inhulsen

CAROLINE KINGSTON, ’05, has been awarded the Lehker Outstanding Student Advocate Award in the category of Graduate and Professional Student Affairs by ACPA—College Student Educators International.

KRISTEN N. NICHOLS-COOPER, ’05, joined Rogers Townsend & Thomas as special counsel in October 2013 with hopes of becoming a shareholder in 2014. She was named a Rising Star in Super Lawyers in 2013 and focuses on bankruptcy and debtor/creditor law.

JAMES C. SIDOU, ’06, an associate in the Lakeland office of GrayRobinson has been elected to the board of directors for the YMCA of West Central Florida. Sidou was recognized as one of Polk County’s emerging leaders by the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce in 2012. His practice focuses on litigation with an emphasis in commercial and general business litigation. Sidou also serves on the steering committee of EMERGE Lakeland as well as on the board of directors for Platform Art. SARAH WESTON, ’06, was named “Up and Coming Lawyer” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly in fall 2013. She is a partner in the Southfield office of Jaffe Raitt Heuer and Weiss and is a member of the Finance, Real Estate, Electronic Payments and Emerging and Growth Business Practice Groups.

Sarah is a magna cum laude graduate of MSU College of Law. BRYAN J. BECK, ’07, has joined Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn as an attorney in its Corporate Department. Initially, he will be located in the firm’s Detroit office. By the end of 2014, he will be located in the Kalamazoo office.

Kingston

Nichols-Cooper

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Sidou

Weston

Beck

Amicus | FA L L 2 01 4

2010s COLLIN NYEHOLT, ’10, has become a named equity owner in the law firm, Fixel and Nyeholt.

The firm is primarily plaintiff centered and practices employment, civil rights, personal injury, and business disputes. The firm is scheduled to be featured on the television program Insider Exclusive regarding the Diaz published decision.

LIA M. CLARKSON, ’12, now serves as a prosecutor in Genesee County. She is a special assistant attorney general for the state, working under Prosecutor David Leyton. Lia interned in the Attorney General’s Office in the Consumer Protection Division.

JEROME CRAWFORD, ’12, of Dickinson Wright was recently elected to a two-year term to serve on the Executive Council for the Young Lawyers Section of the State Bar of Michigan.

LANDON J. WEDERMYER, ’12, returned from a deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan, as a government acquisition attorney for United States Central Command. Capt. Wedermyer provided counsel and litigation support for acquisitions worth $150 million in support of the Afghan National Security Forces. At home, Capt. Wedermyer is an Air Force JAG based at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.

ALYSSA BERNARD, ’13, recently started a new position as corporate governance counsel for American Century Investments in Kansas City, Missouri.

DEDDEH F. ANSUMANA-JONES, ’14, wrote a paper during her last semester of law school regarding qui tam suits in state tax. Her paper was selected for publication in the Tax Analysts’ State Notes magazine.

CHRISTOPHER W. MICHAEL, ’10, joined Ice Miller’s Business Group in fall 2013. Michael focuses his practice on complex corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and transactions, and financing transactions involving debt and equity offerings.

MATTHEW J. LOPREST, ’11, is training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Surrey, England. Once every four months, an Officer Candidate School graduate is selected to attend the academy as part of an exchange program between the United States and United Kingdom.

The Honorable MARLON J. MONEVA, LLM ’12, was elected president of the Philippine Trial Judges League. The nationwide group works to promote the professional growth of judges, maintain judicial ethics, and establish a harmonious relationship between the bar and bench.

Nyeholt

Clarkson

Crawford

JEFFREY B. SAME, ’13, joined the Buffalo, New York, office of Hodgson Russ. Same is a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group.

Send us your notes!

Wedermyer

We encourage all alumni to contribute information on accomplishments and special recognition in the legal profession and other fields.

To submit your notes, e-mail alumni@law.msu.edu or visit www.law.msu.edu/amicus.

Bernard

2014 In Memoriam Mr. Daniel W. Burlingame, ’80, September 14

Mr. John F. Mills, ’77, July 26

Mr. Ray W. Cardew, Jr., ’72, August 21

Prof. William M. Rutledge, ’76, February 25

Mr. Michael L. Flynn, ’69, April 8

Mr. Frederick A. Sauer, Jr., ’59, March 17

Mr. Robert E. Hader, ’64, May 31

Mr. Ivie Jonathan Shelton, ’88, May 1

Mr. Michael F. Loeckner, ’83, February 28

Mr. Thomas M. Slavin, ’90, July 10

Mr. William F. Mennick, ’55, April 12

Mr. Kenneth R. Teschendorf, ’67, May 13

Mr. Leonard W. Mier, ’66, June 18

Mr. Paul E. Van Hartesveldt, ’52, July 18

www.law.msu.edu

Ansumana-Jones

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All U Faculty and Staff Campaign RAISES SUPPORT FOR LAW STUDENTS, INITIATIVES

U

The 2014 All U Campaign is an annual fundraising effort for MSU College of Law faculty and staff. Individuals may contribute to specific scholarships or other initiatives. More than $29,000 was raised this year. Here are the final numbers of giving:

All U C a

Overall – 84% Faculty – 71% Staff – 99%

100

mpaig n

80

Staff Percentage

Overall Percentage

Technology Services

Student Engagement

Registrar

OGIP & ASP

Law Library

Faculty

Dean's Suite

Communications

Clinics

Career Services

Advancement

20

Accounting

40

Admissions & Financial Aid

60

0

Michigan State University College of Law wants to know how we can best serve your needs as they relate to correspondence and information via Amicus, the Dean’s Report, e-newsletters, and other media.

Please visit our online survey at www.law.msu.edu/communicationsurvey.html to help us provide quality communication pieces that you find relevant, helpful, interesting, and effective—pieces that encourage your engagement with your law school.

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Thank you for your feedback!

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Amicus | W I N T ER 2 01 4

“ Alumni support shows that we’re all one community.

Alumni who give back demonstrate that they care – they’re putting themselves back in the students’ shoes, and it’s a great example for our current students.”

— Cortenous Herbert Jr., ’15

Supporting the COLLEGE OF LAW FIND US ON:

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PAID

Law College Building 648 N. Shaw Lane, Room 320 East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1300

East Lansing Michigan Permit No. 21

Supporting the COLLEGE OF LAW

“ MSU was a great option because of the generous scholarships. I wanted to have freedom in my career following graduation by avoiding debt.”­ — Sarah Primrose, ’12