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Class Note Spring/Summer 2018
Marty Lagina, ’82: Modern Renaissance Man at the 45th Parallel
What do a Spanish coin from the 17th century, natural gas, wind turbines, and exceptional Michigan red wines have in common? Marty Lagina and, strangely enough, the 45th parallel.
Class Note Spring/Summer 2018
George Barchini, ’15: Striking a Balance with Big Law and Public Interest
Near the end of a long week in Laredo, Texas, George Barchini pulled an all-nighter—but not for the reasons typical of young associates at Big Law firms. Instead, he was trying to stop the deportation of a Central American woman.
Class Note Spring/Summer 2018
Chase Cantrell, ’08: A Force for Positive Change Close to Home
Chase Cantrell, ’08, could have gone many places with a degree from Michigan Law. Instead, he chose to be a force for positive change in his native Detroit.
Class Note Spring/Summer 2018
Benedicte Bayi-Mathijsen, ’85: Drawn to the World
“I discovered a completely different world at Michigan, and it just took me in a whole new direction,” Bayi-Mathijsen says. She found its “international dimension” to her liking and joined the International Law Society and the Michigan Journal of International Law.
In Practice Spring/Summer 2018
A Case of “Five-Ring Fever”
There is such a thing as “Five-Ring Fever,” and Chris McCleary certainly has it. He first caught it at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and he’s never lost it. It’s what you would expect, given that McCleary is the general counsel for the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC).
Impact Spring/Summer 2018
David Breach, ’94: Throwing Ladders to Help Others Climb
David Breach, ’94, and his wife, Emily, established the David A. and Emily A. Breach Law School Scholarship Fund, a need-based scholarship will give preference to students who are from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background or who already have loans—criteria that resonate with Breach, who came to Michigan Law as a transfer student. He talked with the Law Quadrangle about the impact of his Michigan Law degree and the importance of giving back.
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Michigan Law Announces Faculty Fellow Program
Michigan Law will launch a program of two-year fellowships for highly promising scholars with outstanding academic records, giving them an opportunity to develop their scholarship and teaching skills in preparation for the academic job market.
In Practice Spring/Summer 2018
Bringing Cybercrimes to Justice and the Law up to Speed
“This is an area where the law hasn’t caught up to people’s conduct, and where victims have limited access to legal counsel,” says Van Engelen. “It takes real people on the ground, working every day as a team, to bring a cybercriminal to justice.”
Impact
Recent Gifts: Spring/Summer 2018
Giving to Michigan Law is an investment in the future of legal education, and private support ensures that the excellence that has distinguished Michigan-trained lawyers continues for generations to come.
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Michigan Law Launches Master of Advanced Corporation Law
MACL is the first degree of its kind designed for U.S. and internationally trained lawyers who want to specialize in U.S. corporate and securities law, and gain an international comparative perspective on both.
In Practice Spring/Summer 2018
Opportunity and Complexity in the Middle East
“Why have I been able to be successful there? Largely because of my U-M legal training,” Bajwa says. “Yes, I have language and technical skills that help. But the Middle East is trying to develop a U.S. capitalist model, so you can do a lot of good by bringing the M&A know-how you acquired in the United States into the region.”
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Pediatric Advocacy Clinic Supports a DNR Bill
Michigan Law’s Pediatric Advocacy Clinic (PAC), under the direction of Clinical Professor Debra Chopp, has been working on legislation that would give parents in Michigan greater control over end-of-life care for their children.
Cover Story Spring/Summer 2018
The Legal Climate of Climate Change
Like most headline-grabbing problems, the myriad issues surrounding climate change are integral to the work of many Michigan Law graduates. For some alumni, curbing and combating climate change is their life’s calling. For others, it is another hurdle to navigate as they pursue optimal outcomes for their clients or businesses.
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Students Study and Experience Law and Economic Development in India
“People have a lot of perceptions about India,” Professor Vikramaditya Khanna says. “But when you go there, the thing that strikes you is the non-stop activity.” In recent years, Khanna has taught Michigan Law students about how India’s policies and laws are shaping that growth. This year, he took it a step further by taking students from his Law and Economic Development in India seminar on a trip to his birthplace during winter recess.
Cover Story Spring/Summer 2018
The Legal Climate of Climate Change: Policy
“The first thing the professor told us was that he wasn’t trying to ban fossil fuels and he wasn’t trying to set goals for the next decade. He said that he just wanted to make sure we have policies in place now so that in 100 years, we’re much better off than we otherwise would be. And I said, ‘Well, with that line of thinking, we can actually work together.’”
Briefs
News in Brief: Spring/Summer 2018
Skadden Fellow named | Michigan Law grads in high-ranking posts | 2L Megan L. Brown first African American EIC of the Michigan Law Review | and more...
Cover Story
The Legal Climate of Climate Change: Energy
When Mike Hardy, ’72, and Jim Spaanstra, ’77, began practicing environmental law, the laws, the issues facing their clients, and the environment itself were different than they are now. Hardy became an environmental lawyer because his firm needed a young associate to figure out this burgeoning practice area; for Spaanstra—who considered former Michigan Law Professor and environmental law pioneer Joe Sax a mentor—it was the reason he came to law school.
Cover Story Spring/Summer 2018
The Legal Climate of Climate Change: Finance
From smaller pieces of a portfolio, such as coastal real estate and agriculture, to anchors like insurance companies and fossil fuel stocks, “there’s a growing recognition that many investments might be affected,” says Miller, “and I saw a real range in responsiveness on the part of the pension funds.”
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
@UMICHLAW: Spring/Summer 2018
Professor Sam Gross retires | Cook Professors honored | LAW Breaks students volunteer | and more...
Cover Story Spring/Summer 2018
The Legal Climate of Climate Change: Water
The saying goes, “the writing is on the wall.” But one day in the late 1980s, in a conference room in Colorado’s state capitol building, it was on the chalkboard. The governor closed the doors and announced that no one would be leaving. One by one, he called the municipal representatives to the chalkboard and asked each to write their projection of their city’s future water needs.
@UMICHLAW
45th Anniversary Edition of The Legal Imagination Published
“When we first published The Legal Imagination, it was groundbreaking and inspirational to a generation of legal faculty and students seeking to re-situate the foundations of law in language and the human experience,” says Joe Terry, publisher of Wolters Kluwer’s legal education division.
Cover Story Spring/Summer 2018
The Legal Climate of Climate Change: Preparedness and Recovery
As Hurricane Sandy bore down on the East Coast of the United States in 2012, Damon Vocke, ’89, stepped into his Connecticut yard with his two dogs, Winston and Diva. For Winston, it was business as usual—he seemed oblivious to the approaching storm. But Diva knew something was wrong. She was scared and wanted back into the house, where she then went to hide.
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Alumni and Friends Service Day in Chicago Supports a Fellow Alum’s Labor of Love
"For a refugee like me, going to the University of Michigan Law School was a life-changing experience,” says Bernard Cherkasov, ’03. As executive director of the Chicago branch of Cradles to Crayons, a nonprofit connecting those who can give with those who are in need, Cherkasov’s work involves providing everyday necessities for children from birth to age 12.
Features
Neeru Chadha, LLM ’85, Elected to UN Maritime Law Tribunal
For most of her law career, Neeru Chadha, LLM ’85, served as a legal adviser in relative anonymity in the Ministry of External Affairs in her native India. But in June 2017, Chadha became the first Indian woman elected to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea—the Hamburg-based UN judicial body that was established in 1994 to settle maritime disputes worldwide. She was anonymous no more.
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Anti-Apartheid Leader, Former Constitutional Court Justice Delivers Bishop Lecture
Justice Albie Sachs knew Nelson Mandela “before he was the Nelson Mandela,” and during this year’s William W. Bishop Lecture in International Law, he regaled a standing-room-only crowd with tales from the frontline of the anti-apartheid movement and South Africa’s burgeoning democracy.
Features
Hessel Yntema IV, ’13: Paradise Found as Saipan’s GC
A few years out of law school and itching for a new adventure, Hessel Yntema IV, ’13, was working as an assistant city attorney in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in April 2017 when an unusual job advertisement caught his eye. “I thought, ‘I could be an assistant attorney general on Saipan. That sounds like fun,’” Yntema says.
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Bayrex Martí, ’06, Named Assistant Dean of Student Life
Bayrex Martí, ’06, joined the Law School in October 2017 as assistant dean for student life. “I’m happy to be back at my alma mater,” Martí says. “There’s an energy here, and it’s something I haven’t gotten anywhere else. I feel invigorated coming to work every day.”
Impact
Prof. Emeritus Douglas Kahn: A Legacy for a Lifetime
Professor Emeritus Douglas Kahn considers Michigan Law to be one of the most important, defining aspects of his life, which is why he documented a bequest to the Douglas A. Kahn Scholarship Fun
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Child Welfare Appellate Clinic Drafts New Legislation
Clinical Professor Vivek Sankaran, ’01, director of Michigan Law’s Child Welfare Appellate Clinic, and his student-attorneys were helping a mother regain custody of her young son after a neighbor found him wandering outside early one Saturday.
Impact Spring/Summer 2018
Cause and Effect: A Donor and His Scholarship Recipient Reflect on Their Connection to Michigan Law
"Michigan Law is very special to me. I have often thought about what my life would have been if not for Dean Proffitt—it could have taken a very different turn. I am indebted to the Law School and do my best to give back, which is one of the reasons why Janet and I established this scholarship. "
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project Links Small Businesses with U-M Resources
Jevona Watson’s coffee shop, Detroit Sip, is a gem hidden among the underdeveloped buildings of West McNichols Road. It opened its doors on November 18, 2017, with no small amount of gratitude to the University of Michigan’s Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP).
Impact
Jan Kang, ’87: An Alumna’s Simple Thank You
“I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but I think about it a lot now,” says Jan Kang, ’87. “I could not have taken a second, extremely demanding job in my 40s, and the fact that he was willing to do that to pay for my tuition is amazing. I was very lucky that my parents supported me, so I’m doing my part now by helping those students who need similar support.”
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Lawsuit Brings Changes to Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Law
Six people who filed a lawsuit against the State of Michigan, challenging the constitutionality of its Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA), have been removed from the public sex offender registry after a final order in their case, Does v. Snyder, was issued in January.
Impact
Paying It Forward After Paying a Steep Price
Most students make sacrifices to attend Michigan Law, but the biggest price Myint Zan paid came after graduation. Zan grew up in Mandalay, Burma, and during his LLM studies in Ann Arbor, the Burmese government invalidated his passport because he had not received the proper permissions to study in the United States.
@UMICHLAW Spring/Summer 2018
Latham’s Leading Women Series Kicks Off with Microsoft VP Carolyn Frantz, ’00
“When I attended Michigan, I didn’t join the Women Law Students Association because I was adamant that I was a law student, not a woman law student,” said Carolyn Frantz, ’00, who is vice president, deputy general counsel, and corporate secretary at Microsoft Corp.
Impact
The Faces of Future Giving
Legacy gifts from generous alumni and friends provide the support needed to sustain the Law School’s long-term commitment to excellence.
@UMICHLAW
New Law and Mobility Transformation Project Driven by Michigan Law
“With its rich history and deep roots in automotive technology, Michigan has long pioneered mobility transformation,” says Daniel Crane, the Frederick Paul Furth Sr. Professor of Law.