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Features
Mary Frances Berry, ’70: A Trailblazer in the Fight to End Discrimination
Mary Frances Berry, ’70, served from 1980 until 2004 on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, including as chair. Later, she stood with Nelson Mandela to end apartheid in South Africa and was imprisoned for it. At the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, she looks back on her career, her accomplishments, and the long list of items still outstanding in the fight to end discrimination.
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Prof. Mortenson Files Suit on Behalf of Same-Sex Couples
“First and foremost, it’s important that these clients—these particular human beings, who have relationships that span decades—not be subjected to a mandatory divorce by the state,” Professor Julian Davis Mortenson says. “The 16 people in our lawsuit have lost something precious and dear to them, and that’s outrageous.”
Features
Roger Wilkins, ’56, Honored as Distinguished Alumnus
Roger Wilkins exposed injustice and fought for equality—through the complex lens of being a black man in America—throughout his career as a public servant, educator, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. In honor of Wilkins’s vast and varied accomplishments, the Law School is honoring him as its 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.
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Prof. Thomas Appointed to State’s New Indigent Defense Commission
Clinical Professor of Law and Juvenile Justice Clinic cofounder Kimberly Thomas has been appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, ’82, to serve a two-year term on the state’s newly created Indigent Defense Commission.
Features
Bagenstos on Class-Not-Race
Throughout the civil rights era, strong voices have argued that policy interventions should focus on class or socioeconomic status, not race. At times, this position-taking has seemed merely tactical, opportunistic, or in bad faith. I am more interested in the people who clearly mean it.
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U.S. Supreme Court Delivers Unanimous Ruling for Prof. Pottow in EBIA v. Arkison
In a rare unanimous decision in a contentious jurisdictional area, the U.S. Supreme Court in June affirmed bankruptcy court authority by delivering Professor John Pottow a victory in the case of Executive Benefits Insurance Agency v. Arkison (EBIA v. Arkison).
Features
Transforming What It Means to “Go to Court”
What if your day in court didn’t have to be in court? That’s the idea that led Michigan Law Professor J.J. Prescott and Ben Gubernick, ’11, his former student, to invent a first-of-its-kind technology that helps people interact with courts online, at any time of day, without needing to hire an attorney.
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Kicking the Tires on America’s Car Dealer Lobby
Without a drop of gasoline, Tesla’s Model S goes from zero to 60 miles per hour in an electrifying 5.4 seconds. It’s sleek, state-of-the-art, and noticeably absent from many American showrooms. To Professor Daniel Crane, efforts to bar Tesla Motors from directly distributing its vehicles to customers are “protectionist, pure and simple.”
Features
Good Fortune: An Angel Investor Helps Entrepreneurs Soar
“An entrepreneur can’t do everything themselves, so they need a team around them,” says Geoff Entress, ’98, a Seattle-based investor who has backed more than 125 companies in the last 15 years. Today, the Pittsburgh native is a venture partner with Voyager Capital, sits on the boards of 11 companies, and is what’s called an angel investor—that is, someone who provides personal capital to businesses trying to get off the ground.
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Prof. Logue: Terrorism Risk Insurance Act Set to Expire Unless Congress Acts
Insurance companies were unprepared to deal with the enormous insured property losses, estimated at about $39.5 billion, that resulted from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Concerned about the possibility of future terrorist incidents and unsure how to pay for them, many insurance companies made terrorism risk coverage unaffordable or opted not to provide it.
Features
Lawyer-turned-entrepreneur Starts Luxe Loungewear Line
Jamie Loeks Duffield, ’12, wanted to be “on the other side of the table.” So she left her associate position at the Miami law firm Shutts and Bowen in July 2013 and returned to Michigan to start Duffield Lane, a loungewear/resort wear line that can be worn at home, out to dinner, or at the beach.
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Prof. Hines Honored for Public Finance Work with Prestigious Professorship
Professor James Hines Jr. has been named the recipient of the 2014 Richard Musgrave Visiting Professorship, a prestigious award honoring scholars in public finance. Hines, the L. Hart Wright Collegiate Professor of Law and co-director of the Law and Economics Program, delivered the sixth Richard Musgrave Lecture—“International Taxation and National Interests”—in Munich in April.
Features
A Page in Michigan Law History: Printing Course Packs, One Mimeograph at a Time
While the Computer Age has produced countless companies whose origins can be traced to their founders’ dorm rooms, college-age ingenuity didn’t begin with Facebook, Google, or Microsoft. For Ann Arbor-based book printer and manufacturer Edwards Brothers Malloy, it started with the mimeograph.
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Prof. Daugirdas Wins Writing Award
An American Journal of International Law (AJIL) article written by Assistant Professor Kristina Daugirdas has been awarded the Francis Deák Prize, which honors outstanding scholarship by younger authors.
Features
Tales from the Clinic: Putting the Contract Before the Horse
Typically, clients approach the Law School’s General Clinic for assistance—but every so often, a case comes from within, spurred by an issue close to the heart of a student attorney. One crisp January day, Mary Watkins, ’14, went to see a man about a horse.
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New Book by Prof. Schneider Focuses on the Failure of Mandated Disclosure
Mandated disclosure. It’s the 15,000 words that stand between an iTunes user and his 99-cent download, the fine print on a doctor’s consent form, and the focus of a new book by Michigan Law Professor Carl E. Schneider, ’79.
Impact
Irving Stenn, Jr., ’55: Building a Legacy of Philanthropy
For Irving Stenn Jr., ’55, a gift marking his 45th birthday was the beginning of an amazing legacy of philanthropy at the University of Michigan.
Cover Story
Civil Rights Act at 50
This Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to go to work in our communities and our states, in our homes and in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country.” So said President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1964 when he signed the Act into law. Here, we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Act by sharing the stories of alumni who fought for its passage and those who worked to preserve its legacy.
Impact
Janet and John Boyles, ’59: A Lifeline Returned
At his lowest point, Michigan Law gave John Boyles, ’59, a lifeline. In gratitude, Boyles and his wife, Janet, do the same for today’s students. Through the John DuVall Boyles Scholarship, students can make their dream of attending Michigan Law a reality and can pursue their career aspirations with less worry about repaying loans.
Features
Startup Central
If you want to be an entrepreneur, understand that you’ll have to be part of a team if you’re going to be successful. This, according to Geoff Entress, ’98, a Seattle-based investor who has backed more than
125 companies in the past 15 years.
More advice from Entress: Be comfortable with risk. Be visionary. Don’t be a jerk. And go to law school.
Impact
First Victors for Michigan Scholarship Awarded
In February 2014, an anonymous donor from the Class of 1951 and his wife gave nearly $300,000 to establish the Victors for Michigan Scholarship Fund. The donors wanted to support the Law School’s top funding priority and commemorate the newly launched Victors for Michigan campaign.
Impact
Eric Oesterle, ’73: Giving Where It's Needed Most
“I’ve always felt it was imperative to help the Law School address issues as they arise—issues that might not be on anyone’s radar when a new campaign or a new fiscal year begins. That’s where the Law School Fund can make a tremendous impact.”
Briefs
New 1L Clinic Represents Unemployed Workers
Michigan Law has become only the second law school in the country to offer a clinic to first-year students with the introduction this year of the new Unemployment Insurance Clinic (UIC), in which second-semester 1Ls represent clients in their claims for state unemployment insurance benefits.
Impact
Timothy Dickinson, ’79: Funding International Experiences
Timothy Dickinson, ’79, and his wife have pledged $200,000 to endow the Timothy L. Dickinson and Anja Lehmann Global Education Fellowship Fund, which will support recent graduates who seek to build upon their Michigan Law education through the pursuit of educational or professional experiences abroad.
Briefs
Trio of Michigan Law Grads Obtain Prestigious U.S. Supreme Court Clerkships
Realizing something of a high court hat trick with their consecutive clerkships, three Michigan Law graduates soon will share the distinction of having served three of the foremost members of the nation’s judiciary: U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Impact
Recent Gifts: Fall 2014
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.
Briefs
Michigan Law Surpasses 100 Clerkships for 2nd Straight Year
For the 2014 term, 133 Michigan Law 3Ls and graduates (at press time) have secured clerkships—a total that surpasses the previous record of 117 clerkships that were secured by Michigan Law students and graduates in 2013.
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Prof. Whitman Receives L. Hart Wright Teaching Award
Professor Christina Whitman, ’74, who began teaching at the Law School in 1976 and was one of the first women on the faculty, has received the L. Hart Wright Award. The award—named after the beloved Michigan Law professor who was renowned in the field of tax law—is presented annually by the LSSS, with the recipient chosen by students.
Features
Civil Rights, Women’s Rights
The original Civil Rights Act language did not include orotections based on sex. Martha Griffiths, ’40, had something to say about that.
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Prof. Croley Confirmed as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Energy
Michigan Law Professor Steven P. Croley, who has served in the Obama administration as deputy White House counsel since 2012, was confirmed in May by the U.S. Senate as general counsel of the U.S. Department of Energy.