Monday November 12, 2007

Students have lots of reasons why they come to law school. But one of the most frequently cited reasons is the desire to help people in need. Many people realize that attorneys have tremendous opportunities to use their training for good and to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.

At University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, we encourage our students not to lose their idealism while they are making their way through law school. And one of the best ways to reinforce that desire to help is by giving students a real opportunity while in law school to help others.

Our clinical programs do just that. We now have seven different clinics here at UDM School of Law, helping senior citizens, refugees, and a wide range of indigent people. You may have seen the stories a few months ago in The Detroit Free Press as well as in USA Today about our new clinical program which addresses the needs of veterans.

I have been overwhelmed by the response to this program. Within two weeks of our announcement, we were inundated with requests for assistance from more than 200 veterans. And veterans in need of our help continue to contact us.

Rather than speaking generally, let me share with you the stories of three veterans who recently came to the Veterans’ Clinic:

1. Client's home was in foreclosure and was scheduled for Sheriff Sale on May 9, 2007. He fell behind in his mortgage when his wife lost her job in 2006. The bank also sought to repossess his car as he was four months behind on his car payments. He was facing these significant financial problems while waiting for his VA benefits during the past five years.

The Veterans’ Clinic saved the client’s home and car through its intervention. The Clinic stopped the foreclosure and sheriff sale by negotiating a workout of the defaulted mortgage through a forbearance agreement with the lender. We also negotiated a workout of the car loan through an agreement which enabled the client to keep the car by resuming his monthly payments. The Veterans’ Clinic is currently representing the client before the VA for his disability benefits.

2. Client served in Vietnam as a leader of a helicopter medical unit. He flew on more than 50 missions to treat and transport wounded solders. Following the New York terror attacks he began to experience flashbacks, insomnia, uncontrollable rage, and depression. He could not fall asleep without having a loaded pistol with him in bed. VA denied his claim to an increase in VA disability ratings based on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. He previously had been receiving a 30 percent disability for a skin condition caused by agent orange exposure.

We represented the client in his VA disabilities case to increase his ratings. We also asserted that he should receive the equivalent of 100 percent ratings award based on his inability to work due to his mental disabilities. We successfully obtained the equivalent of a 100 percent ratings award based on a finding that the client was totally disabled from working. We increased his award from approximately $300 per month to more than $2,600 per month.

3. Client was a paratrooper and served in the Army from 1971 to 1975. He was injured in a parachute jump. However, there is no documentation in his Army records that he visited the infirmary or received any medical treatment. His claim for his back injury was denied. Client recently was able to obtain a letter and affidavit from an Army medic who treated him for the paratrooper accident. The letter/affidavit describes how the Army medic was at the drop zone and witnessed the parachute accident; client was unconscious. However, when he regained consciousness, against the medic’s advice and although complaining of extreme pain, client said that he would continue with the mission. The medic wrote that client “… was more afraid of losing his jump wings than of the state of his condition” and that he “sucked up the pain and completed the mission like any good paratrooper would do.” This affidavit by the medic will constitute new and material evidence which will allow the client to reopen his claim for disability benefits for his back injury.

If you are interested in learning more about our veterans and other clinical programs, please contact Prof. David Koelsch at koelscdc@udmercy.edu.

Tuesday October 30, 2007

All first-year law students at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law participate during the spring in our G. Mennen Williams Moot Court competition. This provides a great opportunity to take the skills learned during much of the first year and apply them to arguing a case in front of a bench of judges.

But what I have been particularly pleased with as Dean is that so many of our students have enjoyed this experience so much that they go on to compete to be part of our school’s external moot court teams during their second and third years. In fact, last spring, nearly 100 students competed to gain a coveted spot on one of our national teams.

Those who won those spots--we will be competing this year in 13 separate national competitions--have a great record on which to build from last year. In fact, an independent moot court blog recently named our school’s moot court performance 17th best in the nation.

This year, we have added an extra opportunity for our student moot court teams by bringing in national experts from around the country to help them. For example, our students recently were treated to a private lecture on preparing oral arguments by Dan Bromberg, one of the leading national appellate attorneys at the California-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, LLP.

We have also put together teams of experts from law firms around the nation to assist our team members as they prepare for oral arguments. (Each competition has its own rules regarding outside assistance. Of course, we follow those rules scrupulously.) Students slated to argue in the national Corporate Law moot court competition will have the opportunity to bounce their arguments off leading corporate law attorneys at firms such as Baker & McKenzie LLP; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone PLC; Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP; Pepper Hamilton LLP; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & From LLP & Affiliates; and Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP. The members of the Intellectual Property competition will be able to interact with attorneys from places such as Amazon.com, Jones Day and Morrison & Foerster LLP.

Why are we doing this? First, as Dean I believe that students learn best when they are exposed to a wide range of minds--both theoretical and practical. As a school, we call on the best around the nation to provide that. Second, exposure to these leading experts provides both excellent training for our students and a host of wonderful networking opportunities. Whether our teams come home national champions or fall short, their experiences on moot court are superb learning and training moments, as well as chances to meet, learn from, and impress some pretty impressive people in the business.

If you are thinking about attending University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and are interested in speaking with students competing on our national teams, be sure to e-mail us (udmlawao@udmercy.edu) so that we can put you in touch with them.

Thursday October 18, 2007

Imagine sitting around a table speaking with leading attorneys from around the United States about developments in the legal practice and changes in the marketplace. As Dean, I have the opportunity to do that every six months, as my Dean’s Advisory Board gathers here at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law to look at our curriculum, provide suggestions about ways we can better prepare our students for the jobs for which law firms are hiring, and offer general advice about ways to make our students even more competitive in the marketplace.

More recently, however, not only have I been speaking with the Dean’s Advisory Board (DAB), but I have also been inviting students at the School to meet and speak with them as well. When we spoke at our last meeting about our innovative Law Firm Program, the Board heard not just from me and the faculty, but also from students. Students on various Moot Court teams spoke about the competitions in which they were competing; students from our Clinics described the clinical training they were receiving; students discussed recent challenges of the Law Review. Now we have created a tradition of inviting dozens of students to mingle with the members of the Board following each meeting.

That explains how it was that different UDM students had an opportunity to speak recently with partners from law firms from around the country. A partial list of those firms includes places like Arnold and Porter (DC); Shearman and Sterling (NY); Baker McKenzie (Chicago); Pepper Hamilton (Philadelphia); Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, LLP (CA); Thacher Proffitt Wood (NY); Arent Fox (NY); Mayer Brown (Chicago); Dewey & LeBoeuf (NY); Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold (CA); Hughes Hubbard and Reed (NY); Paul Hastings (NY); and many more. And the list of firms leaves out the numerous corporate counsels, such as the attorney in charge of litigation for Amazon.com in Seattle or the Deputy General Counsel at Verizon in DC.

As Dean, I truly enjoy watching our students rise so well to the occasion. They always speak with great confidence and knowledge. And I consistently hear from the partners at our meetings how impressed they are with our students. I am pleased to report that the impressions of these attorneys translate into more firms interviewing our students and offering them jobs.

Of course, there are never any guarantees about legal jobs or the legal marketplace. But I know that our approach at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law has been profoundly influenced by the advice I receive from the DAB. And I know that our students have benefited tremendously from the DAB’s growing knowledge of our school and our students. You can read more about the experiences of our students with the DAB on our website.

Tuesday October 02, 2007

Here’s the situation. A man shoots a policeman and injures him so severely that the policeman is paralyzed. The man is convicted of aggravated assault and serves a long prison sentence. He gets out on parole, decides he wants to move his life in a positive direction, and even speaks to college students about his efforts to turn his life around. Over four decades after the shooting, the policeman gets an infection and dies. Doctors conclude that the infection would not have happened if not for the shooting many years before. The district attorney charges the man who shot the policeman with murder. What do you think? Can the district attorney do that? Should he do that?

Some of you may recognize this fact pattern, as it reflects recent events in Philadelphia in relation to William J. Barnes who shot Officer Walter T. Barclay, Jr. back in 1966. (For a fuller discussion of this case, see the article in The New York Times by Ian Urbina, “New Murder Charge in ’66 Shooting,” from September 19, 2007.) It was this general issue which was the topic of discussion at the first meeting this year of the Dean’s Honor Society at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Students who do particularly well academically after their first year of law school are invited to join the DHS. This year’s membership is about 60 students. As members they meet regularly with me as Dean , as well as with various faculty members, to discuss interesting legal issues in an informal setting. We will also be getting together for various social events, such as plays, concerts, etc.

During our first meeting, the students and I were joined by Assistant Dean Cara Cunningham as well as Prof. Richard Krisciunas, who spent about twenty years as one of the leading prosecutors for Wayne County. I very much enjoyed the free-flowing discussion, as we all grappled with the issues that this scenario raises. Based on the conversation, there seemed to be a good deal of disagreement about whether the district attorney should re-charge the defendant with murder so many years after the crime. But I think everyone’s minds were opened a little bit as they listened to the arguments from different perspectives.

In fact, that kind of listening to different arguments and trying to think through their repercussions is, I think, an important part of the law school experience. And, to be frank, engaging in these kinds of discussions with UDM law students certainly brings a lot of pleasure to the Dean! For those of you thinking about coming to UDM next year, feel free to e-mail me with your thoughts about this case as well.

Monday September 10, 2007

There is something wonderful about the start of a new
school year. There is a real sense of rebirth as our law
school community gets renewed. There are students from the
previous two years to welcome back and a new group
of eager, enthusiastic (and, admittedly, somewhat nervous)
students to welcome to the School.

This year's entering class seems particularly excited to be
at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
They come from about half the states as well as three
Canadian provinces and several other countries. In fact,
approximately 45 percent of the entering class is comprised of
students whose permanent residence is outside Michigan.

I had a lot of fun getting to know different members of the
entering class through our orientation activities. As part
of those activities, my wife and I (together with our two
sons) host a series of parties at our home to welcome the
new students. (I say a series of parties because the
entering class is too big for all of the students to come
at the same time.) That gives me a good opportunity to get
to know students on a more personal level and to just have
some really fun discussions.

I must admit that I was impressed about how much the
entering students knew about the School and our innovative
curriculum. Many of them mentioned to me the recent
national press we have received: The Wall Street Journal,
the National Law Journal, USA Today, the front pages of
both The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News. In fact,
the week of orientation, University of Detroit Mercy School
of Law was also featured in a full-page article in The
National Jurist. (I particularly enjoyed the fact that the
article, referring to the tremendous increase in interest
by national firms in students from UDM, referred to us as a
"job-hunting powerhouse.") Links to each of these articles
can be found on our website.

Our new students seemed to have made a conscious decision
to come to us because they liked our approach, they liked
our focus on preparing them for the real world of practice
and helping them aggressively in their job searches, and
they felt that the community atmosphere at the School was
right for them.

I think that's particularly good advice for students who
are starting the process of applying for next year. Each
law school has a different approach and a different feel.
Get to know the different law schools and what they can
offer, and try to get a sense for where you would feel most
comfortable. If you are interested in the University of
Detroit Mercy School of Law, be sure to visit our website,
to come to visit our School, and to meet with our Admissions
staff, faculty, students, and administrators.It's an important
decision regarding the next stage in your life, and you
should be sure to get a real sense for what each school has
to offer.