Monday February 11, 2008

Last week at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law we made a pretty unusual announcement. At a press conference hosted by Rhonda Walker of WDIV-TV Channel 4, we announced the launch of a national tour of our Mobile Law Office and Veterans Clinic to assist veterans around the nation with accessing federal veterans benefits.

I was very moved to share the podium with representatives of veterans organizations and to be speaking to a group of veterans who have served our country and now need our help -- as attorneys, law students, and as a law school – to serve them.

I think the best way to describe what we're doing is for me to share with you excerpts from my remarks at last week's press conference:

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law is very proud to announce the launch of our Project SALUTE – students and lawyers assisting US troops everywhere exclusively with federal benefits issues. Project SALUTE will build on the success that we’ve had in Michigan in assisting veterans and take that assistance to veterans across the country to help them exclusively with securing their federal veterans benefits.

At University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, we believe in giving our students hands-on experience in dealing with real clients. We also believe in challenging them to serve those in need.

That’s why we established our UDM Veterans Clinic in the first place. Less than a year ago, we decided that rather than sitting back and watching the problems that veterans have, we would actually try to do something about it.

And, working together, our students and our faculty, led by Professor Michael Bryce, Professor Peggy Costello, Professor Joon Sung, and Professor Tammy Kudialis – we’ve created something special. A way for low-income veterans to get the assistance that they need to receive their federal veterans benefits.

The State of Michigan saw the good that we were doing, and they have given us now a grant of $200,000 so that we can take our innovative Mobile Law Office to travel the State reaching out to veterans. And we have. So far, we have served over 600 veterans here in Michigan, in Grand Rapids and Flint, Battle Creek and Lansing, Traverse City and beyond, with many more stops to come.

And I would not be honest if I did not tell you how overwhelmed we have been by the response. Attorneys at major firms and smaller firms, corporate counsels and sole practitioners, have stepped forward. Veterans service organizations have offered us their cooperation and help. In city after city, dozens of veterans have come to take us up on our offer of assistance.

We first announced our Michigan effort on a Saturday – and the first call for assistance from a veteran logged in at 6:12 am that Saturday morning. Within two weeks, we had heard from over 300 veterans. We heard from veterans from all eras and all wars; veterans with all kinds of disabilities and all kinds of stories. But what we have heard the most is the extent of the need and the level of gratitude that the veterans we help express.

Now, the truth is that it is really we who should be offering our gratitude to them. And that’s why we started thinking long and hard about how to expand our efforts. Chris Johnson at General Motors stepped forward to achieve the impossible – getting GM to donate a new custom-designed, state of the art second Mobile Law Office that will enable us to supplement our efforts in Michigan with efforts beyond. So while our Michigan tour continues and indeed expands, today we announce a new phase – a national tour to assist veterans.

Why are we doing this? Because it is great training for our students. And because it is a great service for those who have already served.

What will we be doing? In city after city across this country, UDM School of Law and the faculty and students in our Veterans Clinic will be doing five things:

1.Providing educational outreach for veterans, so that they can learn about their rights to federal veterans benefits.

2.Doing intake so that individual low-income veterans can tell their own stories, and so that they can have their cases handled – either by our Veterans Clinic or by local attorneys willing to volunteer pro bono.

3.In order to increase the number of those attorneys available, we will be providing in many cities training sessions – for free – for any attorney willing to learn about how to handle veterans benefits cases and willing to provide assistance to veterans pro bono.

4.In doing all these things – the education, the training, and the individual cases – we will also be drawing public attention to this critical issue.

5.And fifth, we will be challenging attorneys around the nation to answer the call, by providing countless hours of free assistance to our nation’s veterans.

Law school is about learning, but it is also about learning to do. We want our students here at UDM School of Law to realize that as attorneys, you truly can make a difference in other people’s lives.

And there is no population more deserving than our nation’s veterans. No matter when they served, whether on the frontlines or behind the lines, they have performed a service to all of us. They have already answered the call; we at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law are now answering the call; and together we are issuing a call to others to join with us to serve those who have already served us all.

If you wish to help, please contact me at gordonmc@udmercy.edu.

Wednesday January 16, 2008

The traditional model of legal education, I think, is based on a faulty premise that if you learn US law, you have learned "the law." Of course, learning US law is critically important to practice in this country. And our legal system is particularly well developed in a wide range of areas. However, to better train today's students, exposure to other legal systems is necessary.

That's why we created the International Opportunities Program at UDM last year. Under this program, students can choose among summer programs taught in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. We give all our first-year students a list of programs that we consider rigorous enough and that we believe provide students with a meaningful introduction to a foreign legal system. This year, we have identified 15 schools, each with one or more programs in place such as The Netherlands, France, Costa Rica, Spain, London, South Africa, Korea, Budapest, Brazil, Turkey, Germany, and others. In order to encourage students to consider these programs, we offer $1000 to help defray travel expenses. What are the conditions for receiving the $1000? A student must attend one of these programs during the summer after the first year, successfully complete the program, and transfer the credits back to UDM.

I encourage our students to take advantage of this opportunity to learn about a different legal system in a different country. In fact, for those of you considering whether you might want to take advantage of this program, I would suggest you read the recent article published in the Detroit Legal News or on our website which highlighted the experiences of our students studying abroad last summer.

It's a great opportunity to expand your knowledge while also having some fun traveling.

Tuesday December 04, 2007

Readers of this blog know that I consider clinics to provide a stupendous opportunity for law students to hone their practice skills while also serving those in need. So you can imagine how pleased I am to be able to announce two expansions to our clinical program.

First, starting in January, we at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law will begin offering an Environmental Law Clinic. But this is a clinic with a real difference. While most environmental clinics at law schools focus on citizen suits, our students will be receiving a distinct set of experiences. The professor for the clinic, Prof. Lynn Dodge, has been named by the US Attorney’s Office as a Special Assistant US Attorney. The students will handle environmental enforcement matters referred from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or the U.S. Coast Guard. The matters are brought in Federal District Court under such federal environmental statutes as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Under this relationship with the U.S. Attorney's office, the students will gain an in-depth understanding of how to litigate complex environmental statutes while obtaining insight into the workings of the Justice Department and various federal agencies. This should provide a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about environmental law while enforcing some of the major environmental statutory frameworks such as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and others.

Second, we recently announced a significant expansion in our veterans clinical program. Students in this clinic represent veterans seeking disability benefits as well as handling other legal issues related to veterans. The response from both veterans and students has been truly overwhelming. In addition, we just secured a $200,000 grant from the State of Michigan which will enable us to establish the clinical program as a freestanding Veterans Clinic. This money will also provide the resources for our students to travel around the state in our Mobile Law Office assisting veterans throughout Michigan. The issues that some of these veterans are dealing with are truly heart-rending.

With these recent announcements, we now offer students at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law seven different clinics. In fact, we just heard that a student in our Immigration Clinic has been invited to argue a case before the Seventh Circuit US Court of Appeals. A different student argued before the Sixth Circuit about six months ago, so we are certainly on a roll in this respect. If you want additional information about our clinical programs, be sure to contact us (313-596-0264) or visit http://www.law.udmercy.edu/academics/clinics.php.

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.