Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Blog

This opinion blog piece was written by WMU-Cooley Law School Assistant Dean Victoria V. Vuletich. Professor Vuletich has expertise in legal ethics, the regulation of the legal profession and drafting and proposing administrative rules relating to the legal profession. She also has expertise in the restructuring of the legal profession and its implications for the profession and the public. You can listen to Professor Vuletich on Michigan's Big Show. 

Here at WMU-Cooley fall classes are beginning. New students will quickly learn that first-term courses do not include Vocabulary 101. Rather, students are expected to master the law’s terminology on their own, by looking up every word in their assigned cases that they don’t understand.

Justice Benjamin Cardozo (1870-1938) served with great distinction as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1914-1932) and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1932-1938). He was the holder of 14 honorary degrees, including from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Chicago, Michigan, and N.Y.U.

2020 has been an unforgettable year so far; but a year that has placed a necessary spotlight on many areas of injustice that one graduating law student, Ray Petty, is ready to address head on. 

Every year, Michigan Lawyers Weekly accepts nominations of worthy attorneys to be considered as Michigan Leaders in the Law. Based on their accomplishments, service and experience, they select 20 to 30 attorneys to be designated Michigan's Leaders in the Law. Those nominees then select from among themselves the one attorney that truly epitomizes leadership, that personifies the qualities that all of us aspire to demonstrate, the ideals that compelled all of us to attend law school. Think of it: 30 alpha dogs that all want to be recognized as the leader of the pack.

Dalton Dennis remembers early on that his father never made things easy. Whatever they did, his father wouldn't give him an answer. He wanted him to come up with that himself. It was frustrating, even infuriating for Dennis as a young boy and teenager. What he realized later was that was the best thing his father ever taught him - how to think on his feet and to answer his own questions. It's those exact lessons and skills that have put him at an advantage in life, including success in law school. 

The following July 30, 2020 News 8 story called Constitutional professor weighs in on Pres. Trump’s tweet about delaying election by Ryan Hughes features Constitutional Law expert and WMU-Cooley Professor Brendan Beery. The short answer is no. Get the longer story below. 

Martin Peters (Trimble Class, 2015), chief of staff and general counsel for Eckerd Connects in Clearwater, Florida, has a new title: Fellow. Peters was named a Bloomberg Fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and is now pursuing his master’s degree in that field. Peters is thrilled to be a part of the new and exciting program.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, and the resulting stay-home and business closure orders, face mask requirements, and related matters in the forefront of daily lives, managing safety and health care became the biggest single issue facing the United States in the spring of 2020. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took an early pro-active approach toward trying to keep a lid on the virus. With the orders affecting many state departments and all businesses, plus the follow-through needed from those state agencies and local municipalities, it quickly became apparent that a point person was needed to coordinate all the goals the state was trying to accomplish. That someone is Sean Egan (Moore Class, 2013), deputy director of Labor in the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) since October 2019. In June 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed Egan as the director of Covid-19 Workplace Safety.

Christian Wise Smith (Wilkins Class, 2011) has a history of beating the odds. So when he launched his campaign for Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney and was told he had little chance of success, he simply recalled his motto: significance over success. “By that measure, what I did was very significant, and ultimately, it’s going to lead to enormous success in fighting for social justice.”