Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Blog

Recently I encountered three examples of comma misuse among legal writers. At first I thought the comma faults were random. But then I noticed they had something in common; in each case the comma preceded a verb. The commas create the impression of a runner stumbling midway to the finish line. From a law-school student publication: “May the odds forever, be in your favor.” From a legal newspaper: “And a lot of these kids, were really good players.” From a law-school press release: “[The law school] is committed to pursuing a collaborative approach in working with the Council, to continue meeting ABA standards.”

WMU-Cooley Professor Gary Bauer considers his job an important one for those law students considering going solo. His years of business and marketing experience, alongside nearly 20 years of teaching experience, are invaluable in helping WMU-Cooley students learn to navigate the successful road to solo practice. Read Professor Bauer's top five essentials when starting to go solo in his Feb. 16, 2017 SoloLawyerByDesign blog post below.

Students often tell WMU-Cooley Professor Barbara Kalinowski that they are bad writers or they say, "It's just not my thing." Those kinds of comments don't wash for Kalinowski, especially in the classroom.  

Lawyers are trained to be expert communicators. Yet speaking before a group can be an intimidating prospect for some, whether it’s a civic club luncheon, trade association meeting, or bar association CLE program. Rejoice if you are invited to make a speaking presentation, as there are many ways it can benefit your practice. Here are some tips for making your presentation an effective and impressive one.

On Friday, Feb. 15, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in order to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Following President Trump’s announcement, Constitutional professors from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School responded by releasing a joint statement about the National Securities Act and an analysis of what our Constitution says and what it means for our democracy. 

Judge E. Thomas Fitzgerald of Owosso, Michigan, passed away December 27, 2018, at age 79. He was a trial lawyer for 24 years before his election to the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1990. He served on the court for another 24 years before retiring in 2014.

Western Michigan University-Cooley Law School Associate Dean and Ret. Brigadier General Michael C.H. McDaniel offered insight into the legal ramifications if President Donald Trump invokes the National Emergency Act in order to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Getting students ready to pass the Bar Exam is something Professor Emily Horvath takes very seriously. As the director of academic services with the law school, not only does she work to create solid curriculum and programming, she puts in an effort that begins day one, the minute a student steps into the classroom. 

Strunk & White’s classic guide to good writing, The Elements of Style, urges writers to use definite, specific, and concrete language. “Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, the concrete to the abstract.” The goal is to write “with such accuracy and vigor that the reader, in imagination, can project himself into the scene.”

The Honorable Thomas E. Brennan, founder of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School and former Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, died peacefully surrounded by his loving family on Sept. 29, 2018 at the age of 89. He has been called one of the most important innovators in legal education of the past 40 years. A visionary. A risk-taker. An “idea guy.” His legacy reaches far beyond the founding of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, rippling through the lives of more than 20,000 graduates of the institution he imagined back in 1972, touching even the lives of generations of people he never would meet.