Consumers of Legal Services Force Change in Law School Curriculum

Last Sunday's NYT had yet another above the fold, law school-related headline: What They Don't Teach Law Students: Lawyering.  In a sustained economic downturn, corporations (and individuals) that have reduced their legal budgets want lawyers with practical knowledge; not theoretical brilliance.The academic template for law schools has been around, with very little change, since Harvard Law School branded the so-called "case method" in the late 19th Century.  This traditional legal pedagogy was memorialized in the 1973 movie, The Paper Chase.The Socratic case method calls for students to read and break down cases that illustrate a particular, albeit ancient or esoteric, legal principle.  A law professor calls on students...

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Posted in: e-discovery,Harvard Law School,law school,law student,lawyer,New York Times,Paper Chase,University of Detroit Mercy,Wayne State University

High Income Child Support

In 1988, the federal Family Support Act required all states to enact presumptive child support "guidelines" in order to preserve federal funding on a variety of family-oriented programs.  Since then, Michigan has adopted the Michigan Child Support Formula.In response to the Act, some states adopted support formulas that "top-out" for high earners.  Here in Michigan, for example, child support can only be calculated for an annual income of $422,916 or less.In addition, the MCSF takes away most of the court's discretion in setting child support.  Absent compelling factors, support is determined through a straight-forward application of the MCSF. In the case of some high-earning families, litigants have cried foul, asserting that...

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Posted in: "Michigan Child Support Formula",child support,divorce lawyer,family law,Family Support Act

Oakland County Circuit Court Appoints Ombudsman

For the first time in its long history, the Oakland County Circuit Court has appointed an Attorney Ombudsman to serve as a liaison between the county's bench and the bar.  Southfield Attorney Joel Serlin has the distinction of being the first Ombudsman to the Oakland Circuit beginning December 1, 2011.In announcing the appointment, Chief Judge Nanci Grant said:Our bench is excited to participate in the inaugural ombudsman program.  We embrace the program, and the opportunity presented, as an illustration of the importance attached to the transparency and accountability of the bench and bar - to each other, of course, but more importantly to the administration of justice in Oakland County.The role of this ombudsman will be to address...

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Posted in: Attorney Joel Serlin,Oakland County Bar Association,Oakland County Circuit Court,Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Nanci Grant,OCBA,ombudsman

Clarkston Legal Presents at ICLE's 10th Annual Family Law Instutite

On Friday, I presented on the topic of social media in the family law context to 500 Michigan lawyers attending ICLE's 10th Annual Family Law Institute at the Inn at St. John's in Plymouth, MI.Part of the presentation dealt with the national and local "influencers" in the area of social media and the law; particularly family law.  Some of the more dynamic profiles of attorneys utilizing the social media were  profiled and discussed.Lawyers are utilizing sites like Google+, YouTube, Linked In and Facebook to promote their content, expertise and profile.  Law-related sites such as JD Supra, Nolo, and Avvo were also profiled.The second half of the presentation touched on issues of privacy and the expectation of privacy, or lack...

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Posted in: Avvo,divorce,e-discovery,electronically stored information,ESI,ICLE,privacy,social media

Wayne County Circuit Court Rolls Out E-Filing

Yesterday, the Wayne Circuit Court joined Oakland and a few other select counties that accept electronic case and document filings.  For the time being, however, only Wayne County's contract case filings, coded with the "CK" case code, are mandatory e-file cases; the rest of the docket still requires old-fashioned paper.Oakland County has had e-filing for years; it has personally saved me hundreds of man-hours and my clients thousands of dollars.  There are still docket pockets in Oakland County, however, that have resisted the e-filing system.  Divorces with children, for example, have eluded Oakland County's e-file requirement. An attorney must do a few proactive things to successfully get on board with the e-filing requirements....

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Posted in: e-filing,Oakland Circuit Court,Wayne County Circuit Court

Prisoner Has No Right to Miranda Warning During Prison "Investigation"

Homemade Prison ShanksI have appellate clients doing time at the MDOC's Carson City Correctional Facility in Montcalm County.  One summer day a few years back, when I had just cleared the facility, a gang fight broke out in the yard which led to warning shots being fired from the gun tower and a 2-day lockdown.Last month, the Michigan Court of Appeals decided a case involving the MDOC's attempt to get to the bottom of those gang disputes.  In the process, the intermediate appellate court touched on the nerve of an accused's right to have legal counsel prior to making statements to police.In People v Cortez, the defendant, a prisoner at Carson City, underwent a cell shake-down which yielded two shanks from around his bunk.  Cortez...

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Posted in: criminal defense lawyer,custodial interrogation,Miranda,SADO,SCOTUS

Michigan Court of Appeals Rules State Clerk Must Testify in DWLS Cases

In a 2-1 decision, the Michigan Court of Appeals recently ruled that a certificate mailed to a state driver, notifying him of his suspended license, is "testimonial" as that term is used in the constitution thus, the Secretary of State must produce it's clerk at a trial for driving on a suspended license.The case, People v Nunley, arose in a district court in Washtenaw County.  The prosecutor attempted to introduce notice of the defendant's suspension, without calling a clerk from the Secretary of State's office to lay the proper foundation for the entry of that key document.Both the district court and the circuit court denied the prosecutor's request to admit the document of suspension; a key element in any DWLS case.The Court of Appeals...

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Posted in: 6th Amendment,confrontation clause,driving while license suspended,DWLS,Henry Saad,Michigan Court of Appeals,People v Nunley,Secretary of State,Terry Nunley