Service Programs
Lansing | Grand Rapids | Auburn Hills | Ann Arbor
All Campuses
Indigent Defense Case Development Sessions: Cooley Law Professor Marjorie Russell runs case development sessions for lawyers representing indigent criminal defendants at Cooley's Lansing, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, and Auburn Hills campuses, and Cooley students participate in the working groups. The case development sessions employ the action methods for case preparation and trial presentation which Professor Russell has participated in developing over the last 15 years as part of the faculty of the Trial Lawyers College in Wyoming. This pro bono service in aid to the indigent defense community is expected to continue as long as there is a demand for it among Michigan lawyers. The participants act as a sort of focus group which helps the lawyer identify and understand the story of the case, the people involved, and what will be important to jurors trying to understand what happened and why. Sometimes clients are present, in which case some of the time is spent exploring their story in action, and helping them access information important to their defense. Frequently students who have attended the sessions continue to work with the lawyer, follow the case, attend court, and form mentoring relationships.
Twenty-four indigent defense case development sessions were conducted in 2010, 7 at Auburn Hills, 7 in Lansing, 3 in Grand Rapids, and 3 in Ann Arbor. Additional sessions were held in Southfield (2), Berkley (1), Ferndale (1), and Traverse City (2 days). These sessions produced a total of 277 pro bono hours for students, 114 hours for the professor, 221 hours for the attorneys, and 106 additional hours for a total of 718 hours of pro bono work performed in the Indigent Defense Case Development sessions during the year 2010. Four sessions this year were devoted to assistance in a federal death penalty trial. The accused was sentenced to life in prison. The lawyers on the case credit their success in part to the assistance provided in these sessions. Contact Professor Marjorie Russell at russellm@cooley.edu for additional information.
Hurricane Victims: Since 2007, over 200 Cooley students have traveled to New Orleans during their term break to partner with legal agencies involved with disaster relief legal work, shepherded by Assistant Dean Chris Church. Students have worked on probate issues involving homes in the lower Ninth Ward helping clients clear title to devastated homes, assisted with public defender cases in criminal courts, worked to clear the backlog of divorce cases from the hurricane, helped people obtain and maintain public benefits, helped people stay in their homes, and other related work. Students have learned first hand about the role of a lawyer in a community recovering from a catastrophe. One student said, "The Disaster Relief Legal Association has taken me from being the typical self-serving law student always looking for the next great résumé builder, to actually caring and not just 'doing what looks good.'" In 2010, 12 students and two professors worked 480 hours, pro bono. Contact Assistant Dean Chris Church at churchc@cooley.edu for additional information.
Service to Soldiers: Since 2007, Thomas Cooley's Service to Soldiers program has been offering free legal assistance to Michigan military personnel who are deploying to, are serving in, or have recently returned from deployment and are experiencing civilian legal concerns. This program is offered state-wide to service members of E5 rank or below, and works cooperatively with other veteran and military assistance programs throughout Michigan. The program has allowed Cooley students, alumni, staff, and Michigan attorneys the opportunity to give back to those who have sacrificed so much for our country.
Initiated by the Director of Cooley's Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism Heather Spielmaker, and through partnerships with the Michigan National Guard and other JAG offices, the Service to Soldiers Program has offered assistance to nearly 4,000 Michigan soldiers who were preparing for deployment, deployed, or were returning from war. They were offered help with a variety of legal issues including preparing wills and powers of attorney (POAs), and handling family law issues, landlord disputes, insurance problems, and creditor/debtor concerns. They also received legal briefings about provisions afforded them through the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act. 136 students have assisted with this program in various ways since 2007 and have offered legal briefings to small groups of deploying servicemen and women, conducted client in-take interviews, researched relevant case law, given presentations to groups of returning veterans and Viet Nam-era veterans, drafted wills and POAs under the supervision of licensed attorneys, staffed information booths, researched legal issues for inclusion in the Judge's Guide to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and handled many of the administrative tasks necessary in maintaining the program. In fact, student volunteers contribute so generously to the administration of the program that the program's on-going success has come to depend greatly on their labor.
In 2010, 94 qualifying clients were referred to attorneys participating with the Service to Soldiers Program. Currently, 136 volunteer attorneys participate in the Michigan program, most of whom are Cooley alumni, taking cases pro bono for soldiers. Michigan National Guard deployment events were held over a span of 32 days in 2010. Students assisted at these events by giving legal briefings on soldiers’ rights under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to 4400 deploying troops and helping to produce wills and POAs. A total of 52 pro bono opportunities for students resulted, with each opportunity lasting eight hours. Volunteer attorneys staffed these events for eight hours each day, as well, with a total of 30 attorney opportunities being offered. We notarized 1130 documents at these events.
The Service to Soldiers Program created other volunteer and pro bono opportunities for students, as well. An intern service coordinator worked all year on assigning qualifying cases to suitable attorneys. Sarina DiPiazza, who held that position for all of 2010, put in an estimated 300 volunteer hours in that capacity, but also assisted at deployment events. She was an extern with the Michigan National Guard JAG Office during some of 2010, and volunteered there even after her externship requirement was met. Three students interned on special projects for Lt. Colonel George McHugh, and a dozen students became mentors with the Ingham County Veterans Treatment Court. In 2010, students and faculty provided soldiers with 656 hours of pro bono assistance. Contact Heather Spielmaker at spielmah@cooley.edu for additional information.
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Lansing
Advent House Ministries: Over the years Cooley has established a very active relationship with Lansing’s Advent House, a weekend day shelter for the homeless that also provides Food Stamp assistance, employment counseling and assistance, transitional housing, a literacy program, and social security disability and SSI application assistance. Students supervised by lawyers, including Cooley Professor Nancy Wonch, visit to provide general legal advice and referrals, and help with letter writing and forms preparation for the indigent in Lansing. Since 2003, Professor Wonch has arranged for five to ten Cooley students at a time to provide pro bono services in various venues throughout Lansing. For several years Advent House hosted a "Healthy Thanksgiving" event to provide patrons with a variety of health and other services including legal advice, as well as a nutritionally prepared Thanksgiving dinner. Contact Professor Nancy Wonch at wonchn@cooley.edu for additional information.
Child Welfare Training Institute: For the last six years, Professor Tony Flores, accompanied by other faculty and prosecutors and assisted by Cooley students, has trained Protective Services and Foster Care workers as a part of their curriculum through the Child Welfare Training Institute, an agency of the Michigan Department of Human Services. The eight week training session has included about 170 trainees three to four times a year. Cooley students help Professors Flores prepare the trainees for their courtroom testimony. This training includes Cooley students performing direct and cross-examinations of the child welfare investigators. The examinations include issues of child welfare supervision, child welfare investigation, and family preservation. Since 2005, the number of trainees is between 1900 and 2000, including the three sexual assault nurse examiners trainings Professor Flores has done for the Great Lakes Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners in Detroit, Lansing, and Grand Rapids. In 2010, Professors Flores and his students worked nine six-hour training sessions averaging 3 to 8 students a session for 297 hours, not for academic credit. Contact Professor Tony Flores at floresa@cooley.edu for additional information.
Cristo Rey Community Center: Professor Chris Trudeau has long been providing legal assistance to Lansing residents seeking help through the Cristo Rey Community Center. In 2010, approximately 100 hours of student opportunities were offered, and those students assisted Professor Trudeau, who performed a little over 225 hours of pro bono work. Including student hours, around 300 pro bono hours were worked. Since starting this program in 2006, Professor Trudeau's students and he have offered combined assistance of over 1,600 hours of pro bono service. Contact Professor Chris Trudeau at trudeauc@cooley.edu for additional information.
Lansing Teen Court: One way to expose law students to real-life law is to develop a relationship with the local prosecutor’s office that allows the Law School to host the adjudication of criminal cases involving teenagers. The Ingham County Prosecutor's Office has such an agreement with Cooley Law School. That office screens and refers to the Lansing Teen Court, juvenile offender cases involving youths ages 11-16. Local teenagers receive orientation and training and then act as jurors, while local judges and Cooley faculty preside as judges in the proceedings. The program provides teens with a diversionary program for relatively minor legal offenses, and allows other teens to not just see, but also decide, sentencing. The proceedings take place in Cooley's high-tech, state-of-the-art courtrooms. Cooley students serve as Respondents' and victims' advocates, hearing observers, and as jury monitors during jury deliberations. They also assist the Respondents in completing their required orders for the Teen Court diversion from prosecution. Volunteering as an advocate means holding the Respondent accountable and guiding the first time juvenile offenders through the steps in the juvenile diversion process, which takes approximately 90 days. Many of them also serve as academic mentors for the students and establish relationships with the teenagers that continue beyond Teen Court. In 2010, 27 students volunteered 2-3 hours per week. Professor Evelyn Calogero works with Lansing Teen Court Director Mike Botke, who can be reached at (517) 371-2823.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA): Launched in 2010 under the direction of Professor Dan Sheaffer, this program offers Cooley students tax filing experience while helping low-income families file for much-needed refunds. Various student organizations helped supervise and support the program, which offer approximately 150 student hours of pro bono assistance. Contact Professor Dan Sheaffer at sheaffed@cooley.edu for additional information.
Project Homeless Connect and Stand Down events occur annually to assist the homeless and veterans. Professor Nancy Wonch recruits students to assist participants with legal issues under Nancy’s supervision. These events create approximately 20 student opportunities each year. Contact Professor Nancy Wonch at wonchn@cooley.edu for additional information.
Homeless Assistance and Prevention Project (HAPP): The Open Door Ministry of Downtown Lansing is housed at Central United Methodist Church across from the State Capitol. Legal advocacy services have included providing basic legal advice, letter writing, and referrals to other community and social services resources. In June 2010, the project was named the Homeless Assistance and Prevention Project to allow us to visit other sites.
Through HAPP in 2010, 30 hours of opportunity for student pro bono work were available, with each hour staffed by three or four students. In addition to the benefits to the individuals served, law students also benefit greatly from this volunteer opportunity as they are able to apply the knowledge, skills, and ethics they learn in the classroom to real life situations and serve those who are traditionally under-served. Contact Assistant Dean Cynthia Ward at wardc@cooley.edu for additional information.
Cooley Clinics: Cooley's many legal clinics allow students to do actual legal work for indigents, and receive credit for that. As it turns out, many Cooley students and clinic faculty end up working many hours in excess of what is required of them. We consider those extra hours—beyond what is needed to earn school credit—as pro bono work by both our students and faculty. Such pro bono assistance occurs at all of Cooley's clinics, including the
- Sixty Plus Elderlaw Clinic: Aside from handling their own case files, Sixty Plus intern teams are assigned an outreach project each term where they go into the community and speak to groups about the Clinic’s services and about specific areas of law relevant to seniors. Sixty Plus interns are required to bill 90 hours per term for their client casework, but most interns bill well over the required 90 hours. In 2010, students billed 11,226 hours handling legal matters for indigent senior citizens, 4866 of which were pro bono—beyond what was required for academic credit. Contact Professor Kimberly O'Leary, Clinic Director, at olearyk@cooley.edu for additional information.
- • Sixty Plus Elderlaw Estate Planning Clinic: Estate Planning Clinic interns are required to bill 90 hours per term for their client casework, but most interns bill well over the required 90 hours. In 2010, students worked 3030 hours, which were required for credit, and 116.7 hours were worked pro bono, beyond what was required for academic credit, for a total of 3146.7 hours. Contact Professor Gary Bauer, Clinic Director, at bauerg@cooley.edu for additional information.
- Innocence Project Clinic: Interns review files of the incarcerated to determine whether DNA evidence may prove them factually innocent, and occasionally visit inmates at the prisons with their supervising attorneys. Innocence Project interns are required to bill 90 hours per term for their client casework, but most interns bill over the required 90 hours. In 2010, Students worked a total of 2273 hours, 473 of which were beyond what was required for academic credit, and therefore, pro bono. Contact Co-Directors Marla Mitchell-Cichon, at mitchelm@cooley.edu or Donna McKneelen at mckneeld@cooley.edu for additional information.
- The Washtenaw County Public Defender Clinic: with classes in Lansing and site work in Ann Arbor, student lawyers perform all public defender functions. In 2010, students worked beyond the hours required for credit and completed 599.5 pro bono hours. Contact Professor Terry Cavanaugh, Clinic Director, at cavanaut@cooley.edu for additional information.
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Grand Rapids
Stand Down: Faculty and Grand Rapids area attorneys, accompanied by Cooley students, offered pro bono legal services at Stand Down, an event open to West Michigan veterans. Cooley faculty and students logged 8 hours of pro bono assistance at this event in 2010. Contact Karen Rowlader at rowladek@cooley.edu for additional information.
Dégagé Ministries: This soup kitchen serving a homeless population continues to provide counseling and interviewing opportunities for students. The legal assistance and counseling program is offered under the supervision of faculty to patrons of Dégagé the first, third, and fourth week of each month. The efforts of faculty and students, coordinated by Assistant Director Karen Rowlader, totaled 206 pro bono hours worked in 2010. Contact Karen Rowlader at rowladek@cooley.edu for additional information.
Ferguson Apartments is a nonprofit Dwelling Place site serving formerly homeless and disabled. Coordinated by Assistant Director Karen Rowlader, legal services are offered to Ferguson residents two days each month by Professor Sherry Batzer. Two students are encouraged to accompany and assist her each time she goes. Professor Batzer also enlists the assistance of additional students offsite, as the case load warrants. In 2010, students and faculty combined offered 283 hours of pro bono work for Ferguson Apartments. Contact Karen Rowlader at rowladek@cooley.edu for additional information.
The West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce serves the self-employed. Grand Rapids faculty are asked to assist at the Chamber on an "as needed" basis. Bilingual students are usually sought for the Chamber opportunities. In 2010, students and faculty combined offered 21 hours of pro bono work for the Chamber. Contact Karen Rowlader at rowladek@cooley.edu for additional information.
Mel Trotter Ministries: is West Michigan’s largest homeless mission. The Christian mission, located next door to Cooley’s campus, also houses a residential substance abuse program, women-and-children program, soup kitchen, occupational training programs, and other services. Cooley’s Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism, through Assistant Director Karen Rowlader, and the Cooley Volunteer Corps, offer free legal services to the mission, coordinating the schedules for the several Cooley students who volunteer to support the work of the Christian Lawyers Association, and Cooley faculty members who donate their time to offer free legal service. Two students are invited to accompany the attorneys during the four time slots each month. In 2010, students and faculty provided 152.5 hours of pro bono service. Contact Karen Rowlader at rowladek@cooley.edu for additional information.
Teen Court: Through an agreement with the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office, families of youthful offenders can opt to avoid the traditional criminal justice system by agreeing to participate in Teen Court. Cooley partnered with the Dispute Resolution Center, which received a $15,000 grant from the state bar to take over and expand the programming. Cooley contributes space and student support. Grand Rapids students have developed a Street Law curriculum, and train additional Cooley students to act as Respondents’ and victims’ advocates, hearing observers, and jury monitors during jury deliberations. Cooley students also have opportunities to serve as academic and life mentors, and to help the Respondents complete their required orders for diversion from prosecution. East Kentwood High School, Potter’s House, and Creston High School offer the peer jurors for Grand Rapids Teen Court, a diversion program for first time misdemeanor offenders between the ages of 11 and 16. Contact Assistant Dean Tracey Bame at bramet@cooley.edu for additional information.
Kent County Legal Assistance Center: In the past six years, Cooley’s partnership with the Grand Rapids Bar Association and Kent County to operate the Legal Assistance Center has helped over 50,000 unrepresented persons obtain the legal forms and information to navigate the courts. Over one thousand patrons visit the Kent County Courthouse-based Center every month, where they are served by a Cooley staff attorney and students, other volunteers, and a full-time paralegal staff. Spanish-speaking staff is available. Most of the Center’s assistance is in family law matters, but the Center also assists with landlord-tenant matters, expunging criminal convictions, consumer disputes, and a host of other legal matters commonly experienced by low-income residents who cannot afford an attorney. In 2009, Cooley students offered 1,090 hours of pro bono legal assistance to the Center. Contact Kaleena Kowalkowski at kowalkok@cooley.edu for additional information.
Nonprofit Incorporation Project: Students offer start-up legal services to individuals and organizations seeking charitable nonprofit status at Cooley’s Grand Rapids campus through the Nonprofit Incorporation Project. The Project has served well over 45 organizations that offer a variety of charitable works such as taking disabled children hunting and fishing, showing inner-city children the path to become pilots, rehabilitating properties in decaying urban locations to anchor redevelopment, providing transitional services to Somali refugees, and providing education to the children of Niger. For the organizations interested in incorporating and obtaining 501(c)3 status, Cooley students lead the meetings, complete the paperwork, and handle correspondence with the clients. In 2010, faculty logged 84.5 hours and students 264 hours for a total of 348.5 hours helping low-income residents obtain non-profit corporation status for various projects, not for academic credit. Clients included Partnerships to Work, an organization wishing to work with the homeless and newly released prisoners doing vocational rehabilitation and job development; Toss for Teri, a family that has been raising money for several years through a basketball free throw contest to assist families dealing with financial issues as a result of cancer and its treatment; and Voices for Hope, a small general practice law firm that caters to the underrepresented and low income in Grand Rapids. The project has also helped organizations that will eventually allow underprivileged youth to be part of competitive dance teams, will assist an orphanage in Argentina, and will tutor refugees who age out of federal education programs in the United States. Contact Karen Rowlader at rowladek@cooley.edu for additional information.
Pro Bono Consumer Bankruptcy Program: During October 2010, national Pro Bono Month, the Grand Rapids campus of Thomas M. Cooley Law School, in conjunction with Legal Aid of Western Michigan, the Grand Rapids Bar Association, and several area attorneys, launched the Pro Bono Consumer Bankruptcy Program. The program is designed to assist older adults and the disabled that fall below 150% of the poverty level. Screenings are done at Legal Aid and qualified clients are matched with an area bankruptcy attorney and a Cooley student. Trained students play a key role in gathering information, completing paperwork to file the petition, and participating at the creditor’s meeting. Contact Karen Rowlader at rowladek@cooley.edu for additional information.
Prisoner Civil Rights Training: Each spring Cooley offers training to Michigan attorneys interested in taking USC § 1983 Prisoner Civil Right cases. Interested students who have successfully completed Research and Writing are also trained as to the benefits and challenges of managing the pro bono representation of a prisoner in a civil-rights case. As cases are assigned by the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Cooley students are matched with attorneys that request student assistance. Contact Karen Rowlader at rowladek@cooley.edu for additional information.
Individualized Education Program (IEP) Community Education Project: This pro bono project was launched in early 2011. Students, under the supervision of Professor David Tarrien, study case law, prepare resource materials and do presentations for area parent groups and educational organizations. The goal is to help educate parents and guardians of school age children with documented disabilities on their legal rights at IEP meetings, and to give counsel as to how parents can advocate successfully for their child. Contact Karen Rowlader at rowladek@cooley.edu for additional information.
Wills and POA Program: Educational presentations on estate planning and workshops are part of this program. Area seniors and individuals falling below 150% of the poverty level receive assistance with wills and financial and medical powers of attorney. In 2010, two workshops were held, one at the Grand Rapids campus and one at the Kent County Department of Human Services (DHS) building. Fourteen clients attended the campus workshop. Four Grand Rapids area attorneys and eight Cooley students drafted and assisted with 26 documents. Ten Spanish speaking senior citizens sought assistance with their wills and POAs at the DHS workshop. Cooley faculty, Grand Rapids area attorneys, and five bi-lingual Cooley students prepared 20 documents. Workshops and presentations are coordinated by Assistant Director Karen Rowlader. Contact her at rowladek@cooley.edu for additional information.
Cooley Clinics: Cooley's many legal clinics allow students to do actual legal work for indigents, and receive credit for that. As it turns out, many Cooley students and clinic faculty work many hours in excess of what is required of them. We consider those extra hours—beyond what is needed to earn school credit—as pro bono work by both our students and faculty. Such pro bono assistance occurs at all of Cooley’s clinics, including:
- The Grand Rapids area Legal Assistance Center refers unrepresented persons who have more complex matters requiring the services of a lawyer to the Access to Justice Clinic, where a Cooley faculty member director, staff attorney, and law students ensure that the clients receive competent representation in family-law, landlord-tenant, and other consumer-law matters in a general civil practice. Contact Professor Cindy Faulkner, Clinic Director, at faulknec@cooley.edu for additional information.
- In a parallel access-to-justice program, Kent County refers legal matters involving systemic governmental issues to the Public Sector Law Clinic, a one-of-a-kind program in which a Cooley faculty member director, staff attorney, and law students explore ways to improve access to courts and other government services. This clinic at Cooley’s Grand Rapids campus helps ensure that more individuals have greater opportunity to improve their lives through the orderly administration of law and government. Contact Professor Sherry Batzer, Clinic Director, at batzers@cooley.edu for additional information.
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Auburn Hills
Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association /Cooley Pro Bono Mentorship Program: Through a partnership with Cooley to provide mentoring and pro bono assistance, the DMBA locates the cases from local legal aid programs in the Detroit Metropolitan area and secures an attorney who will represent the client pro bono. Cooley students assist the pro bono attorney with the case from start to finish. Typical cases include landlord-tenant, consumer law, expungements, family law, and probate. Students must have completed their first-year of law school, including Personal and Professional Responsibility as well as Research and Writing, and must be in good academic standing and willing to commit to the case from inception to completion. Students must also be available to attend a one-hour pro bono orientation at their respective campus. Attorneys must be in good standing with the State Bar of Michigan. Contact Dionnie Wynter at wynterd@cooley.edu for additional information.
Federal Defender Office: Cooley students assist this office under the supervision of Auburn Hills campus Professor Alan Gershel by preparing Sixth Circuit appellate briefs, handling client files after indictment, calculating the sentencing guidelines, working on pre-trial motions, handling federal misdemeanor/ticket cases before a United States magistrate judge, and attending attorney/client meetings and court hearings. Contact Professor Alan Gershel at gershela@cooley.edu for additional information.
Land Conservancies: Professor Gerald Fisher has been providing pro bono services for land conservancies and related groups in Southeast Michigan for about 20 years. He has provided counsel on negotiating, drafting, and enforcing conservation easements, and on presenting and approving millages to purchase land for conservation; and he has served on Senate ad hoc committees, assisted in drafting the Wetlands Act and model ordinance provisions, and presented seminars on local wetland regulation and on conservation easements. Professor Frank Aiello oversees efforts to revise the model form of Conservation Easement used by land conservancies in Michigan, and has provided hundreds of pro bono hours in land acquisition transactions, including some currently in development. Each semester, one or two Cooley students assist Professor Aiello with each transaction. Examples of transactions include helping land conservancies acquire land and conservation easements against donated green space and other natural and undeveloped areas. Professor Aiello provided more than thirty hours of free legal service to the conservancy in connection with the transaction. Faculty logged approximately 30 pro bono hours offering this type of assistance in 2009. Contact Professor at Frank Aiello at aiellof@cooley.edu for additional information.
State Appellate Defender Office/Detroit Crime Lab: A 2009 investigation and audit of the Detroit Crime Lab uncovered systemic problems in the way ballistics tests were conducted, and it became necessary to determine how many convictions may have been impacted by tainted forensic examinations. The State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) represents indigent defendants on appeal and had handled many of the files that required review. Given the potential number of affected cases, an informal agreement was reached between Cooley Law School and SADO whereby Cooley students help SADO review all case files to determine whether tainted evidence may have been used to secure a conviction. This file review includes reading trial transcripts, police reports, witness statements, expert witness reports, and other relevant documents. Cooley professor Alan Gershel provided Cooley students with an overview of the applicable law and SADO attorneys provided additional training. The work is done in SADO's Detroit office and is supervised by Professor Gershel and a SADO attorney. Cooley students review guilty plea cases and letters written by defendants, and review the cases that were "flagged" initially as a form of quality control. When that was completed, they then were involved in drafting briefs in the meritorious cases and, finally, will be reviewing paper files. In 2010, Professor Gershel and his students performed 1950 hours of pro bono work. Contact Professor Alan Gershel at gershela@cooley.edu for additional information.
Help with Real Estate Issues: Cooley Professor Florise Neville-Ewell is the faculty supervisor for the “Ten Commandments of Real Estate Law Society” student organization at Cooley Law School (10CORE™ Law Society), an organization committed to one goal, educating the public about real estate issues. The 10CORE™ Law Society operates through three committees—scholarship, educational outreach, and computer donations—and provides people or organizations with basic information, fundamental tools and legal protocols regarding real estate issues so they can, for example, avoid scams or foreclosures or be made aware of new laws or mandatory steps to successfully complete housing developments (for non-profit developers). In conjunction with its educational function, the 10CORE™ Law Society also helps people understand the importance of their transactions and ultimate need for professional advice. As a result of the unique synergy resulting from law students and lawyers working toward this pro bono goal, this organization is a template and is in the process of adding additional chapters in law schools across the United States. Contact Professor Florise Neville-Ewell at nevillef@cooley.edu for additional information.
Senior Pro Bono Outreach: This program kicked off during National Pro Bono month in October 2009 to involve Auburn Hills students in the pro bono work of faculty and volunteer attorneys while providing a valuable service to senior citizens facing many challenges in the Pontiac area. Volunteer faculty local attorneys and students meet individually with seniors at various locations, where they provide counseling, legal advise and referrals to individuals 60 or older at various community centers or other living facilities. Eight events were held in 2010 in Pontiac with six faculty and staff members and one volunteer attorney (Cooley graduate) assisting seven seniors with their legal issues by conducting client intake and referring the information to Family Law Assistance Program coordinator Professor Ashley Lowe and Estate Planning Clinic coordinator Professor Dustin Foster. Contact Professor Ashley Lowe at lowea@cooley.edu, or Professor Dustin Foster at fosterd@cooley.edu for additional information.
Federal Defender Office: Cooley students assist this office under the supervision of Auburn Hills campus Professor Alan Gershel by preparing Sixth Circuit appellate briefs, handling client files after indictment, calculating the sentencing guidelines, working on pre-trial motions, handling federal misdemeanor/ticket cases before a United States magistrate judge, and attending attorney/client meetings and court hearings. In 2009, two students worked 318 pro bono hours. Contact Professor Alan Gershel at gershela@cooley.edu for additional information.
Legal Aid and Defender Association (LADA) Expungement Clinic: Professor Kevin Scott, along with three Cooley students, participate in this clinic to help eligible Southeast Michigan residents expunge offenses, which carry less than a life imprisonment sentence, from their criminal records. Together they were able to assist 39 people in taking an important step on a road to a better life. LADA estimates that there are over 3,700 residents who qualify for the expungement program. In 2009, students and faculty offered 20 hours of pro bono assistance. Contact Professor Kevin Scott at scottk@cooley.edu for additional information.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance: Students work with Cooley faculty members, including Professor Dan Matthews, to provide income tax assistance to low-income citizens. In 2009, students and faculty logged approximately 100 pro bono hours of assistance. Contact Professor Dan Matthews at matthewd@cooley.edu for additional information.
Immigration Law Outreach: New in 2010, volunteer staff attorney and Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism Assistant Director Dionnie Wynter and pro bono attorneys from the community teach and prepare qualified individuals for the naturalization process (from lawful permanent resident to United States Citizens). Students interested in and basic understanding of issues that are faced by immigrants can volunteer their time during seven outreach events each term that will be staffed by three students each. Students can also help immigrants complete documentation at the Center. Contact Dionnie Wynter at wynterd@cooley.edu for additional information.
Bankruptcy Education Outreach: Also new in 2010, this partnership between the United States Bankruptcy Court -Eastern District of Michigan, the Federal Bar Association – Eastern District Chapter, the Pro Se Law Clerk’s Office – Eastern District, and Cooley Law School, brings a legal education program, conducted by students, to pro se litigants—those who are representing themselves—in bankruptcy court. Contact Professor Frank Aiello at aiellof@cooley.edu or Assistant Dean Lauren Rousseau at rousseal@cooley.edu for more information.
Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency Partnership: Through this new program in 2010 offered by Cooley’s Career and Professional Development Office and the Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism, law students under the supervision of MIUI attorneys represent individuals who have been denied unemployment benefits at their administrative hearings. Twelve students will be placed each term. Contact Professor Ashley Lowe at lowea@cooley.edu, Center Assistant Director Dionnie Wynter at wynterd@cooley.edu, or CPD Coordinator Alana Glass at glassa@cooley.edu for more information.
Cooley Clinics: Cooley's many legal clinics allow students to do actual legal work for indigents, and receive credit for that. As it turns out, many Cooley students and clinic faculty work many hours in excess of what is required of them. We consider those extra hours—beyond what is needed to earn school credit—as pro bono work by both our students and faculty. Such pro bono assistance occurs at all of Cooley’s clinics, including the
- Estate Planning Clinic in Auburn Hills, which focuses on estate planning and probate law. In 2010, 35 students worked 116.7 hours pro bono, not for credit. Contact Professor Dustin Foster, Clinic Director, at fosterd@cooley.edu for additional information.
- Family Law Assistance Program, a partnership between the Oakland County Bar Association, Lakeshore Legal Aid, and Cooley Law School that coordinates private pro bono volunteer lawyers, Lakeshore and Cooley staff attorneys, and Cooley students to provide quality legal services to indigent domestic violence and family law clients in Oakland County. In 2010, FLAP students worked a total of 5532 hours; 4716 were required and 816 were pro bono. Contact Professor Ashley E. Lowe, Clinic Director, at lowea@cooley.edu for additional information.
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Ann Arbor
Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association /Cooley Pro Bono Mentorship Program: Through a partnership with Cooley to provide mentoring and pro bono assistance, the DMBA locates the cases from local legal aid programs in the Detroit Metropolitan area and secures an attorney who will represent the client pro bono. Cooley students assist the pro bono attorney with the case from start to finish. Typical cases include landlord-tenant, consumer law, expungements, family law, and probate. Students must have completed their first-year of law school, including Personal and Professional Responsibility as well as Research and Writing, and must be in good academic standing and willing to commit to the case from inception to completion. Students must also be available to attend a one-hour pro bono orientation at their respective campus. Attorneys must be in good standing with the State Bar of Michigan. Contact Dionnie Wynter at wynterd@cooley.edu for additional information.
Washtenaw County Bar Association Road Show: Each year, Cooley students have the opportunity to team up with volunteer lawyers from the Washtenaw County Bar Association as they "go on the road" to offer legal assistance to indigent citizens who need legal help. Contact Assistant Dean Martha Moore at moorem@cooley.edu for more information.
Washtenaw County Public Defender Office: Through this office, Cooley students help deliver pro bono services to indigent clients in felony, misdemeanor, and juvenile matters that the Washtenaw County Public Defender cannot handle because of a conflict of interest. Contact Assistant Dean Martha Moore at moorem@cooley.edu for more information.
Safe House: Cooley works with Safe House, a local domestic violence shelter, to place volunteer students in the circuit court personal protection order (PPO) office to assist indigent residents with PPOs. Contact Assistant Dean Martha Moore at moorem@cooley.edu for more information.
Cooley Clinics Encourage Student Pro Bono Work
Cooley's many legal clinics allow students to do actual legal work for indigents, and receive credit for that. As it turns out, many Cooley students and clinic faculty work many hours in excess of what is required of them. We consider those extra hours—beyond what is needed to earn school credit—as pro bono work by both our students and faculty. Such pro bono assistance occurs at all of Cooley's clinics, including the
- • The Washtenaw County Public Defender Clinic, with classes in Lansing and site work in Ann Arbor, where student lawyers perform all public defender function. In 2010, student worked beyond the hours required for credit and completed 599.5 pro bono hours. Contact Professor Terry Cavanaugh, Clinic Director in Lansing, at cavanaut@cooley.edu for additional information.
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