Service Programs
Commitment to Our Communities
We serve the communities where Cooley lives: in Grand Rapids, Cooley students and faculty volunteer to offer legal advice and direct assistance to the Hispanic Center, Degage Ministries, Mel Trotter Mission, and the Legal Assistance Center; in Oakland County, students and faculty prepare tax returns for indigent Pontiac residents through a program with Lighthouse of Oakland County, provide direct assistance to the Women’s Survival Center, and serve as volunteers at CARE House, an arm of the Oakland County Abuse and Neglect Council, which oversees the forensic interviews of children who are the alleged victims of sexual abuse and provides prevention education and counseling to victims and their families; and in Lansing, faculty, staff, and Cooley students offer assistance at Cristo Rey, Advent House, Loaves and Fishes, Ingham County Homelessness Dialogue, the Red Cross, and the Wainwright Leadership Academy.
In addition to spending a great deal of time working with and inspiring Cooley student groups toward community service, we also dedicate time ourselves to serving our communities. Joan Vestrand, Nelson Miller, and Martha Moore were honored by receiving the Great Deeds Award from Cooley Law School’s Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism for their outstanding community service.
Grand Rapids
Nelson Miller coordinates the school’s pro bono programs and assists faculty members and lawyers outside the school in undertaking their favorite pro bono work. Nelson and the Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism supported the pro bono services of faculty members Chris Hastings, Mike Molitor, Don Peterson, Chris Trudeau, Tracey Brame, and Jeff Martlew in their work with, and Nelson offered direct assistance to:
- the 2007 Stand Down project for homeless veterans in the Grand Rapids area.
- the Mel Trotter Mission and the soup kitchen Degage Ministries.
- the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, including presentations to the Hispanic Center's patrons on legal issues of interest.
- the Cristo Rey Center in Lansing.
- Cooley's Non-Profit Incorporation Project, which serves one dozen pro bono clients that helped serve urban youth, families with children of undiagnosed illness, the catastrophically injured, unwed mothers, disabled youth, student organizations, and oppressed populations.
Nelson also personally counsels hundreds of clients at these centers on a weekly basis. Nelson also conducted a second educational session for Hispanic non-citizens on issues raised by recent immigration sweeps. Hundreds of pro bono clients were served through these programs.
Dale Iverson performed (and hosted students at) volunteer mediations in Kentwood District Court.
Nelson Miller, along with Professor Tracey Brame and Wanda Merriweather of the YWCA Domestic Violence Program, helped re-establish pro bono services for the program.
Nelson Miller is the President of the Legal Assistance Center’s (LAC) Board of Directors in Grand Rapids. LAC has long provided forms for people who need legal assistance from Grand Rapids courts, and Cooley is teaming with LAC as part of Cooley’s Grand Rapids campus clinic. In 2007, Nelson continued his direct assistance to LAC and his work on bringing LAC and Cooley’s interests together. The board retained a new, permanent executive director and approved the Grand Rapids campus's clinic. In addition to handling administrative maters, Nelson worked with Grand Rapids Bar Association Executive Director Kim Coleman on the LAC executive director search and on Center staffing. These efforts have strengthened Cooley's relationship with the Grand Rapids Bar Association. Nelson also helped the LAC staff revise and reproduce orientation manuals for the Cooley students who serve there. Nelson met with Hispanic Center Executive Director Emily Aleman regarding further collaboration through LAC. The hope is that the forms used at LAC can be packaged for use at the Hispanic Center with law student assistance like that provided at the LAC.
Dale Iverson attended the Circle of Women event sponsored by the YWCA of Western Michigan, intended to raise funds for domestic abuse prevention and treatment programs and for mentoring programs for adolescent girls. She also attended the annual WLAM/Judges softball game and White Caps game to benefit the YWCA.
Nelson Miller followed-up on the Advanced Professional Ethics class's pro bono project with social worker Lynn Nee helping a formerly homeless youth obtain a birth certificate.
Dale Iverson attended the annual luncheon of the West Michigan affiliate of Planned Parenthood, which focused on raising funds for the full range of healthcare services provided to the growing number of uninsured women and girls served by the organization.
Nelson Miller met with Michigan Christian Legal Aid board members at the Mel Trotter Mission to plan further participation of Cooley students in the organization's pro bono work.
Lansing Area
Cynthia Ward contributed to the development of draft bylaws for the Mayor’s Commission on Celebrating Diversity.
Heather Spielmaker participated on a committee to organize a clean up downtown Lansing event. Heather participated in, and invited Cooley students, staff, and faculty to participate in, the Cooley-supported Capitol City Clean Sweep project. The group is considering an “Adopt a Block” program for downtown Lansing. Heather also attended a committee meeting for the National City Clean Sweep project.
Heather Spielmaker again hosted a REO Town Commercial Association fund-raising event she helped organize.
Joan Vestrand, Amy Timmer, and Nancy Wonch served as honorary judges for the Lansing Teen Court.
Nancy Wonch led the successful bond campaign that paid for the construction of the first new school in Lansing in over 30 years, Pattengill Middle School, and remains very involved in service to that school. In 2007, Nancy continued to move the Pattengill Middle School Salvage Project forward. Nancy is also volunteers her time at Lansing’s Eastern High School, attending School Improvement Team meetings, acting as Secretary of the Quaker Band Boosters, and editing and publishing the monthly BandNotes Newsletter. Nancy is Vice President for Academics of Eastern’s PTSA and ran the Community Dream 5K race benefiting the stadium project for Eastern High School and Lansing Catholic Central.
As chairperson of the Lansing Education Advancement Foundation (LEAF), Nancy Wonch hosted a fundraiser for the Dr. E. Sharon Banks Scholarship Fund and for the Maria Velasquez Scholarship Endowment. Nancy presided over LEAF’s Executive Committee meeting and Scholarship committee and awarded $32,500 in scholarships to Lansing School District High School students. Nancy shepherded 50 people to a Tiger game in Detroit as a fundraiser for LEAF. Nancy presided over the September LEAF Board of Trustees meeting.
Heather Spielmaker volunteered at a Kiwanis fundraiser and with the Cooley 5K Race.
Cynthia Ward volunteered as a course marshal for the Slime Dash/Capital City Kid’s Mile as part of Lansing’s Weekend Fitness Festival.
Nancy Wonch mentored and provided materials to a trainer to teach conflict management skills to 50 Jack and Jill children ages 13-18 years at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club.
Cynthia Ward sits on the City of Lansing Parks Board.
Heather Spielmaker volunteered at Eaton County’s first annual 5K Race for Recovery.
Nancy Wonch was a case evaluator for Eaton County.
Cynthia Ward hosted a luncheon for the Executive Committee of the Lansing Area AIDS Network (LAAN), attended a Fall Ball benefiting LAAN, participated in a fundraiser, and delivered donations for the LAAN’s Silent Auction and Red Ribbon Dinner.
Nancy Wonch worked the concession stand for the regional girls’ volleyball tournament.
Heather Spielmaker coordinated Cooley’s collection event for the Ingham County Bar Association Young Lawyers Section “Horn of Plenty” event.
Cynthia Ward provided Thanksgiving groceries for a family in need through Project Share at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. After meeting the family and learning more about their situation, Cynthia (and husband, Greg) agreed to assist the family through the Christmas Holiday.
Nancy Wonch worked with Professor Mike Molitor on a project to help the Beekman Therapeutic Riding Program gain 501c3 tax exempt status.
Heather Spielmaker is a member of the committee organizing the Greater Lansing Food Bank “Empty Plates” event.
Nancy Wonch works regularly to support Lansing’s Advent House, a homeless shelter and day center. She involves Cooley students, particularly the legal fraternity Phi Delta Phi, in bringing the clients dinner and helping them with their legal needs. In addition to helping with several other dinners, Nancy conducted training sessions for Cooley students to work the Advent House Healthy Thanksgiving. She paid for and transported the food and made final arrangements for seven Cooley students to serve dinner, which went off very successfully. The group advised 12 recipients regarding a variety of problems, wrote one letter, and made several referrals. One Cooley student was introduced to a lawyer from Legal Services and arranged for an externship there. Nancy is also a director of the Advent House and attends board of directors meetings in that capacity.
Heather Spielmaker attended the first workshop at Advent House for her committee work with the "Ending Homelessness in Ingham County" project.
Nancy Wonch led her Sunday school class in shopping for and preparing baskets of groceries for Food Bank for two poor families. Nancy also taught Sunday school.
Heather Spielmaker serves as a Councilwoman for the Charlotte City Council.
Nancy Wonch assisted two people pro bono with legal difficulties by connecting them with community service opportunities.
Oakland County
Joan Vestrand, along with Florise Neville-Ewell, delivered food, money, gift cards, household items and furniture to a Pontiac Northern High School senior and ward of the state who is the sole provider for four young siblings. Please refer to the Public School Mentoring and Assistance section of this report for further information on service efforts in Oakland County
Joan Vestrand attended the Oakland County Bar Association's "Meet the Judges Night" at the Iroquois Club in Bloomfield Hills and made a donation at the event to "The Haven," a women’s shelter in Pontiac. The event was held in support of the shelter.
Martha Moore served as Mock Trial Judge at the Troy District Court.
Joan Vestrand played the role of a witness in a First Amendment case featured during the Oakland County Circuit Court's Constitution Day Program held at the Oakland County Circuit courthouse.
Wayne County
Florise Neville-Ewell is coordinating sessions for seniors after the first of the year to help seniors deal with foreclosure problems through the Corinthian Baptist Church in Hamtramck, an affiliated nonprofit housing corporation, and the former president of the Baptist Council. She is also meeting with the Detroit branch of the NAACP to coordinate a plan to work with other nonprofits to "solve" the foreclosure crisis.
Martha Moore worked with Cooley legal fraternity Phi Alpha Delta to adopt the Interim House—a domestic violence shelter in Detroit. They held a sock drive and presented the shelter with piles and piles of new socks along with a home cooked meal. They also went to the shelter on December 22 and presented gifts to all of the children and presented the residents with another home cooked meal.
The State
Martha Moore attended the monthly meetings and was appointed secretary of the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission.
Amy Timmer and Cynthia Ward participated as committee members and wrote a number of opinions for the District E Character and Fitness Committee of the State Bar of Michigan.
Nancy Wonch and Nelson Miller volunteered their time to assist soldiers with legal problems through Cooley’s Service to Soldiers: Legal Assistance Referral Program.
Amy Timmer served on the Board of Tellers of the State Bar of Michigan to certify election results.
As a member of the Mediator Quality Control Committee of the Dispute Resolution Center, Dale Iverson observed and co-mediated a pro bono mediation for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.
Amy Timmer served as a chair and a panelist for an Ingham County panel of the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board.
Heather Spielmaker participated in the Grand Rapids United Way’s Day of Caring to commemorate 9-11 by cutting and gluing felt story boards for Head Start families. Nelson Miller participated with seven other Grand Rapids faculty members in United Way Day of Caring service at Guiding Light Mission. Cynthia Ward supported Cooley’s United Way Bake Sale by supplying homemade baked goods.
The Nation
Florise Neville-Ewell operates a web page that offers assistance to people dealing with the mortgage and foreclosure crisis. With help from the ABA and HUD’s Mission of Peace, a nonprofit that provides homeownership counseling and has 45 affiliates all over the country, Florise is identifying pro bono lawyers across the country who can write state-specific information about avoiding foreclosure.
Nancy Wonch gave blood at the American Red Cross.
Heather Spielmaker assisted a group from Cooley that provided legal support to benefit the New Orleans victims of Hurricane Katrina.
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Cooley Cares
The Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism encourages community service among Cooley employees by identifying service opportunities and matching employees who want to serve with agencies needing help. Each year, a Cooley employee from each of the three campuses is publicly recognized for outstanding community service.
In 2007, Cooley recognized Fred Puffenberger, Martha Moore, and Nelson Miller. They join past winners Jill Pullum, Joan Vestrand, and Tony Alvarado.
Leadership in the Law
The faculty and staff of the Center hold leadership positions in our communities to promote competence and ethics in the practice of law. For example, we hold seats on the Attorney Grievance Commission, hearing panels for the Attorney Discipline Board, and the Sections and Committees of the State Bar of Michigan on Law Practice and Management, Character and Fitness, Grievance, Criminal Issues Initiative, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Equal Access Initiative.
Martha Moore is a member and was voted Secretary of the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission.
Nelson Miller and Joan Vestrand serve on the State Bar Representative Assembly.
Cynthia Ward and Amy Timmer continue to actively serve on, and Nancy Wonch has been appointed to, the District E Character and Fitness Committee for the State Bar of Michigan.
Joan Vestrand is Chair of the Oakland County Bar Association's Youth Law Committee and Vice Chair of their Professionalism Committee. Joan also sits on the State Bar's Annual Meeting Committee and is co-chair of the Collaborative for a Certainty of Opportunity for Pontiac Youth.
Amy Timmer serves as a hearing panelist and chair of an Ingham County panel of the Attorney Discipline Board and served on the Board of Tellers of the State Bar of Michigan to certify election results.
Dale Iverson is Chair, YWCA Tribute Award Selection Committee (Cooley funds this in part but not law-related); co-facilitator, Diversity in Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force, a partnership of the ADR Section of the State Bar of Michigan and the Equal Access Initiative of the State Bar; member of Executive Committee, ADR Section of the Grand Rapids Bar Association; Chair of the Law Day Committee of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, a project that is done in partnership with Cooley in Grand Rapids; member of the Equal Access Initiative of the State Bar of Michigan's Committee on Justice Initiatives: board member for the Happy Healthy Lawyers 2008 Conference; serves on the Mediator Quality Assurance Committee of the Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan; and serves on the roster of the Voluntary Facilitative Mediation Program of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
Nelson Miller is the Board of Directors President for the Tri-Valley Academy of Arts and Academics, a public charter school in Muskegon, and for the Legal Assistance Center in Grand Rapids. Nelson was appointed to the State Bar of Michigan’s Equal Access Initiative and also to the Criminal Issues Initiative. The Initiative is studying and informing the profession about the effect of criminal convictions on civil matters. Nelson accepted a position on the Legal Education Committee of the State Bar of Michigan.
Heather Spielmaker was appointed and later elected to a seat on the Charlotte, MI City Council.
Cynthia Ward was appointed by Mayor Bernero and confirmed by Lansing City Council for a three-year term on the City of Lansing’s Parks Board.
Nancy Wonch was invited to be on the Superintendent Transitional Team for the incoming Lansing School District Superintendent. Nancy was contacted by Mark Brewer, Michigan Democratic Party chairperson and asked if she would be the consensus candidate to run for the Michigan Supreme Court against Justice Taylor. She politely declined. Nancy serves as Chairperson of the Lansing Education Advancement Foundation. Nancy is also a director of Lansing’s Advent House and actively supports its clientele.
Joan Vestrand, Nancy Wonch, and Amy Timmer serve on the State Bar of Michigan’s Special Committee on Grievance.
Joan Vestrand was awarded the Frances R. Avadenka Memorial Award by the Oakland County Bar Association at its Annual Meeting. The award is given for "outstanding and significant contributions to the citizens of Oakland County."
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Pro Bono Programs
Along with providing direct pro bono services by students and faculty, the Center also promotes such service by acting as a clearinghouse and training center for Michigan lawyers who wish to engage in pro bono service. To assist attorneys who volunteer through the Center, the Center has available a manual, instructions, and forms that are commonly needed in order to provide basic counseling for clients at shelters, walk-in clinics, and volunteer centers.
The Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism promoted pro bono services by students and faculty at two national conferences on pro bono collaborations in 2007. Nelson Miller gave a presentation on Law School and Law Firm Pro Bono Partnerships: Increasing Access to Justice Through Collaborative Partnerships, at the annual Equal Justice Conference of the American Bar Association and National Legal Aid and Defenders’ Association in Denver. Nelson gave a second presentation Fostering Commitment Through Collaborative Pro Bono Partnerships at a conference on The Role of Law Schools in Fostering Commitment to Pro Bono Publico, at Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C. The presentations showed how Cooley and the Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism support the work of students, faculty, and lawyers in providing pro bono legal services at multiple sites and through a variety of programs. Nelson also offered forms and instructions to individual lawyers interested in performing pro bono service, and provided pro bono service forms to Melanie Kushnir at the ABA Center for Pro Bono, at her request, in follow-up to his presentation at the pro bono conference in Washington, D.C., which will be posted to the ABA pro bono website.
The Center promoted pro bono services by students and faculty through Cooley’s collaborative partnership with the Grand Rapids Bar Association. The Legal Assistance Center (LAC) serves as a site for student, faculty, and lawyer volunteer service and as a clearinghouse for pro bono efforts at several other sites in the Grand Rapids area. Cooley students staff the LAC’s service desk from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. four days every week, where they distribute forms, provide basic legal information, and refer patrons for legal services. Nelson acted as LAC’s board president, helping to continue the Center’s form-distribution and referral service and to expand its programs to include its clinic collaboration with Cooley and its support of lawyers serving pro bono. The Legal Assistance Center served over 10,000 patrons in 2007.
The Center supported the pro bono service of Cooley faculty members: five faculty members worked at the 2007 Stand Down project for homeless veterans in the Grand Rapids area. It maintained a link with a group of ten lawyers, including one Cooley faculty member, providing weekly pro bono service at the Mel Trotter Mission. It supported weekly pro bono service through two Cooley faculty members at the soup kitchen Degage Ministries. It supported weekly pro bono service through three Cooley faculty members at the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, including presentations to the Hispanic Center’s patrons on legal issues of interest. It supported twice-a-month pro bono service through one Cooley faculty member at the Cristo Rey Center in Lansing. Cooley students volunteer at those sites with the Cooley faculty members. Hundreds of pro bono clients were served through these programs.
The Center for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism also supported Cooley’s Non-Profit Incorporation Project serving one dozen pro bono clients, through the work of three Cooley faculty members. The project helped to form, qualify as tax-exempt, and advise nonprofit organizations serving urban youth, families with children of undiagnosed illness, the catastrophically injured, unwed mothers, disabled youth, and oppressed populations. The project maintained forms and an electronic site. The participating faculty members researched issues, met with clients, and reviewed documents. Students participated in the work including observing client meetings, reviewing the documentation, and researching issues.
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Service to Soldiers: Legal Assistance Referral Program
 Michigan soldiers on active duty and returning from war need help with a variety of legal issues ranging from government disability determinations, to probate and estate planning, to reemployment. These soldiers receive free legal service through the Center’s pro bono legal assistance referral program, which matches soldiers with Cooley Law School alumni and other attorneys who offer their specialized legal training to U.S. military personnel.
The Service to Soldiers program took an exciting turn in 2007: along with assisting service members returning from combat, the program began assisting soldiers at their deployment events. The legal needs for deploying soldiers tend to focus on obtaining wills and powers of attorney to ensure that families are taken care of should the soldier not return. While these events are somber, they fill an important need and bring peace of mind to the service members facing combat. The attorneys who dedicate their time to these soldiers are also gratified to have helped bring that peace of mind. The program also received a $2000 grant from the Ingham County Bar Foundation.
Heather Spielmaker coordinates the Service to Soldiers program and works closely with Professors Pat Kruse and Charlie Palmer, military leadership, and JAG representatives to offer free legal help to any deploying or returning Michigan soldier through a network of Cooley alumni and other attorneys. In 2007, Cooley professors, including Nancy Wonch and Nelson Miller, offered over 130 consultations and made nearly 100 referrals to attorneys and area agencies. Heather recruited 45 attorneys throughout Michigan, mostly Cooley alumni, to participate in this pro bono program. Faculty and attorneys helped service members of the:
- U.S. Marine Reserves: 1/24 Alpha Company (Grand Rapids), Bravo Company (Saginaw), and Charlie Company (Lansing);
- the Michigan Army National Guard 1461st Transportation Company (Lansing);
- and the U.S. Army Reserve 415th Civil Affairs Battalion (Kalamazoo).
In 2008, we hope to expand the program to cover all Michigan bases.
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