Changes:
Look for new and exciting changes to appear with the Library News and Notes over Hilary Term 2003.

New Services in the Library:
Over the next few weeks look for the Brennan Law Library to unveil new services for students.  One of the first is a subscription to the MatthewBender Internet Library.  Go the MatthewBender.com website (http://www.matthewbender.com), click on Internet Access for Law Schools and then click on the title that you want to look at.  There are over 300 treatise titles on this list including some of the Understanding the Law Series.

There is IP recognition from any computer on campus.  For those accessing from home, we are still working on procedures for access from home. We should have information in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, please feel free to access from anywhere on campus.

This is just one of the services that the Brennan Law Library provides to make information and materials available at your point of need.

Welcome Neil E. Reid Class:
Neil E. Reid was the 67th  Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Justice Reid was the first man to win a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court by defeating an incumbent, actually two incumbents, Emerson Boyles and Bert Chandler. His campaign was deemed a "postcard" campaign in that he sent all his friends postcards requesting their votes. Reid credited his "many friends" for the victory. He served from 1944 through 1956, serving as Chief Justice in 1951. 

Justice Reid was born in Bruce Township, in Macomb County, Michigan on April 24, 1871. His family had emigrated from Scotland and settled in Macomb County. 

He attended the elementary school in Bruce Township then high school in Almont and Romeo. A scholarship gave him the benefit of a year's attendance at Harvard University. He learned shorthand and became the court stenographer in Mount Clemens in July of 1894. 

Justice Reid attended the Detroit College of Law, graduating in 1896. While attending law school he worked for three dollars a week as a law clerk. Governor Fred W. Warner appointed Reid to the Probate Court. In the thirteen years he presided over the court he earned a reputation as a tough judge, especially with cases regarding prohibition violators and armed robbers. 

He was well known in fraternal circles, and he served as Most Illustrious Grand Master of Royal and Select Masters of the State in 1926 and 1927. In 1930, Reid was elected Grand Marshal in the Masonic Grand Lodge and served in successive offices of the Grand Lodge until his election in 1936 as Most Worshipful Grand Master. For two years he was president of the Boy Scout County Council and president of the Macomb County Republican Club. As hobbies, he enjoyed hunting and fishing.

He authored over 350 opinions in his twelve years on the court. His first People v. Burczyk, 308 Mich. 194; 13 N.W.2d 258 (1944), was published only weeks after taking office. His last opinion, Larson v. Foster, 346 Mich. 1, 77 N.W.2d 356 (1956), was published after his death. Justice Reid died of a heart attack on May 4, 1956, while still employed by the Court. 

He was honored during a special session of the Michigan Supreme Court on January 23, 2002, at which time his portrait was presented. The presentation helped complete the Court’s collection of portraits of jurists who ended their service in the 20th Century. The portraits of 81 of the 96 former Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court hang in various legal settings throughout the state including the Brennan Law Library.