June 23, 2009

Cooley Professor Otto Stockmeyer Named 'Exemplary Legal Writing Honoree' by Green Bag

Professor Otto Stockmeyer

Thomas M. Cooley Law School Professor Norman Otto Stockmeyer has been named an Exemplary Legal Writing honoree by Green Bag for his article To Err Is Human, To Moo Bovine: The Rose of Aberlone Story. Green Bag is a quarterly journal dedicated to good writing about the law.

The article, which was originally published in the Cooley Law Review, explores the 1887 Michigan Supreme Court case Sherwood v. Walker, involving a contract for a cow. This classic "case of the barren cow" is still studied by law students today as the seminal case on the law of mutual mistake, although some of the popular beliefs about the case are false. In the article, Stockmeyer discusses the parties to the lawsuit, the aftermath and the continuing significance of the case in contract law.

Stockmeyer was chosen as an "Exemplary Legal Writing"
honoree by Green Bag’s special Board of Advisers on good legal writing, which includes members from state and federal judiciaries, private law firms, the news media and academia. Green Bag has republished Stockmeyer’s article in the book entitled Green Bag Almanac & Reader 2009, a collection of writing by "Exemplary Legal Writing" honorees.

Stockmeyer teaches contracts and equity/remedies at Cooley’s Lansing campus. For a full biography, visit http://www.cooley.edu/faculty/stockmeyer.htm.

Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the nation.  Founded in 1972, it operates J.D. programs across Michigan in Ann Arbor, Auburn Hills, Grand Rapids and Lansing.  Today, Cooley Law School has more than 13,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide and also offers joint degree and master of laws programs.  Cooley offers enrollment three times a year; in January, May and September.   Additional information about Cooley can be found at cooley.edu.