Cooley Graduate Sworn In via Videoconference from Kuwait

The family of Sgt. Christopher M. Horvath, a recent Cooley Law School graduate, celebrates Horvath’s new attorney status this morning from Lansing’s Michigan National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters, following a live videoconference ceremony in which Horvath, recently stationed in Kuwait, was sworn-in as a new attorney.

The live videoconference, arranged by Cooley, the Michigan Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan and the Michigan Army National Guard, made it possible for 26-year-old Army Sgt. Horvath, now 6,300 miles away, to be admitted to practice law in Michigan and the U.S. District Court for the Western District, a federal court, at the same time.

Pictured, front row from left: Edward and Faye Horvath, grandparents of Sgt. Horvath; Heather Horvath (leaning on chair), sister of Sgt. Horvath; Dena Horvath (seated), wife of Sgt. Horvath and a third-year Cooley student; and Ellen Cronk, mother of Sgt. Horvath.

Second row: Nelson Miller, dean of Cooley’s Grand Rapids, Mich. campus; Stephen Rurka, boyfriend of Heather Horvath; Jules Fiani, an attorney and friend of Sgt. Horvath; Greg Horvath, father of Sgt. Horvath; Nickolas Horvath, brother of Sgt. Horvath; George Rodriguez, fiancé of Ellen Cronk; and Fred Bond, Sgt. Horvath's uncle.

Third row: Heather Spielmaker, director of Cooley’s Center for Ethics, Service and Professionalism and Cooley’s Service to Soldiers: Legal Assistance Program; Chief Judge Paul Maloney, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan; Chief Judge Willliam Murphy, Michigan Court of Appeals; and Don LeDuc, dean and president of Cooley Law School.