Law Review - Thomas M. Cooley Law School

Thomas M. Cooley Law School - Knowledge, Skills, Ethics

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Current Issue - Volume 23, Number 2 - Trinity Term 2006

About Us

Scales of Justice Founded in 1982, the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review is committed to the highest standards of legal publication.

The staff prides itself on the comprehensive editing and reviewing of articles, to ensure all items published are innovative and of professional quality.

In addition to publication three times a year, the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review also sponsors a lecture series, an annual symposium, and a distinguished brief award.

As of June 13, 2006, Thomas M. Cooley Law Review articles have been cited by 312 different law-related periodicals totaling 987 law review articles.

Articles in our Law Review have been used as persuasive authority in seven briefs in the United States Supreme Court – including one decided in 2006. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has cited one of our articles in one of her opinions. Our articles have been cited in the decisions of 10 state supreme courts: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. Our articles have also been cited by the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th, 6th, and 8th Circuits, as well as numerous state appellate and district courts.

A Brief History

Ten years after founding Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Judge Thomas E. Brennan decided that Cooley’s students needed their own law review. Thus, the "Cooley Law Review" was founded in 1982 and it published its first volume during the Trinity term of that year.

Since its inception, the Cooley Law Review has published three issues a year: January, May, and September. Beginning with volume 8 in 1991, the Cooley Law Review officially changed its name to the “Thomas M. Cooley Law Review.” Although the books published by the Cooley Law Review generally look the same as they did in 1982, the law review has changed a great deal over the years.

Thomas M. Cooley Law School Many different faculty advisors have served the Cooley Law Review. Spencer Abraham, who represented Michigan in the United States Senate from 1995-2001 and co-founded the Federalist Society, assisted the Cooley Law Review as its first faculty advisor. Other faculty advisors who are best known and loved for their contributions to Cooley Law School include Professors Philip Prygoski, Evelyn Tombers, and current advisor Mark Cooney.

As Cooley Law School has grown, the size of its law review has increased dramatically. Ten students comprised the first law review in 1982. Today nine students make up just the law review’s Board of Editors. Numerous positions have also been added over the years. The first law review positions with titles were Editor, Managing Editor, and Secretary. Today the law review has positions for Articles, Comments, and Symposium Editors to name a few.

Even the qualifications to participate in the Cooley Law Review have changed with time. Before Professor Eugene Krasicky came up with the idea for a Scholarly Writing class at Cooley, students qualified for the law review solely on the basis of their grade point average. When Scholarly Writing first became a prerequisite for law review it was actually two classes. In the first Scholarly Writing class students wrote a Casenote, and in the second class, students wrote a Comment. This experience familiarized students with the two most common forms of law review articles.

One thing that has not changed about the Cooley Law Review is the position of Law Review Secretary held by Mrs. Dawn Beachnau. Dawn, who started working for Cooley’s library in 1977, has been the official Cooley Law Review Secretary since 1983, and she has assisted significantly in the publication of each volume since that time.

The Thomas M. Cooley Law Review continues to publish three books a year. You can view the table of contents of our most recent book and past books by selecting "latest issue" on the menu.

Latest Issue

Volume 23, Number 2 - Trinity Term 2006

Current Issue: Volume VI, Issue II

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Prospective Members

Eligibility Criteria

Students who have completed 20 credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above and who have a grade of 3.0 or above in Research and Writing are invited, by the Law Review, to enroll in Scholarly Writing – a two-credit honors writing class. Upon completion of Scholarly Writing with a “B” or better, students are invited to interview for positions on the Law Review.

Students who have completed 20 credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 2.75 to 2.99 and who have a grade of 3.0 or above in Research and Writing are eligible to compete in the Write-On Competition.

The Write-On Competition

The Thomas M. Cooley Law Review is pleased to announce its Hilary 2007 Write-On Competition. The Write-On Competition offers students who would otherwise be ineligible membership to demonstrate their ability to become a member of Law Review.

The Hilary 2007 Write-On Competition will begin February 12, 2007, and end on February 26, 2007. To participate in the Write-On Competition, you must have:

A cumulative GPA of 2.75-2.99;
A “B” or better in Research and Writing;
Completed at least 20 credit hours.

Students who have a 3.0 or better cumulative GPA after completing 20 hours and have received a “B” or better in Research and Writing are automatically eligible for Scholarly Writing and need not participate in the Write-On Competition.

The Write-On Competition will involve drafting a closed memorandum that includes footnotes in the form set forth in the Eighteenth Edition of the "Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation."
If the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review Board accepts your memorandum, you will receive an invitation to enroll in Scholarly Writing, which is a prerequisite for entry onto Law Review. You will then have to obtain a "B" or better in Scholarly Writing to be eligible for membership on the Law Review.

If you are interested in participating in the Write-On Competition or would like more information, email Mary Boese, Managing Editor, at boesem@cooley.edu or Interim Managing Editor, Ciara Nelson at nelsonc@cooley.edu.

Symposium

The Road to Equality: Are We There Yet?
November 1, 2007
Cooley Law School Temple Building, 6th Floor Auditorium, 217 S. Capitol Ave., downtown Lansing

A distinguished panel discussed solutions we can implement from this point forward to improve equality in the legal system. Speakers included some of the most distinguished experts on diversity from around the country, including the following:

Lorraine Weber, Executive Director, Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association
Richard Hillary, Director, Kent County Public Defender’s Office
Wayne Bentley, Teacher, Grand Rapids City Middle/High School
Rudolph Alexander, Jr., Professor, Ohio State University, and Former Death Row Inmate
Mary Anne Case, Professor, The University of Chicago Law School
Dr. Saby Ghoshray, PhD, Scholarly Author on Diverse Areas of Law
Otis B. Grant, Associate Professor, Indiana University South Bend, and Director of the Center for Leadership, Law, and Culture
Nelson P. Miller, Assistant Dean and Associate Professor, Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Tracey Brame, Assistant Profressor, Thomas M. Cooley Law School

World Views Collide - October 5, 2006
A Dialogue on State-Authorized Embryonic Stem-Cell Research, Human Enhancements, Physician-Assisted Suicide and the Value of Life

The distinguished panel included:

Dr. Louis M. Guenin
Dr. Guenin is a lecturer on Ethics in Science at the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School. His research lies mainly in distributive justice, the ethics of research, and the philosophy of science.

Dr. William B. Hurlbut
Dr. Hurlbut is an Ethics Professor at Stanford School of Medicine. His primary areas of interest involve ethical issues associated with advancing biomedical technology, the biological basis of moral awareness, and studies in the integration of theology and philosophy of biology.

Bernard Siegel
Mr. Siegel is the founder and Executive Director of the Genetics Policy Institute. He is an attorney and a recognized policy expert on stem cell research, regenerative medicine and cloning. In addition to working with grassroots activists, he works with many of the world's leading stem cell researchers and frequently lecturers public policy.

Richard Doerflinger
Mr. Doerflinger is the Deputy Director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is also an Adjunct Fellow in Bioethics and Public Policy at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Boston, and serves on the Advisory Board to the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity.

Dr. Ellen M. McGee
Dr. McGee is the Founding Director and Director Emeritus for the Long Island Center for Ethics of Long Island University, C. W. Post campus. She teaches medical ethics, researches, lectures, and publishes on end-of-life care, suicide intervention, human rights, reproductive issues and enhancement technologies, particularly implantable brain chips.

Eli D. Stutsman
Mr. Stutsman is an attorney and the co-founder of “Oregon Right to Die,” a political action committee that helped pass into law the Oregon Death With Dignity Act. He successfully defended Oregon's law in state and federal courts, culminating in the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Gonzales v. Oregon, establishing Oregon’s right to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

Nikolas T. Nikas
Mr. Nikas is the President and General Counsel of the Bioethics Defense Fund. His areas of expertise include legislation, litigation and public education. Nikas impacts legislative strategy by drafting life-protective model legislation and by consulting with legislators in all 50 states and Congress.

George J. Felos
Mr. Felos is the attorney who won Terri Schiavo’s right-to-die case. Prior to Schiavo, he argued Guardianship of Browning to the Florida Supreme Court, establishing an individual’s constitutional right to discontinue medical treatment and permitting the removal of feeding tubes without court order.

Wesley J. Smith
Mr. Smith is the attorney for the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. He is also a special consultant for the Center for Bioethics and Culture and senior fellow at the Discovery Institute.

Moderated by Nelson P. Miller, Assistant Dean and Associate Professor, Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

"World Views Collide" September 13, 2005

View Video | Read Story

The distinguished panel included:

David Friedman
Lead counsel in the United States Supreme Count case McCreary County vs. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky

Marvin Olasky, Ph.D
Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and the editor-in-chief of WORLD, a national weekly news magazine written from a biblical perspective

Nadine Strossen
Currently serving as the first woman president of the A.C.L.U. and professor of law at the New York School of Law

Jeffery Ventrella
Senior Vice President of Strategic Training at the Alliance Defense Fund. The Alliance Defense Fund has participated in numerous matters before the United States Supreme Court in connection with the protection of religious liberties.

Moderated by the Honorable Richard F. Suhrheinrich, Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Distinguished Brief

Law Review’s 21st Annual Distinguished Brief Awards

The Distinguished Brief Award is given in recognition of the most scholarly briefs filed before the Michigan Supreme Court, as determined by a panel of eminent jurists. These briefs are evaluated in seven categories: the question presented, point headings, statement of the case, argument and analysis, style, mechanics, and best overall brief. After being chosen, the awards are presented to the recipients at a banquet. This year marked the 21st Anniversary of the award and was held on Saturday, July 22, 2006. The Distinguished Brief Award recipients chosen for this year are: Robert P. Roth and Marc S. Berlin jointly for Zsigo v. Hurley Medical Center, Jennifer Kay Clark for People v. Mileski, and Donnelly Hadden for Huddock v. Schulack. The winners were chosen from a field of over 60 briefs that were submitted.

Robert P. Roth received his J.D. from the Detroit College of Law, and is the President and sole shareholder of Portnoy & Roth, P.C. Marc S. Berlin received his J.D. from the University of Detroit, and is an associate with Portnoy & Roth, P.C. In Zsigo v. Hurley Medical Center, the court reversed a $1.25 million verdict for the plaintiff, and declined to adopt the Restatement Agency, 2d §219(2)(d). The Restatement section had not been adopted in Michigan, and the court found that to do so would be synonymous to adopting strict liability for employers for ultra vires acts committed by employees.

Jennifer Kay Clark received her J.D. from the Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University, and is the assistant prosecuting attorney for the appellate division of the Calhoun County Prosecutor’s Office in Battle Creek. The case of People v. Mileski addressed recent developments in Sixth Amendment jurisprudence. Particularly at issue was the Confrontation Clause, and under what circumstances or to what extent statements made by crime victims may be admissible at trial, where the victim may be unavailable or reluctant to testify against the accused.

Donnelly W. Hadden, received his J.D. from the University of Michigan, and is the President of Donnelly W. Hadden, P.C. In Huddock v. Schulack, the Michigan Supreme Court resolved conflicting appellate decisions, and held that under MCL 600.5839, an occupant of a defective building has six years after completion of the building to bring a claim against the architect for malpractice.

The keynote speaker at this year’s award dinner was the Honorable Clifford W. Taylor, Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Chief Justice Taylor was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court in August 1997, and elected to serve as Chief Justice of the Court in 2005. Chief Justice Taylor began his career as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Ingham County. After which, he joined the law firm of Denfield, Timmer and Seelye. After making partner at the firm, it became Denfield, Timmer & Taylor. He remained in private practice for 20 years before taking the bench in 1992, when Governor John Engler appointed him to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Each winning brief will be printed in one of the hardcopy editions of the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review within the next year. The author’s writing style will be preserved in the hardcopy edition as the brief is reprinted in its entirety exactly as it was submitted to the Michigan Supreme Court. The Thomas M. Cooley Law Review encourages all attorneys, who have submitted a brief to the Michigan Supreme Court, to submit their brief for consideration for the Distinguished Brief Award. Over the past 21 years the Award has grown into an event that is well respected within the Michigan legal community, and the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review is proud to honor this year’s recipients.

Award Recipients

During Michaelmas Term 2006, the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review honored all of its departing members at the Law Review Honors Convocation. The following departing members received special awards for their contributions to the Law Review.

John D. Voelker Award – This award is presented to associate editors that have, during their tenure, made the most significant contributions to the publication of the Law Review.

Recipients: William Casey, Sandra Coira, Adam Cortes, Jill Gannon-Nagle, Russell Gubler, Sean Mulchay, Anna Rapa, Neil Spaber, Katherine Tirone, and Roumiana Velikova

Eugene Krasicky Award – This award is presented to the assistant editors that have, during their tenure, made the most significant contributions to the publication of the Law Review.

Recipients: Anne Mabbitt and Lance Stevenson

Dawn C. Beachnau Award – This award is presented to the member(s) of the Board of Editors that has made the most significant contributions through their leadership and dedication to the Law Review.

Recipients: Kahla D. Arvizu, Sara K. Pederson, and Tim Swafford

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