Distinguished Brief Awards

The WMU-Cooley Law Review honored attorneys Steven Helton, Ann Sherman, Chris Allen, Kyla Barranco and Tonya Jeter during the organization’s 37th annual Distinguished Brief Award ceremony on March 2, 2023. The ceremony recognizes the most scholarly briefs filed with the Michigan Supreme Court in 2022.

Helton, Assistant Defender with the State Appellate Defender Office, was honored for his brief in the case of The People of the State of Michigan v. Robert Lance Propp.

Attorneys from the Michigan Attorney General’s office: Sherman, Solicitor General; Allen, Assistant Solicitor General; and Assistant Attorneys General Barranco and Jeter, were honored for their Michigan Supreme Court brief in the Rouch World, LLC v. Department of Civil Rights case decided in July 2022.

The winning briefs will be published in an upcoming edition of the WMUCooley Law Review.

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein delivered the keynote address at the ceremony, saying in part, “Ultimately, our picture of the law goes beyond the court. The reason why these awards are so significant is because for the most part, cases are won and lost off of the briefs that are submitted. The brief brings the case to life. It brings the facts to life, it brings the issue to life, it brings the clients to life, and it brings the law to life.”

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Department of Attorney General COO and Cooley graduate Veneshia Cezil (Kavanagh Class, 2008) participated in a town hall discussion at WMU-Cooley Law School on March 20.

The AG Social Justice Townhall allowed an opportunity for those in attendance to network and learn about career opportunities, internships, externships and job shadowing with the AG’s office. During the event, Nessel and Cezil spoke about premier cases the department has handled and new initiatives that are being planned.

Nessel made a strong case for working in government and being a part of the change.

She talked about the many options a law degree opened in a career, like going into private practice or working in non-profit. She asserted that you can also work to fight the injustices in the world by running for office or working in an office like hers.

“My staff regularly has the opportunity to bring matters to my attention and others,” stated Nessel. “Then we decide how the department can best use its resources to help the most people in the state.”

Nessel spoke about working with WMU-Cooley’s Innocence Project and her office’s efforts to start an expungement unit.

“The most well-intentioned investigators and prosecutors get it wrong, and when that happens we shouldn’t just be resigned to say ‘well, I guess someone was convicted and sentenced to spend their entire life in prison,’” said Nessel. She explained how new evidence is important to changing the lives of those who have been wrongly convicted.

Nessel also shared the importance of the Expungement Unit. She said it is important to understand the significant impact that having a conviction on one’s record can have on their life.

On March 18, students from WMU-Cooley Law School and Michigan State University College of Law came together for a friendly basketball competition.

“The game was put together to show love and support to our brothers and sisters at MSU following the shooting on Michigan State’s campus,” said WMU-Cooley student Samantha Hulliberger, who helped organize the game.

The game ended with an MSU victory 66-60. Beyond the score, the game raised $500, which will be donated to the MSU counseling department.

Western Michigan University Cooley Law School’s Health Law Society awarded attorney Joseph Rivet as Health Lawyer of the Year during a ceremony on March 30. The award was presented in partnership with the State Bar of Michigan Health Law Section.

“We are pleased to present attorney Rivet with the inaugural Health Lawyer of the Year Award,” said Angela Hammoud, president, WMU-Cooley Health Law Society. “We awarded Mr. Rivet as the Health Lawyer of the Year for his exceptional legal expertise, commitment to client advocacy, and demonstrated leadership in the health law industry.”

Rivet is founder of the Rivet Health Law, PLC in Norton Shores, Michigan. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Health Administration from Baker College, and a J.D. from WMUCooley (Vinson Class, 2017). His practice specializes in health care reimbursement, serves as an arbitrator through the American Health Law Association, and is an approved arbitrator for the State of Michigan for surprise billing.

On March 3, 2023, in celebration of Women’s History Month, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Florida held an All-Women Naturalization Ceremony at WMU-Cooley Law School’s Tampa Bay campus. The ceremony, which included the Oath of Allegiance, was the final step to citizenship for 55 candidates.

“What these ladies have already accomplished by getting to this place is remarkable,” said WMU-Cooley Assistant Dean Katherine Gustafson. “The distances they have traveled, the obstacles they have overcome, and the efforts they have made to put down roots here should always be sources of pride and of satisfaction to them and their families.”

The 55 citizenship candidates originate from 30 countries: Albania, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Latvia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and Vietnam.

WMU-Cooley Law School served 402 individuals during its “Michigan’s New Expungement Policies – Know Your Rights” Expungement Fair on April 28. Of those 402 who were screened for eligibility prior to and during the event, 151 individuals were eligible to have their records expunged under the current guidelines, including 77 walk-ins on the day of the event.

“At WMU-Cooley’s Expungement Fair, the people we served were grateful for the assistance we were able to provide. We were proud to work with the local legal community to help those whose lives may have been disrupted by poor decisions of the past that resulted in a felony or misdemeanor conviction,” said WMU-Cooley Law School President and Dean James McGrath. “Often people are passed over for employment or housing opportunities due to prior convictions. It is our hope that the people we served and educated during our expungement fair are no longer held back from achieving their goals. We want to make sure that they are recognized for the people they have become – and not for some poor choices they made years ago.”