LEX FUGIT

DETROIT LAWYER-MEETING MR. WONDERFUL

The Detroit Lawyer magazine just published an article I wrote about the first time I met "Mr. Wonderful", Rik Mazzeo, back when I was a plaintiff lawyer. Our case was the first and only time I had a judge rule, as a matter of law, that the same accident happened on 2 different dates, 5 days apart.

 

Later when Rik and I worked together at Landry, Mazzeo and Dembinski, I appeared before Judge Timothy Connors of the Washtenaw Circuit Court on a Summary Disposition motion which had been brought against our insurance client. I introduced myself and Judge Connor said, "You aren't Mr. Wonderful. Who are you?'

 

I replied, "Judge, I am Mr. Striving for Mediocrity and Failing."

 

We survived the motion and the other side appealed, so the transcript of that little interaction was produced and is now part of the records of the Michigan Court of Appeals. To quote Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass, "That's glory for you."

 

REMEMBRANCE OF CHIEF JUDGES PAST

As with every post-election new year, changes have come to the Michigan court system.  In Wayne County Circuit Court, the end of 2022 saw 5 judges leave the Circuit Bench.  Judges David Groner, James Chylinski, John Murphy, Thomas Hathaway, and Chief Judge Timothy Kenny have retired.  There are new circuit judges, a new chief judge, and judges have moved among the court's three divisions.

The chief judge does not carry an individual trial docket. The duties of taking care of by far the largest court in the state keep the chief busy enough.  

Fortunately, during my litigating career, I did not need to visit the chief judge's 7th floor courtroom too often.  Such a visit usually resulted from a bigger than usual problem with a case.

Way back, visits to the chief judge's courtroom were much more common.  There were 2 major reasons:  trial adjournments and mediation (now case evaluation) responses. 

First, adjournments.  Individual dockets for Wayne County Circuit judges are a comparatively recent development.  Until sometime in the mid-1990s, there was virtually no chance that the judge whose name was stamped on your freshly filed civil summons and complaint could be your eventual trial judge.  The judge assigned at the time of filing would hear motions on issues that would come up during your 26 months (yes, you read that right) of discovery, and through mediation (now known as case evaluation).  Sometime after the accept/reject date for the mediation award passed, you’d be scheduled for a settlement conference with a judge who was on “settlement conference” duty for that particular date.  That judge would not be your trial judge either.  If you did not resolve the case at the settlement conference, you had to be ready to try your case immediately, with an available judge given the case by the Assignment Clerk.  Or you could sit outside the Assignment Clerk’s office on the 17th floor for a day or two, awaiting assignment to a newly available judge.  Or you could be sent back to the office for a few days to await assignment.  Or you could just be told to come back with your client in 6 months to repeat the settlement conference/trial assignment tango.  I experienced all of the aforementioned scenarios.

(Note:  I remember one time when I got the assignment call.  I was in my office that afternoon interviewing a potential client.  She was very excited at the prospect of being a personal injury plaintiff.  But she told me she was disappointed in my interview, as she expected it to be more like LA Law.  Then the phone rang, and I was directed to appear before Judge Lucile Watts the next morning for trial.  (I did.  We won.)  Now that was fairly close to something out of LA Law.  I don’t remember if the prospective client was impressed.  I do remember her enthusiasm was somewhat dampened when I declined to take her case.  I don’t know if she ever found her Arnie Becker.)  

Back from the tangent.  What role did the chief judge play in the previously described system?  All motions for adjournment of the settlement conference/trial date had to made before the chief judge.  None of those motions involved cases on the chief judge's (non-existent) personal trial docket, so the chief had no dog in the fight as to any particular adjournment motion.  If the request resulted from a conflict with a prepaid vacation, you might get a sympathetic response, but you had better be ready to cite specifics as to your date of departure, return, prepayment, cancellation charges, etc.  If you had multiple cases that might be tried at the same time, the chief judge might give you some relief, like "We won't make you try 2 cases at once.  You will try the second case immediately after the first one is done".  "Thanks, Judgie, you're a pal."  I once heard a judge reply to a trial conflict adjournment motion with "Hire more attorneys".