LEX FUGIT

A REAL "THROWBACK THURSDAY"-AAA's DETROIT COUNSEL 1983

Yesterday, December 30, 2020, while Rik "Mr. Wonderful" Mazzeo of our office was doing a little end of year clutter reduction, he came upon this gem from January, 1983. Given its vintage, the clutter reduction is perhaps not an annual event.

This is a cover letter for pleadings sent to the courtroom of Judge Patrick Duggan of the Wayne County Circuit Court.  Rik worked for AAA at the time and the firm's letterhead listed all the lawyers working for AAA's Detroit house counsel operation.

Before we get to the names on that list, a few more historical tidbits.  Firstly, the pleadings are being sent by mail, rather than through an efile system.  AAA's office was in the First Federal Building, where it occupied 3 floors.  The building, which at that time was home to the Michigan Court of Appeals, still stands.  It is no longer called the First Federal Building.  It has been renamed Woodward Plaza-I think.  The City County Building is now called the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center.

Judge Patrick Duggan (father of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan), sat on the Wayne County Circuit bench at that time.  He was appointed to the federal bench in 2000.  He passed away earlier this year.  He presided over one of my more colorful cases about this time, which I think I will never choose to include in this chronicle.

In early 1983, I was working at a very small general practice firm in Livonia, and my entry into the PI "game" on the plaintiff's side at Thurswell, Chayet & Weiner was still 3 years down the road.  As to my chronological age, to use a facilitation term, it still had a 2 in front of it.

Also, I blacked out the names of the parties and the case number, as is probably proper.  Though, interestingly, the plaintiff had the same name as a guy I worked with at Hughes & Hatcher, one of two jobs I worked during my last year of law school.  Too back LinkedIn wasn't around then.

A lawyer firm's letterhead is a snapshot of firm membership at any given time, with lawyers who may be at the beginning, middle, or near the end of their careers.  Considering that I wouldn't start doing this work for 3 more years, I was surprised that I had cases with 42 of the 55 lawyers listed.  I find that amazing.  Not LinkedIn amazing, real world amazing.

Nearly 38 years later much has changed at AAA.  Only 2 of the attorneys listed still work for AAA.  One of them, Gene Hom, runs the firm.  I still remember, and sometimes use, Gene's "script"-he had it in his head, of course, for questioning plaintiffs about their injuries.

Several of the lawyers went on to other firms, where some still work.

Many, if not most on the list have retired.  Some have passed, most recently, Richard Haskins.  A couple, including Mr. Haskins, have children working as attorneys at the firm.

The firm is currently named: Hom, Corbett, Kramer, Harding & Dombrowski.  Of those lawyers, only Gene Hom worked for AAA in 1983.  My educated guess is that the others (all fine lawyers with whom I have had cases) were not licensed at that time.

I am going to type out all the names here, so Google will pick them up and hopefully some will see this little piece of history.  

Happy, Better, New Year.

Philip C. Dickinson               James H. Schoolmaster        R. Michael John                  

Roger P. Mourad                    David J. Lanctot                Dennis M. Killeen

Thomas A. Brandt                 Joyce E. Parker                  Karen M. Kulik

Edmund P. Arbour                 Eugene R. Hom                  John E. Sutton

Ronald R. Hanlon                 William. W. Taylor, II          Robert I. Gariepy

David E. Martin                    Clifford J. Sabol                Renee R. McDuffee

Richard Haskins                    Richard E. Eaton              John B. Geen

A. J. Galsterer, Jr.               Jeffrey Doan                     George J. David

Robert C. Marshall               Michael D. Smith               Daniel R. Siefer

Ranald Becker                     Paul R. Fischer                   Lynda D. Barbart

David R. Tuffley                  Clair W. Hoehn                   Philip R. Blanchard

Burton G. McGarry            Christine M. Fischer               James F. Hewson

C. T. McCutcheon, Jr.        A. Randolph Judd                 Rik Mazzeo

Edwin F. Dyer, II                James. M. Jourdan              John H. Cowley, Jr.

Charles A. Pfeffer            Ann Posner Frankel              Edward A. Batchelor,III

David S. Smith                 Timothy E. O'Neill                Patricia DiBaattista Hartig

Kenneth D. Dodson           Harry A. Meyer, II                Jeffrey L. Tolari

Sarah Wildgen Sweet        Clifford W. Schiesel             Michele M. Arene

                                                                                 Louis W. Andraski

LEX FUGIT-JUDGE ROLAND OLZARK, WAYNE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, CATHOLIC CENTRAL '45

 

Back at the end of March, 2020 I wrote a post for this blog about Judge Olzark.  The post can be found here.

The article combined two areas of interest for me-the Detroit legal scene, the subject of this blog, and Detroit Catholic school history.

Judge Olzark served as a Wayne County Circuit judge and was a member of 1945 graduating class of Detroit Catholic Central High School (my alma mater).

On the evening of Sunday, December 27, 2020 I saw I had a FB friend request, and a request to join the "I Went to Catholic School in Metro Detroit" FB group I moderate, from an Elena Olzark.  I thought there might be a connection.  Later in the evening I checked my work email, and there was a message from Elena.  She is Judge Olzark's daughter.  She found the March blog post during an internet search.  The judge was not doing well, and she was searching for material in anticipation of writing an obituary.  She had some questions about how I had obtained certain high school photos of young Roland.  I replied that I'd call her on Monday.

Elena lives in San Francisco.  I called her early Monday afternoon Detroit time.  She said she had been able to Facetime her dad earlier that morning and had read him the article.  

We talked about the judge, his life and career and matters Detroit-related for about a half hour.  

She thanked me for my post.  I did relate something to her something I had not included in the post, namely that Judge Olzark and I did have our battles in the courtroom from time to time.  But, I did forget to mention, he also helped me out on one particularly ticklish matter, when a strict reading of the court rules could have allowed him to do otherwise, to my detriment.  I still remember that, from a lot of years ago.

I asked Elena to keep me advised of events, and I saw late this afternoon on Facebook  that Judge Olzark had passed away.  I assumed that happened today, Tuesday the 29th, but looking closer I saw that he died on Monday.  I had another message from Elena today and she thinks he may have passed shortly after her Facetime chat with him.

We have, sadly, lost a member of the "Guild" and a fellow Shamrock.  

The purpose of Lex Fugit is to remember those who do, and have practiced law in Southeast Michigan, and to preserve those memories.

I am glad I was able to write about Judge Olzark before he passed.

We are still aiming towards the November 24, 2021 party at Jacoby's on Brush, circumstances allowing.  Again, no program, no speeches, no awards, no fundraising.  Just fellowship among us legal types.

By the way Elena Olzark is familiar with Jacobys both as a patron and as the place of employment of one of her close friends.  I am glad she knows where it is.  She is invited.

 

ANOTHER GREAT DAY FOR ANGLO-AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE

 

Special thanks to Andrew Stevens, of Landry, Mazzeo & Dembinski for bringing this story to my attention: to wit,

"Son Wins Lawsuit After Mom Throws Away His Best Porno Mags"

This case comes out of federal court in our great state of Michigan.

Son moves back in with his parents after a divorce.  He brings with him his prized stash of porn (magazines, films and sex toys), apparently accumulated over some time.  I wonder if that collection was an asset awarded to him in the property settlement?

It appears he did mention the collection to his parents, who did not approve. 

When he moved out, several years later, he sent for his property.  The boxes containing the "porn stash" (not to be confused with "pornstache" ), were not included in the items sent.  The parents had destroyed the items, emailing their son and heir that they had done him a favor by getting rid of the stuff.  Opinions apparently differed.

The case filed by the son ended up in Federal Court, so the son had to allege the collection was worth at least $75,000.  

The son did win a summary disposition motion on the liability issue.  Damages to be determined.  More about that later.

"His attorney, Miles Greengard, contends that his client should receive treble damages, which is allowed under his claim of conversion of property."

“We have asked the Court for treble damages, which we believe are warranted given the wanton destruction of the property,” he said.

Attorney Greengard was pleased with the judge’s ruling. The case wasn’t just about a guy and his dirty magazines, he said.

“This was a collection of often irreplaceable items and property,” Greengard said.  

I am sure Mr. Greengard's parents are very proud of his achievement:  "My son, the porn preserver".

I was about to compose what I thought Greengard's humblebrag LinkedIn post about this case might look like.  Then I thought, hey, maybe Greengard posted one himself.  So I checked and while Greengard is on LinkedIn, he has not yet seen fit to broadcast his "win".  A wise move, in my opinion.  That doesn't mean he won't post about the case eventually (maybe after the damages are determined), but I find most LinkedIn dweebs/twits/dorks/wonks can't post their "achievements/wins/non-losses/trivia"  fast enough.

I understand most of us have had cases we don't really want to appear in our published memoirs.  We are not all in a position to pick and chose our cases.  

I remember one particular file that was placed on my desk while I was out doing justice somewhere.  The lawsuit had already been filed.  My hero had sustained an undeniably serious injury.

 

NOVEMBER 24-THE PLAN, THE HOPE

Sadly, there will be a Lex Fugit "Guild" update soon.  We have lost more members.

Therefore, before it gets later than it already is, it is the plan of the Lex Fugiteers to host a party on Wednesday, November 24, 2021 at Jacoby's on Brush St. in Detroit, though we haven't yet put down a deposit.

Opening in 1904, Jacobys will make us all feel young.  A lawyers' bar, a free lunch at Jacoby's was part of a case evaluator's (then called mediator's) pay when the Mediation Tribunal was at the Millender Center.

The night before Thanksgiving is the biggest bar night of the year, with a Wings game and the parade prep going on downtown.

The hope is that we are all vaccinated by then and group events are back by then.  

The hope is that Jacoby's makes it through the next 11 months and remains open.  It must have survived he 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, right?

The plan is that legal types (lawyers, judges, clerks , court reporters etc.) of all ages and vintages will gather to reacquaint,  reconnect, and reminisce (pronounced "re-minisce" for alliterative purposes).

The plan is: no agenda, no sponsors, no program, no speakers, no awards, no faux-wards, no promotions, no fundraising.  

Jacoby's second floor holds 75.  We plan to fill it.

Save the date-we hope.

 

I HEART LINKEDIN (SARCASTIC EMOJI)-EPISODE 1

I have been "on" LinkedIn for some time, even paying for the Premium service for 2 months.  Really, though, I don't have any real idea of how it works or what it is trying to achieve.

Remove the shameless self-congratulation and self promotion and the platform would have about as much content/traffic as MySpace.

And, I have discovered that a visit to a Connection's home page does not show me the content the Connection has posted.  Well, not without more effort than most (including me) are willing to devote to the quest.

So, I have found that those who really want to get noticed on LinkenIn, post a lot.  It puzzles me that these overachievers have the time to publish so much. You'd think they wouldn't have the time, what with all the winning and overachieving they do.  And they post real information you can use in your business, like:

"I discovered this simple trick, and it has changed everything for me.  Here it is:  Eat a green thing daily."  My God, our company needs a new CEO, hire this guy!

Anyway, in another post I have characterized LinkenIn as a "barrage of banal, bloviated bromides".

Setting aside member supplied LinkedIn content for a bit, LinkedIn also has included very targeted ads on page.  Here are some:

Really?  I am 10 years beyond the mandatory retirement age for special agents.

 

Same here.

 

To be fair to LinkedIn on this one, opinions  vary.

 

 

When I was young, making it meant seeing yourself "in Burberry"

GUEST COMMENTER-JUDGE WILLIAM J. GIOVAN*

After my earlier post about my swearing in by Judge William Beer of the Oakland County Circuit Court ,(including some references to Judge Beer's interesting life/lives off the bench) I received this comment from Judge Willam J. Giovan, retired judge of the Wayne County Circuit Court.  More about Judge Giovan can be found at the end of this post.  The comment is published here with his permission.

"One day I was on Belle Isle for some reason and I encountered Judge Beer strolling with a suit and straw hat. I waved at him and he waved back. When I return to my office in CAYMC later I told my secretary quizzically that I had seen Judge Beer on Belle Isle and wondered what he was doing there because he was an Oakland County Circuit judge. She said, "Oh I know that whole family and they live right over there. This did not compute in my mind because I knew that the judge had to live in Oakland County, but  eventually I didn't think any more of it. Sometime later  I found out Why Judge Beer might be strolling around Belle Isle."

*William Giovan is a product of Guardian Angels grade school and DeLaSalle High School.  Though he retired from the Wayne County Circuit Court, he remains active as a visiting judge in many forums, and is a Wayne County Circuit Court Discovery Master.  He is a member of the Barbershop Quartet, the Forum Shoppers, which performs around town.  He gave an interview to Motion Magazine in 2009, full of dry humor.  It can be found here.  He listed his hobbies as:

"Quartet singing, tennis, rowing, fencing. Every other spare moment is spent on Free Cell."  I was a fencer in law school and he once called with some leads on getting back involved.  Still have to follow up on that.

But, importantly in my opinion, he long ago recognized the defects in the Michigan  premises liability law's "Open and Obvious" doctrine with which I heartily agree.

 

MY BRILLIANT CAREER BEGINS- THE JUDGE WILLIAM BEER SWEARING IN

The 40th anniversary of my swearing in as a Michigan attorney occurred on Dec1.  I generally mark neither the date or the running total of years.  I feel like I have been a lawyer forever; yet, I remember my early career-even the law school clerkships, as if it were yesterday.  Some cringe-worthy memories there.

For the past several months Martindale-Hubbell has been nice enough to send (to my spam folder) twice weekly reminders of the anniversary along with offers to buy various testimonials of the event.  "Celebrate Your Achievement With All the Expenses Appertaining Thereto".

So, I have had occasion to look back to the day of my swearing in at the Oakland County  Commissioners' Auditorium at 12:30pm on December 1, 1980, Circuit Judge William Beer administering the oath.  This was the "mass swearing in" event for Oakland County.  It didn't occur to me to ask one of my then boss's pals on the Wayne County Circuit bench to do the kind of special swearing in heavily featured on LinkedIn at present. 

I chose to be sworn in at Oakland County as that event was a week earlier than the Wayne County mass event, and for some reason I can't recall I wanted to get my ticket punched, and into the litigation fray as soon as possible.  Wouldn't that make a great LinkedIn post!

I left the office at about 11:30 and drove to the Courthouse.  No parents, no spouse(at the time) and no other cheering section with me.  No press, no pix.

I checked in, took a seat, rose with all others when directed, raised my right hand and took the oath.  Then we all sat down.

The event was timed to occur during the break between the morning and afternoon court sessions, so all the judges (or most of them anyway) were present.

Judge Beer spoke before administering the oath.  I remembered I was impressed by his words, though I do remember that he also included his views on the matter of the mandatory judicial retirement age.  He was against it.  You see, Judge Beer had been prevented from running in the November, 1980 election due to his age.  At the end of December 1980, he was being forced to give up his seat on the bench.

HYATT LEGAL SERVICES

 

 

As part of the continuing preparation for the first installment of the Lex Fugit Podcast (it is coming, really), I asked all panel members to prepare a short summary of their career "stops".  At our last Zoom session I presented mine as an example.  In putting together my bio, I recalled a period I had largely forgot, my madcap 10 months as a lawyer for Hyatt Legal Services.

Like many young attorneys, I moved around a bit early in my career.  I have worked as an attorney at six firms in my career.  I had started at the fifth  before the ninth anniversary of my swearing in.

Joel Hyatt was the face of this national (I suppose) firm, founded in 1977.  Great pedigree, educated at Dartmouth and Yale Law School.  His father-in-law was then Ohio Senator Howard Metzenbaum.

Hyatt Legal Services was made up of multiple small  store front law offices in metro areas across the nation.  At one time there were 10 offices in southeast Michigan.  See the Detroit TV ad above.  The firm billed itself as a low-cost legal service, making legal services available to millions of "hitherto disenfranchised middle-and lower-class Americans"-from the Wikipedia entry.

An appealing concept.  Interestingly, every service was flat fee, paid in advance.  I won't speak here about attorney motivation under such an arrangement.  

Office hours were 9am-8pm, Mon.-Thurs, 9-6 on Friday, and 9-4 Saturday.  The attorneys, three to each office, were expected to work a "flexible 50" hours per week, which meant at least 2 nights until 8 and 1 1/2 out of 3 Saturdays.  Walk-ins were welcome, and the street-side entrance doors weren't locked.

PHONE A FRIEND

    When I started this site, I expected that a lot of the posts would be about the practice of law in Michigan,  back in the "Olden Days".  That term never had a solid definition, but somewhere  around the first decade of the new millennium and before seemed as good and vague a time to chose as any.  A time of paper files, no efiling and 3 public phones on every floor of the CCB.  

    Then came COVID 19, and there is now a line in the sand marking the "Olden Days" firmly at pre-March 23, 2020.  Now we are in the era of ZOOM, plexiglass, masks, remote everything,  no trials and no personal anything.  Progress will be defined as how and when we return to the past.  

    Not that a reminder was needed, but this weekend, I was impressed again with how fast times change.  When I tuned in to NBC last night,  Saturday Night Live showed up on prime time,  10pm.  There was a studio audience,  no masks on any one and no social distancing.  The audience was sitting closer together than fans at U of M Stadium or in the jury assembly room at Frank Murphy Hall of Justice (pre-March 23, 2020 historical references).  

     I clicked the info button on the remote and learned that this was a rerun of a show from 2013.  A mere 7 years ago.  No pandemic, and Donald Trump was nearing the end of The Apprentice. The old normal was indeed different, even unrecognizable. 

   On November 23, 2020, 8 months to the day from Michigan's first shutdown order, more lawyers practice from home than from their pre-2020 offices  Few of us have been in a courtroom or case evaluation room since March-even once.  We have become disoriented as our internal time clocks are no longer set by Monday mornings in Macomb, Wednesdays in Oakland and Fridays in Wayne.

    Many like working from home.  For my son (not a lawyer), working from home eliminates 2 hours of commuting.  And even though he keeps formal hours of work in a devoted space, he can see his very young children through the day.

    However, I have recently learned from lawyer friends that working exclusively from home is not necessarily all "Beer and Skittles" (Skittles the game like bowling, not the candy, which shouldn't go well with beer, but worth a try?).

     Last Friday, I needed some help with an issue under our new Court Rules.  Since May of 2019: the first comprehensive revision of the No-Fault Act since 1972, the first comprehensive revision of the Michigan Court Rules since 1985, and the COVID 19 shut down of the courts.  It never rains, but it pours.

"THE" CARTOON FOR THE "LOOK AT ME, I'M SPECIAL" GENERATION

From Will McPhail at the New Yorker:  "OK, 'abirdtookmyson.com' is taken, I'll try '.biz'."   

Impressively accurate punctuation as well.

Great stuff at "willmcphail4" on Instagram.