Daily Briefs, December 14

Cooley Law to open Immigrant Rights and Civil Advocacy Clinic
Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s curriculum committee has approved plans to open an immigrant rights and civil advocacy clinic at its Ann Arbor campus. The pro bono clinic is scheduled to open in January 2012. This will be Cooley’s eighth clinic that students have the option to participate in. In Ann Arbor, Cooley has operated the Washtenaw County Public Defender's Clinic for 17 years. This will be the first in-house clinic at the Ann Arbor campus, 3475 Plymouth Road.

Under the supervision of Associate Professor Jason Eyster, Cooley students will meet with clients, who are immigrants in need of help with civil or immigration issues. Eyster recently moved back to Michigan after working for Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Fla., where he supervised that school’s immigrant rights clinic. Before working for Ave Maria, Eyster specialized in immigration law in Ann Arbor.
“Jason Eyster brings a wealth of understanding in immigration law to Cooley,” said Joan Vestrand, associate dean at Cooley’s Ann Arbor campus. “His knowledge of immigrant law makes him the right fit for leading our efforts to serve the immigration population Washtenaw County.”

The clinic will address a wide range of issues facing area immigrants from civil issues, such as landlord/tenant disputes and unfair wage claims, to laws regarding immigration status.

Cooley officials met with lawyers, judges and community leaders in Washtenaw County to learn what pro bono legal services were most needed. After several discussions, it was decided that the community has a need for an immigration law clinic that can also help immigrants with civil law issues.
Individuals wishing to contact Cooley’s immigrant rights and civil advocacy clinic may do so by calling 734-372-4994.

Holiday Hours
The Wayne County Probate Court will close for the holiday season at noon on Thursday, Dec. 22 and reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 8 a.m. The Wayne County Probate Court will be open Dec. 27, 28 and 29 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to accept pleadings and to conduct mental health emergency hearings.
The Third Circuit Court Civil, Criminal and Family Divisions will be closed Friday, Dec. 23 and Monday, Dec. 26 in observance of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

On Tuesday, Dec. 27, Wednesday, Dec. 28, and Thursday, Dec. 29, the Court will be open for essential services only, including criminal arraignments, probation violation, failure to appear warrants, personal protection orders, parental waivers, and other emergency civil and family division matters. The County Clerk’s office will be open to accept civil and domestic relations pleadings and new case filing from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on those days.

The Court will be closed on Friday, Dec. 30 and Monday, Jan. 2 in observance of New Year’s Even and New Year’s Day, and will re-open on Tuesday, Jan. 3. The emergency procedure that is posted in the Detroit Legal News every Friday should be followed for any after-hour emergency matter.

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