Thursday Profile: Sally Rutzky

Sally Rutzky grew up in Royal Oak, and received her undergraduate degree from St. John's College in Maryland. After moving to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan Law School, she knew she never wanted to leave. She has since expanded her boundaries to include all of Washtenaw County.

Rutzky and her law partner, Naomi Woloshin, practice family law, mediation, collaborative law and conflict resolution coaching in downtown Ann Arbor.

She is a member of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, Family Mediation Council of Michigan, Collaborative Practice Institute of Michigan and is a Michigan State Bar Association Fellow.

Rutzky is a certified beginning Iyengar yoga teacher and teaches on Saturday mornings at The Yoga Space. She is also a member of the Lyndon Township Planning Commission, a Michigan Department of Natural Resources Steward and sings second soprano with the Plymouth Oratorio Society.

By Jo Mathis
Legal News

Residence: Lyndon Township.

What is your most treasured material possession? My wedding ring. We wanted to get our rings at the Ann Arbor Art Fair for sentimental reasons. It was one of those too hot afternoons and we didn't see anything we liked. We heard thunder, but kept going, and found the perfect goldsmith before it rained. Bert got just what he wanted, and I got something better than I could have imagined!

What advice do you have for someone considering law school? Diversify! Find something else you care about more than law to keep your balance.

Favorite local hangouts: ZouZou's in Chelsea, and Joe and Rosie Coffee and Tea in Dexter.

Favorite app? Facebook. What a great way to stay in touch with my yoga teacher friends.

What would surprise people about your job? Most of the work is getting the client the right information and helping them understand it so they can make good choices.

What do you wish someone would invent? Instantaneous tooth cleaning machine.

What has been your favorite year so far? 2015.

Why did you become a lawyer? I went to St. John's College the Great Books School - in Annapolis, Md., and had no major. I didn't have to take any special classes to go to law school.

If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would that be? Any soprano singing Mozart at the Met that afternoon.

What's the most awe-inspiring place you've ever been? Pickerel Lake in Pinckney State Recreation Area. Once I was swimming towards a double rainbow when a kingfisher dived right in front of me. Of course that was one time out of hundreds, but the others were pretty good, too.

What did you do last weekend? Taught yoga. Practiced yoga. Walked in the woods. Cooked food and ate it. Knitted a scarf for Bar Association silent auction.

If you could have one super power, what would it be? Flying.

What would you say to your 16-year-old self? Don't worry so much; it gets better and better.

What is your proudest moment as a lawyer? A former client took me to tea and told me that she believed we won a tricky pension issue because of my brief and she was now happily retired.

What do you do to relax? Yoga, knit, sing, swim, steward (remove invasive plants) in Pinckney State Recreation Area, native plant gardening, interpretative nature walks, bird watch, cook, read murder mysteries.

How would you describe your home? A house on a hill in the trees with spring wildflower and summer rain gardens.

Any regrets? I have hurt other people.

What is one thing you would like to learn to do? Identify birds from their songs. I am hopeless.

What is something most people don't know about you? I worked for a cosmetics company in Paris, France before going to law school. I got lots of free make-up which I wore until it ran out.

If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be? Jane Austen, Charles Darwin, Mahatma Gandhi.

What is the best advice you ever received? The worst doesn't usually happen.

What do you drive? Subaru Impreza.

What would you drive if money were no object? Subaru Impreza.

Favorite place to spend money: Downtown Home & Garden and Stadium Ace Hardware.

What is your motto? "A mind once stretched by a new idea can never return to its original dimensions."

Published: Thu, Feb 12, 2015

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