Attorneys honored for distinguished briefs

By Jo Mathis Legal News More than a dozen Michigan attorneys were honored recently at the 29th Annual Distinguished Brief Award Banquet sponsored by the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review and held at the Country Club of Lansing. The Distinguished Brief Award is given in recognition of the most scholarly briefs filed with the Michigan Supreme Court. Symposium Editor Rabih Hamawi, a student at the Ann Arbor Cooley campus, explained that the purpose of the award is to recognize excellent written advocacy. "Cooley is the only law school in Michigan that hosts an annual Distinguished Brief Award," he said, noting that Cooley started the tradition in 1985. "This is the first year that we ever had six winners and that is because we received more quality submissions than any other year in the past, which made the judges' choices much harder in choosing the winning briefs." A panel of judges and Cooley professors evaluated briefs in seven categories: the question presented, point headings, statement of the case, argument and analysis, style, mechanics, and best overall brief. The winners were: â?¢ Wayne County prosecutor David McCreedy (People v. Garrett) â?¢ Jessica McGivney and John Bursch of the Michigan Attorney General's Office (Andrie, Inc. v. Dept. of Treasury) â?¢ Paul Reingold of the Michigan Clinical Law Program and Justice Charles L. Levin (Makowski v. Snyder) â?¢Justice Clifford Taylor and Larry Saylor of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, PLLC (Majestic Golf, LLC v Lake Walden Country Club, Inc.) â?¢ Dan Korobkin, Michael J. Steinberg, Kary L. Moss, Miriam J. Aukerman, and Michael O. Nelson of the American Civil Liberties Union Fund of Michigan (Ter Beek v. Wyoming) â?¢ Anthony F. Caffrey III, R. Carl Lanfear, and Paul M. Kittinger of Cardelli Lanfear, P.C (Sholberg v. Truman) The banquet included a reception, dinner, and awards ceremony. The guest speaker was Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bridget McCormack, a previous recipient of a Distinguished Brief Award. Published: Mon, Jul 21, 2014