Raising the Bar Through

Networking, Practice Development and Community Service

 

TopBarNews   November 2011 - Vol 1, Issue 1

In This Issue
Upcoming Events: Mixer @ Cliff Bell's, Mentoring in Motion & Jingle Mingle @ Texas de Brazil
The ARC/Lawyers' Lounge: It Can Pay For Your Dues
Recent Event: MentorJet @ UDM & WSU Law
Recent Event: Pins 'n' Pinstripes
Recent Event: Marketing Tips Mixer
Practice Tips: Deposition Preparation
Featured Member: Veronica Leonard
Featured Member: Craig Schoenherr
Featured Member: Michael Groebe
New Member Names
Quick Links
Message from the President
 
Elizabeth JolliffeWe are pleased to launch BarNews, a monthly e-newsletter to share timely information for and about our members.  Every month we will feature some of our members, recent and upcoming events, practice tips and occasional miscellany.   
My goal for 2011-2012 is to raise our bar, individually and collectively, through increased opportunities for networking, practice development and community service.  We have already had three such events this Fall and there are three more this month.  As your and our visibility and credibility increase, we will have a more successful, closer knit legal community.  Come to some of our upcoming events and experience this phenomenom for yourself.  I would love to introduce you to others at the November 10 happy hour at Cliff Bell's, the L2L: Mentoring in Motion mixer (for DMBA lawyers only) on November 17 and our Jingle Mingle on November 30 at Texas de Brazil.  We are keeping the costs down to keep us all coming back! 

Sincerely, Elizabeth Jolliffe 
 Upcoming Events: 
 
November 10 - Happy Hour at Cliff Bell's vintage jazz club, sponsored by the Labor & Employment Section.  Join Chairs Michelle Crockett and Charlotte Croson for a chance to connect with fellow L&E lawyers and others.  $10 members, $15 nonmembers, includes a drink ticket and light appetizers.  5:00 - 6:30 p.m. 

Mentoring
November 17 - "Lawyer 2 Lawyer:  Mentoring in Motion."  Ask or answer practice and career questions in small groups as you experience the DMBA's inaugural speed mentoring program.  Chairs Jeff Kopp and Kevin Stoops created this program exclusively for member lawyers.  Speed mentoring followed by a mixer with light refreshments.  Free. 5:00 - 7:30 p.m. 645 Griswold,13th floor.  Register online as a mentor or mentee.
 
Texas de Brazil

November 30 - Jingle Mingle.  Chairs Paul Millenbach and Allyson Miller invite you to ring in the holiday season early with the DMBA at the new Texas de Brazil in Detroit's Compuware building.  $30 members, $40 nonmembers.  Includes light dinner and a drink ticket.  5:30 - 8:00 p.m.  Register online by November 23. 

 

 

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The ARC, a/k/a The Lawyers' Lounge, in CAYMC Can Pay For Your Dues

 

Have a case in Wayne County Circuit Court and need quick access to an office?  The DMBA's Attorney Resource Center, a/k/a the ARC or Lawyers Lounge, is your solution. 

 

Located in room 1207 of the CAYMC, the ARC includes equipment for copying and printing, internet access, File By Fax and faxing services, pc workstations and a WiFi hotspot.  The ARC also includes a private conference room and a lounge with newspapers and magazines. Attorney Resource Center/Lawyers Lounge Rm 1207 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ARC resources are available to all State Bar members for a fee, but DMBA members receive discounted rates for the copying and printing services and complimentary File By Fax and other services.  For busy DMBA litigators, the ARC services and savings alone can pay for your DMBA membership dues.  

 

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Recent Event:  MentorJet at University of Detroit Mercy and Wayne State Law Schools

September and October brought speed mentoring for law students.  More than 40 lawyers and judges from the DMBA, WLAM Wayne Region, University of Detroit Mercy and the Wayne Law Alumni Association mentored over 80 law students in a speed dating format -- 60 minutes of 6 minute mentoring sessions followed by a reception with more time for networking.  It was easy and fun.   

 

 Mentoring in action.

DMBA Board member Judge Katherine Hansen, 36th District Court, chaired this event.  The MentorJet program was created by the National Association of Women Judges.  Judge Hansen is the NAWJ District Director for Region 7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Other participating DMBA members included Lori Keen Adamcheski, Chandra Baker, James Britton, Michelle Carter, Peggy Costello, Nichole Hunter, Elizabeth Jolliffe, Frank Ortiz, John Runyan, Deanne Bonner Simpson, Kevin Stoops, Peter Tochman, Dave Winter and Kim Yourchock.
 
Click here to see more photos from the MentorJet event at Wayne State Law School. 

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Recent Event:  Barristers Pins 'n' Pinstripes 

 
 
 
45 young lawyers and others bowled at the Barristers Pins 'n' Pinstripes party at the Garden Bowl in Detroit on October 20.  With teams like Motion to Strike, Pin Citers and High Rollers, to name just a few, the competition was fierce for fun and bragging rights. 
 

 

 


Attire was mostly casual for this pizza and beverages kind of evening, but a few pinstriped suits were seen in the crowd. Pictured above, left to  right, Clarence Dass, Tiffany Buckley-Norwood, Kim Yourchock, Antoinette Gilbert and Terry Foster.  Pictured to the right, Dickinson Wright's Bowlable Hours: Jennifer Newby, Natalie Priest Yaw, Allison Bach, Allyson Miller and Salina Maxwell.  Click here to see more photos.

Recent Event:  Marketing is a Contact Sport - 25 Tips & a Mixer

   

DMBA members and not-yet-members gathered at Sinbad's on November 2nd for a lot of marketing advice and networking. In addition to a list of 25 proven marketing tips, the participants all shared their favorite marketing tip with the group. The attendees included experienced solo pactitioners as well as lawyers from small, medium and large firms.  DMBA members can email [email protected] for a copy of the tips handout. 

 

Some of the favorite tips shared at the mixer:  staying in touch with classmates, especially out of state ones; visiting clients at their offices and homes; sending e-newsletters to stay in touch with clients/referral sources; writing articles for trade industry publications; scheduling 20 minutes first thing three days a week to do something business development related; having a basic marketing plan in writing; knowing your clients' family members' names and talking about their lives with them; and identifying and packaging your product - you.  Above, left to right:  Tanisha Davis, Rebecca Simkins, Rita White, Paul Millenbach, Kristen Stone, Ben Jeffers, Dave Winter and Joanne Geha Swanson.  

 

Listening, left to right:  Dave Winter, Joanne Geha Swanson, Veronica Leonard, Maura McKeever, Deanne Bonner Simpson, Lorenzo Di Salvo, Paul Millenbach and Erika Butler Davis.  Also joining in the event, but not in either picture, were members Jermaine Wyrick, Ben Jeffers, Elizabeth Jolliffe, Dennis Donahue and Executive Director Mitzy Sharp Futro.   

 

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Practice Tips:  Preparing Your Client for Deposition, by Robin Luce-Herrmann, Butzel
Robin Luce-Herrmann 

Just ask any lawyer who has been deposed and she will tell you that, notwithstanding the fact that she is intimately familiar with the deposition process, it is highly stressful.  Although it is obviously important to prepare your client for the topics that will be the subject of questioning, too often attorneys overlook the need to spend quality time explaining various aspects of the deposition process to their clients so that they can focus on the questions, and not be distracted by the procedural or process aspects of the deposition.

 

 

 

  1. Prepare your Client for the Deposition "Stage".  Prior to the deposition, the client should understand the role of the court reporter and the possibility that she will be asked to.....  
  2. Prepare your Client for "Intrusive" Questions.  As attorneys, we recognize that certain questions are appropriate background information or otherwise relevant.  A client, however, may..... 
  3. Prepare your Client for what You, their Lawyer, Can and Cannot Do.  Your client is highly likely to rely on you to "protect" or "guide" them during a deposition, the same way you do..... 
  4. Prepare your Client for Opposing Counsel.  By the time depositions begin, you will have a good sense of opposing counsel's style, as well as..... 
  5. Prepare your Client for "Breaks".  Your client needs to understand what discussions you are permitted to have with them during breaks and the fact that opposing counsel.....

Appropriate preparation of your client for the deposition "process" will allow her to focus on the substance of the deposition - answering questions.

 

 Click here to read Robin's full article.

 

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Featured Member:  Veronica Leonard, Veronica Leonard PLLC

Veronica Leonard

 

My practice is primarily focused on divorce and family law.  Earlier in my career I was a staff attorney to a family division judge and saw from that perspective the impact on people when they were unable to resolve the issues that affected their lives.  In private practice I am able to help clients during one of the most difficult periods in their lives and bring not only resolution to their issues, but often times provide solutions in the form of tools and resources to prepare them as they enter a new stage of life.   I believe that the ultimate calling of a lawyer is to service, and family law allows me to do that in a measurable way.  Words of wisdom to pass on to a new lawyer?  Building a satisfying career as a lawyer involves not only our work in the legal profession but service to our communities as well. Spare time or hobbies?  I like to garden, read and watch a good horror movie.  Favorite places?  A year ago I traveled to Paris and Rome and fell in love with both cities.  In Rome I loved the interplay of historic ruins and cosmopolitan life.  Paris is my absolute favorite city.  I became a member of the DMBA to take advantage of the opportunities it offers to grow my practice and network with colleagues.  

 

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Featured Member:  Craig Schoenherr, O'Reilly Rancilio
 

I wanted to be a lawyer from when I was in first grade even though I had no family or friends who were lawyers.  I have devoted my entire career to Creditor Rights.  The firm needed a bankruptcy creditor attorney when I was hired by my mentor, Ken Rancilio, 31 years ago and I have been doing it ever since.  I enjoy the quick pace and volume.  First job?  I worked at my uncle's funeral home on the east side, Weitenberner Funeral Home, from when I was 6 years old picking up papers through age 27 running the business.  It was a great place to work and study for school as I spent the night there.  Words of wisdom for new lawyers?  Always be true to yourself.  Take as much time off from work as you can as you will always remember the time off but not the clients you stayed back to serve.  Spare time/hobbies?  I like to travel with my wife Phoebe.  I love Paris and have been there 3 times.  Any place in Europe fascinates me.  I am a DMBA member because I like to keep involved with local attorneys.  I enjoy the get-togethers. I am currently the president of the Consumer Bankruptcy Association and actively involved in several other bar associations.

 

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  Featured member:  Michael Groebe, Foley & Lardner
Michael Groebe 
I practice management side labor and employment law.  I advise employers regarding issues with their employees before and after litigation is commenced.  I enjoy labor and employment law because it usually involves more interesting fact patterns than the typical commercial dispute.  My first legal mentor was Reggie Turner.  Reggie let me argue my first motions in state and federal court.  He was always willing to take the extra time to teach me about the practice of law and I will always be grateful for the mentoring he provided.  Words of wisdom for new lawyers?  For those new litigators, I think it is crucial to go over to Wayne County Circuit Court and observe a motion call on a Friday morning.  You will see a wide range of legal abilities and styles.  Volunteer work?  I raise money each year for and participate in the MS Walk.  The MS Walk means a lot to me because my mother-in-law has multiple sclerosis.  Travel?  I enjoy traveling with my wife and twin boys.  I made a deal with my boys that I will take them to a game at Wrigley Field every year of their life.  So far, we have made it every year (even when my wife was pregnant).  

New Member Names!
Welcome
 
We welcome the following new members who have joined the DMBA since the annual meeting in June:
 

Lori  Keen Adamcheski Brett Asher Jonpaul Barrabee Jeffrey Bennett Adam Blaylock Michael Blum Zenell Brown Andrew Capelli Michael Dalere Robert Essick Ronald Flint Eric Frankie Matthew Forrest Sarah Gale-Barbantini Kevin Geer Samir Hanna Neil Harris Hassonjia Patrice HodgeVen Johnson Robert Kent Melaney LaGrone-Whitaker Michael LaMarra Eric Mader Frank Mamat Brenda Maxwell Cary McGehee James Meadows Brett Miller Sara Moore Joseph Morrison Robert Palmer Stacy Pandak Lorenzo Parker Julianne Pastula Katherine Pawlak Anthony Phelps Shelita Porter Brian Renaud Michael Rock Frances Rosinski Mark Schwartz Faith Stover William Trudgeon Mary Yancy

  
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The Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association