Daily Briefs

 Clark Hill attorney named State Bar of Michigan Unsung Hero

Clark Hill attorney James E. Brenner was named a State Bar of Michigan 2013 Unsung Hero during the State Bar of Michigan Annual Meeting, Sept. 18-20 in Lansing. The Unsung Hero Award is given annually to an attorney who has exhibited the highest standards of practice and commitment for the benefit of others.

 Brenner, in part, was selected for his pro bono work as lead counsel in post-conviction proceedings representing inmates sentenced to death in states where capital punishment is legal. 
 
 Brenner has been practicing law for more than 40 years and leads the firm’s appellate practice group. 

 In addition to the Unsung Hero Award, Brenner has been recognized repeatedly by several industry and regional organizations, including Best Lawyers in America by DBusiness magazine who named him as one of the metro area's top appellate lawyers. He was named a Lawyer of the Year by Michigan Lawyers Weekly in 2007. Brenner has acted as a commercial arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and a hearing referee for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. Brenner is active in the community, participating in Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association clinics and chairing the board of directors of Neighborhood Legal
Services of Michigan, a leading provider of legal aid and assistance to the homeless in the state.

In his first death penalty case, which took 17 years to resolve, he and his colleagues attorney Mark McInerney and legal assistant Sara Andonian of Clark Hill saved the life of a Tennessee man by finding and introducing mental health information the man’s court-appointed attorneys had failed to present. He and colleague Cynthia Filipovich, another Clark Hill attorney, were also successful in reversing the death sentence of a Texas man in 2005.

Brenner is currently working with local counsel in Nashville on his third pro bono death penalty assignment, a Tennessee case he received in 2007. They successfully reversed the inmate’s death sentence in 2009, but are fighting now to overturn the original conviction by pursuing the state’s failures over a period of some 16 years to disclose information helpful to the defense, as required by U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
 
 

FBA presents new E-discovery model order Jan. 14 in Detroit

 
The Federal Bar Association in conjunction with the judges of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan present “The New E-discovery Model Order – a Roadmap for Efficiency and Avoiding Litigation Pitfalls.” Attendees will experiene a fast-paced update on the cutting edge of e-discovery practice and procedure from 11:30-1:45 on Tuesday, Jan. 14, in Room 115 of the Theodore Levin Federal Courthouse in downtown Detroit.
 
Judicial invitees include Judge Robert Cleland and Magistrate Judge Michael  Hluchaniuk and E-Discovery Professionals include Stott Matthews and Mark St. Peter.  Attorney presenters will include Daniel Quick, Kevin Fanning and Megan McKnight. Lunch is included. Registration will soon be available via the FBA website, fbamich.org.

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