U-M Law professor named as 'Outstanding Young Lawyer' by the State Bar

By Lori Atherton U-M Law Imran Syed, an assistant clinical professor of law in the Michigan Innocence Clinic, is the recipient of the 2016 Regeana Myrick Outstanding Young Lawyer Award from the State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section. He received the award on June 4 during the 9th Annual State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section Summit in Novi. Syed was nominated for the award by his colleague David Moran, director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, and Bridget Mary McCormack, former co-director of the clinic and now a Michigan Supreme Court justice. "It means a lot that my mentors and former professors nominated me," Syed said. "The award is a reflection of the work we do in the clinic and of all those who trained me at the University of Michigan." Syed, who holds a U-M undergrad degree in political science worked as a student attorney in the Innocence Clinic for two years while in law school. He then served as a clinical fellow and staff attorney in the clinic for three years. He supervises Innocence Clinic students investigating and litigating a wide variety of cases. Syed also has coauthored articles discussing the litigation strategies needed to address wrongful convictions based on scientific evidence that is valid when used, but later comes to be repudiated. He also has spoken and written about a variety of topics related to wrongful convictions, such as compensation for exonerees, the fallacies of eyewitness testimony, and the need for reform in Michigan's system of public defense. In 2014, Syed wrote and produced a documentary film, The Price of Providence, about one of the Innocence Clinic's wrongful conviction cases. Published: Mon, Jun 06, 2016