Legal People ...

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced the following appointments to the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission:

Joshua Blanchard is a partner at Miel & Carr PLC d/b/a Blanchard Law. He earned his law degree from the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. Blanchard is appointed to represent a member submitted by the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan for a term commencing May 22, 2020 and expiring April 1, 2024. He succeeds Frank Eaman whose term expired April 1, 2020.

David W. Jones is a partner with Allen Brothers PLLC. He earned his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.  Jones is appointed to represent a member submitted by the State Bar of Michigan for a term commencing June 2, 2020 and expiring April 1, 2022. He succeeds Nancy Diehl who has resigned effective June 1, 2020.

Kristina Robinson Garrett is a judge with the Wayne County 36th District Court in Detroit. She earned her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Robinson Garrett is appointed to represent a member submitted by the Michigan District Judges Association for a term commencing May 22, 2020 and expiring April 1, 2022. She succeeds Thomas Boyd who has resigned.

The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission was created as a result of efforts to improve legal representation for indigent criminal defendants. The commission develops and oversees the implementation, enforcement, and modification of minimum standards, rules, and procedures to ensure that indigent criminal defense services providing effective assistance of counsel are delivered to all indigent adults in this state consistent with the safeguards of the United States Constitution, the State Constitution of 1963, and with the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Act. 

These appointments are not subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.  

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Kiffi Y. Ford has joined the law firm of Warner, Norcross, & Judd LLP as senior counsel.

Ford brings 25 years of experience in labor and employment law with an emphasis on contracts, litigation, regulatory compliance, internal investigations, collective bargaining, arbitration and mediation. She also has a background in health law and corporate services. Ford will practice in the firm’s Southfield and Lansing offices.

Prior to joining Warner, Ford spent almost four years as executive director of legal services at Sparrow Health System in Lansing, managing both in-house counsel and several outside counsel relationships. In this position, Ford oversaw diverse operational and strategic initiatives covering a broad range of matters and complex workplace concerns for Sparrow’s 10,000 employees across its two primary Lansing campuses, several community hospitals and dozens of satellite care centers.

Ford previously spent nearly 20 years at Dykema, where she represented and advised corporate business clients with respect to employment law and traditional labor law issues.

A member of the State Bar of Michigan, Ford has served on its Judicial Qualifications Committee for several years and is a former chair of its Lawyer Referral Service Committee. She was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to the State Bar Board of Commissioners, serving on its Executive Committee for a three-year term. Ford is a Fellow of the State Bar of Michigan Foundation.

Ford was recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly and as a “Leading Lawyer in Michigan” by Crain’s Detroit Business. In 2019, she was honored with the Wolverine Bar Association’s Golden Gavel award.

Ford earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. She earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School and more recently completed a health care compliance certification from Seton Hall School of Law.

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Butzel Long attorney Javon David has been appointed co-chair of the Trial Practice Section of the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel Association (MDTC). She concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial litigation and business tort litigation. David has litigation experience, successfully handling matters from the onset of suit through trial. 

She also has experience representing corporations and individuals in a wide variety of negligence, general liability, insurance coverage, premises liability, and personal injury disputes.

David is admitted to practice law in the State of Michigan and the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan.  She also is a certified mediator through the American Bar Association. 

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, with concentrations in History, Political Science, and Psychology.  She received her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2013.

She has been named to the list of Michigan Rising Stars in Super Lawyers magazine for 2017, 2018, and 2019. David also was named among Michigan’s Top Women Lawyers from 2017-2019.

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An article written by Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Assistant Dean and Associate Professor Erika Breitfeld about the challenges prosecuting attorneys face when trying cases involving children left behind in hot cars was recently published by the University of California Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law.

Breitfeld’s article, “Hot-Car Deaths and Forgotten-Baby Syndrome: A Case Against Prosecution,” calls on prosecutors and policymakers to re-examine their perception and treatment of parents who forget their children in cars.

A former assistant prosecuting attorney, Breitfeld offers prosecutors guidance on how to analyze these cases, urging them to advocate for reform in their communities. In the 35-page article, she explores the neuroscience behind forgetting a child, and examines recent cases to identify three categories of parents in hot-car child deaths: parents who truly forget their children in the car, parents who take calculated risks because they are uneducated about the danger of leaving children in cars, and parents who commit criminally negligent and intentional filicide. Breitfeld argues that fundamental criminal-law principles do not support a finding of criminal responsibility against truly forgetful parents, arguing that prosecutors should use community engagement along with existing safety and educational tools to reduce the ranks of the first two parent groups and the number of hot-car child deaths.

“When a child dies from a hot-car death, we have a visceral response to blame someone: someone must have done something wrong for a child to have suffered. And this is a natural, normal reaction. But it does not mean it is the right one,” wrote Breitfeld.

For the article, Breitfeld shared details of five hot-car death cases. Two of the five parents were criminally charged. Both were found not guilty, and both had to relive the tragedy all over again while fighting for their freedom. Other parents, similarly situated, never faced criminal liability.

“That severe disparity in treatment, in nearly identical cases, illustrates the power of the prosecuting attorneys and why prosecutors must educate themselves on forgotten-baby syndrome and hot-car deaths,” stated Breitfeld.

Breitfeld’s article, “Hot-Car Deaths and Forgotten-Baby Syndrome: A Case Against Prosecution,” is available online for the public through the University of California Berkeley Law Library.