By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
Retired U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn is this year’s honoree of the Archer Award, joining an illustrious list of previous winners that has included the likes of former U.S. Senator Carl Levin, the late U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Damon J. Keith, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, and 2019 recipient Denise Page Hood, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The 16th annual event is named in honor of former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, a past president of the American Bar Association.
Judge Cohn, after 40 years on the federal bench, announced his retirement from the judiciary in December 2019, capping a distinguished legal career that included a partnership role with one of Detroit’s premier law firms, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn.
A 1949 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Cohn spent 30 years in private practice before accepting an appointment to the U.S. District Court. The then President Jimmy Carter made the appointment in 1979, setting the stage for a judicial career that would be marked by a number of high-profile cases and important rulings.
At Cohn’s 95th birthday party in July 2019, Chief Judge Hood was among the featured speakers, praising the Detroit native as “the intellectual among us” on the Eastern District bench, highlighting his thirst for learning and his voracious appetite for reading.
“He reads everything,” Chief Judge Hood said of Cohn, noting that he regularly sends e-mails to his judicial colleagues on items “of interest.” That heading really serves as code for “read this, especially before you see me next,” Hood said to a round of laughter.
Longtime U.S. Senator Levin, a fixture on Capitol Hill for 36 years before retiring in 2015, said the “guidepost for Avern Cohn” has been the desire and commitment “to pursue justice.” As evidence, Levin recounted at the birthday event the legal odyssey of Ibrahim Parlak, a respected restaurant owner on the west side of Michigan when he was arrested in 2004 for allegedly lying on his application to become a naturalized citizen after seeking asylum and immigrating to America in 1991.
“As a Kurd living in Turkey, Parlak was arrested and tortured for his involvement with the P.K.K,” Levin said of the Kurdish independence group that was later labeled as a “terrorist” organization by the U.S.
While awaiting deportation, Parlak’s case came before Judge Cohn, who ordered his release, according to Senator Levin. In his decision, Cohn said that Parlak had “lived an exemplary life in the United States” and “had been a model immigrant” who “is not a threat to anyone nor a risk of flight.”
And yet, Levin indicated, the Department of Homeland Security continued to push for deportation through a series of appeals in various courts, a legal quest that has been blocked by an immigration law judge.
“Ibrahim Parlak owes his current freedom in large measure to this man – Judge Cohn,” Levin said, his voice cracking with emotion.
Before becoming a judge, Cohn served on the Michigan Social Welfare Commission, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, and the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners. His longtime community involvement was highlighted in 2014 when Cohn and his wife, Lois, were honored with the Activist Award from the Jewish Community Relations Council. The Cohns were saluted for their “prolific legacy of commitment and contributions to the Jewish community, advancing social justice, and supporting Detroit’s arts and cultural institutions.”
In addition to his community activism, Cohn said he is continually enriched by the joy of legal learning. In particular, he said, “intellectual property cases, patent, copyright and trademark, are the most satisfying and interesting cases on my docket.”
Cohn – whose father, Irwin, was a prominent bankruptcy and corporate lawyer – gained a well-deserved reputation as a no-nonsense kind of judge, the type that can tongue-tie and intimidate even the most seasoned attorney.
Cohn has sticky notes tha lined the bench in his federal courtroom. Among his favorites:
• “Always remember the lawyers have as much right to be in the courtroom as the judge.”
• “A problem well stated is a problem half solved.”
• “Keep cool.”
• “He who angers you controls you.”
When Cohn was appointed to the federal bench, one of his admirers, the late Joe Stroud, then editor of The Detroit Free Press, offered a piece of advice.
“Congratulations on becoming a judge,” Stroud wrote to Cohn. “Just don’t be too judgy.”
Stroud’s words dovetailed nicely with another sticky note dear to the heart of Cohn. “No matter how high the throne, there sits but an ass!”
This year’s Archer Award event will be held in the virtual realm. The Nov. 19 ceremony will run 4:30-6 p.m. Tickets cost $50 with all registrants receiving a complimentary Detroit Bar decal, while also giving a significant boost to “free legal clinics and community outreach programs,” since 90 percent of the proceeds from the event will be designated for those causes.
For information, contact Darlene Trudell at dtrudell@detroitlawyer.org or (248) 408-6919.
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