Steady Hand-- Supreme Court Justice stays true to the course on bench

By Paul Janczewski Legal News It was a crossroads, of sorts, for Michael F. Cavanagh. In the 1960s, he spent his summers working on Great Lakes freighters, earning money to help pay his college tuition. "It was a great experience. The work was hard, the food was great, and the pay was great. I met a lot of interesting people, it taught me how to deal with 30 different characters, and it was a lesson in getting along with others," Cavanagh said. His parents were Canadian, both born on farms outside Ottawa, moved to Detroit when his father got a job at a Ford auto plant and his mother went into teaching. Cavanagh, 69, was the youngest of six children. The Irish family became very prominent. His older brother, Jerome, was Detroit mayor from 1962-70. Cavanagh graduated from the University of Detroit in 1962 with a bachelor's degree in political science. He received his law degree from the University of Detroit in 1966, attending law school at night while spending his days working as an insurance claims adjuster, and later for the Wayne County Friend of the Court as an investigator. Cavanagh married after law school, and took a job as a law clerk for the Michigan Court of Appeals in Lansing. In 1967, Cavanagh became an assistant city attorney for the City of Lansing And was soon Lansing City Attorney, a position he held until 1969. He said that job taught him much about the rudiments of municipal government and dealing with politics and politicians. Cavanagh then went into private practice and was a partner in the Lansing law firm of Farhat, Burns and Story. He said Lansing in the late 1960s "was a great town for all professions." The economy was up and running well, auto plants were booming, and Michigan State University was thriving, giving a lot of people steady paychecks. At the firm, Cavanagh handled divorces, personal injury, criminal cases - the normal gamut of a practicing attorney. In 1972, Cavanagh ran for District Court judge and was elected in the newly-created seat on the 54-A District Court, serving from 1973-75. Cavanagh said the mindset among many attorneys back then was learn as much as possible, and then run for a judgeship later in your career. "But the opportunity fell my way earlier than I thought it would." In district court, you see everything, and have a real sense of accomplishment. You make decisions and move on," Cavanagh said of the busy caseloads and hustle and bustle of that setting. Cavanagh ran for the Michigan Court of Appeals, and won, becoming, at the time, the youngest person ever elected to that court. He served there from 1975-82. He said serving on that court brought him back to when he clerked there. But it also removed him from the day-to-day contact with cases, lawyers and litigants. "It's a change. You sometimes feel cloistered," he said. "You're a little more removed from seeing people. The focus is more on research and writing. But it has its own sense of satisfaction, and the impact of your decisions are much wider because you're setting law at the state level." In 1982, he ran for the state Supreme Court, and won re-election in 1990, 1998, and 2006. He served as Chief Justice from 1991-95. His current term expires January 1, 2015. Reaching the pinnacle of state law as a Supreme Court justice, was Cavanagh intimidated, awed, impressed or humbled? "Probably all of that," he said. "It's a whole different chemistry," he said. "You're dealing with six other individuals. You become very aware of the impact of your decisions." In the past decade, the tenor of the state Supreme Court has changed, leading to more split decisions. Cavanagh said he rarely finds himself in the majority, and said he wishes it wasn't that way. He said 4-3 rulings are "fragile" and may lead to "revisions, rethinking and a revisit later down the road." Cavanagh said he's seen many cases over the years, some more newsworthy than others but all important to the masses. Several that stand out are those involving Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the Baby Jessica adoption case, and "appropriations, which is always a hot topic every 10 years." "Some cases have blended into the mist of history, but you can pick any area of the law, whether medical malpractice, torts, or criminal, and every term, one or two really stand out and generate public opinion," he said. "But some of the cases you think are significantly important hardly generate any notoriety outside of here," he said. All the cases, whether considered newsworthy by the media or not, are given Cavanagh's best effort. Cavanagh has served on many boards and with numerous community and professional organizations, including the American Heart Association, past president of the Incorporated Society of Irish/American Lawyers, on the Board of Directors at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and others. He has served as Supreme Court Liaison for the Michigan Indian Tribal Courts, and has attended national Indian law conferences. Because of age limitations, Cavanagh cannot run for the Supreme Court when his term ends in four years, and is comfortable with that, saying it "allows room for new spirit, new blood" on the bench. "It's not a bad thing," Cavanagh said. "I think the system works okay. And from my perspective, I've had a pretty full career." He is not sure what he will do then, perhaps teach law, "but I can't imagine doing nothing." Cavanagh loves to hunt and fish, and travels up north in the summer to enjoy time with his wife of 44 years, Patricia, their three children, and five grandchildren. They also enjoy traveling, and have been to Germany and elsewhere. And, yes, being an Irish-Catholic, he's visited Ireland at least four times. One thing many may not know about Cavanagh is that he is a Latin scholar, and recently came upon an old Latin grammar book on an Internet site, and bought it. "Show's you how weird I am," he said with a laugh. Another little-know fact about Cavanagh, at least outside his inner circle, is that he loves to cook. "My wife is a great cook, but she says 'Be my guest.'" Published: Thu, Apr 8, 2010

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