News - February 2007
Michigan Law announces formation of new Low Income Taxpayer Clinic
February 28, 2007
The University of Michigan Law School today announced the opening of its Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) – the School’s eighth publicly-oriented law clinic – which will provide no-charge tax-related services to qualified low-income clients. Serving those clients will be second- and third-year Michigan Law students working under the supervision of a faculty member who is also a licensed tax attorney.
While LITC cannot necessarily accept every case, the Clinic expects to assist its clients with issues under a $50,000 ceiling regarding IRS notices, liens, and levies; tax installment agreements; tax audits; collections hearings and conferences; earned income and child tax credit eligibility and denial; and others. For the six Michigan Law students working in the clinic, the experience will provide an unparalleled learning opportunity and the prospect of making a significant difference in the lives of their clients.
Supervising attorney Nicole Appleberry is an adjunct clinical faculty member at the University of Michigan Law School who earned her B.A. (English, with honors, 1988) and J.D. (1994) from the University of Michigan, and her LL.M. (Taxation, 2000) from Wayne State University. While a student at the Law School, she participated in the Child Advocacy Law Clinic and the Family Law Project. She also served as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Livingston County, Michigan from 1995 to 1999, focusing on juvenile delinquency, domestic violence, and child abuse and neglect. Since that time, Appleberry has practiced at Ferguson & Widmayer, P.C. in Ann Arbor, specializing in tax-related matters. She is a Washtenaw County approved civil mediator and serves as co-chair of the Taxation Section of the Washtenaw County Bar Association.
The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic is located in Room 545 of the Legal Research Building at the University of Michigan Law School, 625 South State Street in Ann Arbor. Further information can be obtained from Clinic Administrator Cindy Kelley at (734) 936-3535.
Child Welfare Law Moot Court Team places third in national competition
February 26, 2007
Michigan Law’s Child Welfare Law Moot Court Team, coached by Vivek Sankaran, placed third in the national competition hosted by Capital University in Columbus, Ohio the weekend of February 17th – 18th. Just missing advancement to the final round by .6 points on a 100-point scale, the team’s brief was also named third best.
Team members include 3L Kristen Klanow (Grosse Pointe, MI), 2L Joshua McCaleb (Succasunna, NJ), and 2L Elizabeth (Betsey) Wiegman (New Albany, IN). According to coach Sankaran, Clinical Assistant Professor of Law at Michigan, “they faced tough competition from schools with extensive moot court training programs but outperformed almost everyone there. They’ve set the bar pretty high for next year’s squad.”
Twenty-three teams competed in the tournament which was cosponsored by the National Association of Counsel for Children, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the ABA Center on Children and the Law, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy. This year’s problem focused on the parental rights of the putative father and the right to counsel in civil termination of parental rights cases.
Vivek Sankaran earned his B.A. magna cum laude from the College of William and Mary and his J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was an associate editor on the Michigan Law Review. After law school, Sankaran joined The Children’s Law Center (CLC) as a Skadden Fellow to represent child witnesses to domestic violence and became a permanent staff attorney with the CLC in September 2003.
Michigan Law 1L Wins Foley & Lardner Minority Scholarship
February 23, 2007
Jamie-Clare Flaherty, a first-year law student from Detroit, MI, was named one of nine winners of a $5000 scholarship from the Chicago-based law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP.
Ms. Flaherty, who earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan, joins winners from the law schools of Duke, the University of Florida, Georgetown, Northwestern, Wisconsin, UCLA, and Berkeley.
“A strong and effective diversity program is one of the highest priorities of our firm, and the Minority Scholarship program exemplifies our tangible commitment to the advancement of minority law students and to achieving a more diverse legal community,” said Maureen A. McGinnity, the firm’s Chief Diversity Partner.
Scholarship recipients are selected based on involvement in community activities, minority student organizations, work and personal achievements, and academic achievement.
U.S. District Judge Friedman Presides at Motions Day, February 21st
February 20, 2007
Judge Bernard A. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan will hear arguments on six motions Wednesday, February 21st, 8:45 am to noon, in Room 250 of Hutchins Hall at the Law School.
Motions to be heard include a defense counsel’s desire to withdraw from representation of a corporate client, a patent infringement action, an insurance coverage dispute, a U.S. government summary judgment request to collect on a defaulted student loan, an attorney’s fees dispute involving the Commissioner of Social Security, and a fee-shifting dispute pitting a developer and church against the Township of Ann Arbor.
Members of the Law School community are invited to attend, although seating is limited until after 10:00 am.