{"id":4,"date":"2019-10-29T03:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-10-29T03:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fedbar.org\/eastern-district-of-michigan-chapter\/\/eastern-district-of-michigan-chapter\/history\/"},"modified":"2021-06-22T13:54:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T13:54:16","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fedbar.org\/eastern-district-of-michigan-chapter\/eastern-district-of-michigan-chapter\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eastern District of Michigan Chapter History<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Eastern District of Michigan Chapter was originally founded as the Detroit Chapter on August 26, 1957. The Detroit Chapter became the 20th Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. On March 16, 1995, the Detroit Chapter formally changed its name to the Eastern District of Michigan Chapter.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Chapter Presidents<\/span><\/strong>
\n1959-Present<\/strong><\/p>\n

1959-1960 Hon. Fred W. Kaess
\n1960-1961 Mr. Fred W. Walker
\n1961-1962 Mr. Julius J. Kabatsky
\n1962-1963 Mr. Lawrence J. Verdier
\n1963-1964 Mr. Wallace D. Riley
\n1964-1965 Mr. David H. Patton
\n1965-1966 Mr. David A. Goldman
\n1966-1967 Mr. Charles R. Rutherford
\n1967-1968 Mr. Russell M. Paquette
\n1968-1969 Hon. George E. Woods
\n1969-1970 Mr. Norman H. Birnkrant
\n1970-1971 Mr. Arthur Allan Smith
\n1971-1972 Mr. John S. Crandall
\n1972-1973 Mr. John S. Crandall
\n1973-1974 Mr. Marcel C. Phillips
\n1974-1975 Hon. Ralph B. Guy
\n1975-1976 Mr. Thomas A. McNish
\n1976-1977 Mr. Richard T. Tarnas
\n1977-1978 Mr. Frank L. Zagelmeyer
\n1978-1979 Mr. John M. McMillan
\n1979-1980 Hon. Fred M. Mester
\n1980-1981 Mr. Joseph F Dillon
\n1981-1982 Mr. Alan C. Harnisch
\n1982-1983 Mr. Richard A. Rossman
\n1983-1984 Mr. Sheldon S. Toll
\n1984-1985 Hon. Paul D. Borman
\n1985-1986 Mr. Robert P. Hurlburt
\n1986-1987 Mr. John P. Mayer
\n1987-1988 Ms. Michele Coleman Mayes
\n1988-1989 Mr. John R. Runyan
\n1989-1990 Mr. Robert E. Forrest
\n1990-1991 Hon. Maura Corrigan
\n1991-1992 Mr. Joel M. Shere
\n1992-1993 Ms. Geneva S. Halliday
\n1993-1994 Mr. Edward M. Kronk
\n1994-1995 Mr. Lawrence G. Campbell
\n1995-1996 Mr. Thomas M. Cranmer
\n1996-1997 Hon. Virginia M. Morgan
\n1997-1998 Mr. Daniel M. Malone
\n1998-1999 Mr. Michael C. Leibson
\n1999-2000 Mr. Mark Brewer
\n2000-2001 Mr. Thomas W.B. Porter
\n2001-2002 Mr. Brian D. Figot
\n2002-2003 Ms. Christine M. Dowhan-Bailey
\n2003-2004 Mr. Dennis J. Clark
\n2004-2005 Mr. Dennis M. Barnes
\n2005-2006 Mr. Grant P. Gilezan
\n2006-2007 Ms. Julia A. Caroff
\n2007-2008 Hon. Mark A. Goldsmith
\n2008-2009 Ms. Barbara L. McQuade
\n2009-2010 Ms. Elisa Angeli Palizzi
\n2010-2011 Hon. Laurie J. Michelson
\n2011-2012 Hon. Michael J. Riordan
\n2012-2013 Mr. Thomas G. McNeill
\n2013-2014 Mr. Michael K. Lee
\n2014-2015 Mr. Thomas M. Schehr
\n2015-2016 Ms. Kimberly G. Altman
\n2016-2017 Ms. Susan E. Fairchild
\n2017-2018 Mr. Jeffrey Appel
\n2018-2019 Mr. Saura J. Sahu
\n2019-2020 Mr. Matthew Lund
\n2020-2021 Mr. Fred K. Herrmann<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Golden 50th Anniversary Commemorative Issue<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Discovering Our Roots<\/strong><\/span>
\nBy Brian D. Figot<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Through the pages of this Newsletter, and by means of the Chapter\u2019s \u201cstrategic partnership\u201d with the Historical Society of the Eastern District of Michigan, we have learned much about the history of the Eastern District of Michigan. However, little has been said about the history of this Chapter. Recently, I had the opportunity to learn some of that history in connection with some research I am doing at the national offices of the Federal Bar Association in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

As Deputy Chair of National\u2019s ad hoc Historic Preservation Committee, I am engaged in a project initiated and spearheaded by FBA President Kent Hofmeister \u2014 the significant task of putting together the oral and written history of the FBA. Phase I of the project has been to determine what we have.<\/p>\n

On a bright spring-like day in D.C. during the middle of the winter (before the storm), I spent a day assisting in the cataloging of the existing materials; and traversed the course of history from 1931 to 1960 as contemporaneously reported in the Federal Bar News, the predecessor of \u201cThe Federal Lawyer,\u201d a magazine which is distributed to FBA members. The materials which are of interest to the national organization, and the Project itself, are more fully described in an upcoming article of \u201cThe Federal Lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I reached the late 1950s, the names started looking more and more familiar, as I reached the formation of a Detroit Chapter of the FBA. The President\u2019s Page for January, 1957, reported:<\/p>\n

At this writing, I have a petition, addressed to the National Council, for a Detroit, Michigan Chapter, sent to me by Fred W. Kaess, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, and signed by twenty-one applicants for membership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Kaess and Wilfrid R. Laurie, an attorney with the Army Ordinance in Detroit, both saw the need for a Detroit chapter. They joined forces, and assisted by Richard T. Tarnas of Detroit Army Ordinance, did the necessary preliminary work. The application is signed by Mr. Kaess; George Edward Woods, Jr., Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney; Joseph A. Moynihan, Jr., formerly Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney; and the following Assistant U.S. Attorneys: Robert E. DeMascio, Otto E. Haass, Dwight K. Hamborsky, John R. Jones, Orrin C. Jones, John L. Owen, Elmer L. Pfeifle, Jr., Robert L. Richardson, Jr., Horace L. Rodgers, John Paul Sitek, Willis F. Ward, and Donald F. Welday, Jr. Signing from Army Ordinance, in addition to Messrs. Laurie and Tarnas, were Robert M. Barrie, Assistant General Counsel, John S. Crandall, Jack F. Gardner, Phyllis K. Johnson, R. Cass Ready, and Alexander A. Trout.<\/p>\n

Thus, we now know: Our founders were Fred W. Kaess (later a district judge and Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Michigan), Wilfred Laurie, and Richard T. Tarnas. Dick Tarnas, who has remained active throughout the entirety of this Chapter\u2019s history, is owed a particular debt of gratitude. We also now have a list of our charter membership, which includes two other judges of the Eastern District.<\/p>\n

Later that year, the Chapter was formalized at an organizational luncheon attended by 63 people. The first temporary officers were elected (President, Fred W. Kaess; secretary- treasurer, Wilfred R. Laurie); committees were established; and plans were laid for a banquet at which the Chapter\u2019s charter would be presented. Within the next couple months, Dick Tarnas was named secretary, and as of November, 1957, the Chapter\u2019s membership numbered 59.<\/p>\n

On December 3, 1957, the Chapter held its first major event, a \u201cCharter Banquet\u201d in the Casino Room of the Sheraton-Cadillac Hotel, attended by \u201cmore than 250 members of the Chapter, their wives and friends.\u201d According to chapter president Fred Kaess, the group was addressed by Laurence H. Axman, then president of the FBA, who spoke of the effort \u201cto bring about a greater and more efficient relationship between Government lawyers and officials and those representing the public,\u201d and commented on the need to better equalize public and private sector pay to stop the exodus of \u201cexperts in their field, who are leaving their jobs for higher pay in private enterprise.\u201d Officers were then elected; and honorary memberships were given to Chief Judge Charles C. Simons of the Sixth Circuit, Chief Judge Arthur Lederle, and District Judges Frank A. Picard, Theodore Levin, Thomas P. Thornton, Ralph Freeman, and Clifford O\u2019Sullivan. The group was then entertained \u201cby strolling musicians and the Detroit Bar Association Glee Club,\u201d and a \u201ca highlight of the evening was the entertainment given by Mr. Bud Guest, Detroit\u2019s foremost radio and TV humorist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also of historical and current interest was the Chapter\u2019s adoption of its first formal resolution \u2013 which was described by Judge Kaess as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cA feature of the evening was the adoption by the membership of a resolution endorsing a plan to erect a new Federal Court Building and companion Lawyers\u2019 Library Building as part of Detroit\u2019s new Civic Center. The resolution was adopted by unanimous voice vote as the first official act of the new Chapter. The Honorable Arthur F. Lederle, is the guiding spirit behind this plan. His farsightedness for the anticipated need of a new Federal Court Building which will lend itself to a realistic program of expansion and will meet the requirements of new and additional judges who will serve the District in the future, deserves the thanks and appreciation of all members of the Chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forty-six years later, as we prepare for another Annual Dinner, the names are all different; the Sheraton-Cadillac is gone (though there remains talk about its resurrection); the Casino Room has been supplanted by Detroit\u2019s casinos; and entertainment by musicians and a humorist has been replaced by musical humor. However, the camaraderie described in the yellowed pages of the Federal Bar News remains; the respect and cooperation between the Bench and Bar survives; the issue of equalized pay and flight to private enterprise has yet to be resolved; and Detroit still waits for a new Federal Court Building and Lawyers\u2019 Library.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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