1. Volume 81, Number 48 Troy, Michigan Friday, June 13, 2008, ONE DOLLAR
■ Honors College
Wayne State University names Honors
College after departing President
Irvin D. Reid. Page Two
■ Cyberspace Sightings
Networking Web site provides
attorneys an online meeting place.
Networking Page
■ On Point
Legislative solutions to the
gas crunch are a mixed bag.
Back Page
SHORT
TAKES
MORE INSIDE
Bankruptcies......................9A
Calendar............................3A
Circuit Court Docket ..........4A
Classified Ads....................2A
Family Division Docket ......6A
Lis Pendens.......................8A
Probate Court Docket........8A
Weekly Crossword.............3A
Assumed Names ...............4B
Circuit Court Filings...........2B
Divorce Judgments............4B
Legal Notices.....................6B
Oakland County Legal News
Serving the Oakland County Legal Community Since 1927
www.oaklandlegalnews.com
The Legal Aid and Defender Association
Inc. will host an open house at its new head-
quarters building at 613 Abbott St. in Detroit.
The open house will take place Thursday, June
19, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. featuring refreshments
and valet parking.
LAD’s mission is to provide comprehen-
sive, aggressive legal advocacy and represen-
tation to individuals who cannot afford such
representation in the Metro-Detroit area.
Anyone interested in attending the open
house should RSVP by Monday, June 16, via
e-mail at openhouse@ladadetroit.org. For
additional information, call (313) 967-5603.
The Wolverine Bar Association, Wolverine
Bar Foundation, and the Association of Black
Judges of Michigan will host the 2008 Presi-
dents’ Dinner Thursday, June 19, at the Mar-
riott Renaissance Center Ambassador Ball-
room in Detroit. The event begins with a
reception at 6 p.m. followed by dinner and
program at 7 p.m.
The guest speaker for this year’s dinner is
Jamal Simmons, CNN and MSNBC political
analyst and Detroit native. Simmons is a well
known political analyst and commentator seen
frequently on CNN, and also has appeared on
MSNBC and FoxNews.
A fourth generation Detroiter, Jamal grew
up on the westside of Detroit. He is a graduate
of Cass Technical High School. With a back-
ground in Democratic politics and interna-
tional affairs, his views and opinions have
also been featured in major publications such
as GQ Magazine, The New York Times,
Detroit Free Press, and USA Today. A gradu-
ate of Morehouse College, Simmons received
a masters degree in public policy from Har-
vard University and is a former term member
of the Council on Foreign Relations. Simmons
is president of New Future Communications,
a Washington, D.C. consulting firm.
Cost for the event is $70 per person or
$650 for tables of ten.
To make a reservation or for additional
information, please contact either the WBA at
(313) 962-0250, or Sherrie Farrell at (313)
568-6550, or Diane Hutcherson at (313) 237-
5722.
Firm’s guidebook to help
Michigan businesses
Women’s Bar Association hosts annual dinner
BY CHRISTINE L.MOBLEY
Legal News
In hopes of making
the business climate
more manageable, the
law firm of Honigman,
Miller, Schwartz, and
Cohn L.L.P. has pub-
lished its second edition
of “Roadmap to Busi-
ness Success in Michi-
gan.”
The second edition
offers a comprehensive
explanation of the new
Michigan Business Tax
and the most current
hard-to-find business incentives.
“The book describes how a number of
Michigan laws and programs effect busi-
ness and it emphasizes those areas where
the law or the programs might be unique to
Michigan,” Mark Hilpert, Tax and Incentive
manager for Honigman, said.
Any type of business operating or look-
ing to expand in Michigan can benefit from
this book, Hilpert states.
“The book is written in a way to be
understood by a non-lawyer,” noted Hilpert
who edited the book and
authored the chapter on
“Business Incentives.
“It pertains to laws that
would be generally
applicable to business
and doesn’t get into too
many specialized types
of law that would only
pertain to a particular
industry or industry seg-
ment.”
Even in the troubled
waters of Michigan’s
current economy,
Hilpert believes that
“Roadmap to Business
Success in Michigan”
can be a beacon of hope.
“There are sections of the book that are
devoted to special incentives and programs
designed to attract new business or create
incentives for businesses to expand that are
already located here,” Hilpert said. “Despite
the current economy there’s still a lot of
opportunities.
“Current and future business owners
need not be afraid to invest in Michigan,”
he added.
BY TOM KIRVAN
Legal News
Attorney Rich Vander Veen is
banking on a breath of fresh air in
Michigan.
He hopes it will take the form of
an RPS, three letters that when strung
together hold the promise of catapult-
ing Michigan into the fast-paced, job-
creating, 21st century world of renew-
able energy.
It’s no secret that Vander Veen’s
future—and that of his company,
Mackinaw Power—hinges on the
wind. He’s convinced that when the
power of the wind is fully unleashed
in Michigan, it has the potential to put
the Great Lakes State on the energy
map for generations to come.
“We need to transform Michigan’s
economy, now,” Vander Veen said in a
recent treatise on “What 25 States
Can Teach Michigan” about the fruits
of adopting a Renewable Portfolio
Standard (RPS). “Michigan put the
world on wheels and has the natural
resources and know-how to transform
the way we fuel our vehicles and
power our homes. Renewable energy
will add solid value to the Triple Bot-
tom Line, increasing financial, social,
and ecological capital.”
Governor Jennifer Granholm is a
believer in the immediate need,
repeatedly trumpeting the importance
of adopting an RPS, which grants the
Michigan Public Service Commission
the authority to require the state to
generate a designated portion of its
electricity from renewable sources
such as wind, solar, biomass, geother-
mal, or other alternatives to fossil
fuels. She has proclaimed an urgent
need for Michigan to “get in the
game” or else run the risk of literally
being left out in the energy cold, sac-
rificing thousands of potential jobs
and the corresponding ability to pro-
tect our natural resources.
According to Vander Veen, 25
states and the District of Columbia
have adopted an RPS, thereby ensur-
ing that a minimum amount of renew-
able energy is included in the portfo-
lio of electricity resources serving
their residents. Michigan, he said,
already is “five years behind” the
times when it comes to harnessing
wind power.
“Unlike fossil fuels which risk
volatile rising prices, emissions, and
public health costs, zero-emissions
wind and solar energy locks in stable,
competitively priced electricity,” Van-
der Veen said. “As Tom Friedman
(Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for
The New York Times) summarizes,
“‘It’s all about jobs, temperature and
terrorism.’”
Vander Veen said that Michigan
residents are overwhelmingly support-
ive of efforts to adopt an RPS in the
state.
“Consistently polls show that more
than 80 percent of the people support
new, clean energy,” Vander Veen
claimed. “In fact, if a 2008 presiden-
tial candidate won the 25 states with
an RPS, that candidate would walk
away with the Electoral College vote
and be our next President, ready to
lead on these issues.”
New attorneys sworn in
Lawyer pins his hopes on
renewable energy for Michigan
Rich Vander Veen is one of the state’s foremost propo-
nents of wind power, touting its virtues in helping Michi-
gan bolster its “Triple Bottom Line.”
Photo courtesy of Mackinaw Power
New attorneys were sworn into the bar Wednesday, May 21, in the Oakland Coun-
ty Board of Commissioners’ Auditorium in Pontiac. The Oakland County Bar
Association welcomed the new attorneys as they payed the clerk and signed “the
book” before taking the oath. Among the news attorneys taking the oath was
Maura Claire Winkworth (center) who was congratulated by her sponsor Bloom-
field Hills attorney and 2008-2009 OCBA President Michael D. Schloff and OCBA
Executive Director Lisa Stadig Elliot. For additional photos from this event, see
today’s page 10A. Photos courtesy of OCBA
The Women’s Bar Association
(WBA), Oakland County chapter
of the Women Lawyers Associa-
tion of Michigan, conducted its
annual dinner on Wednesday,
May 21, at the Community
House in Birmingham. Among
those enjoying the evening
were (left to right) Nicole Wilins-
ki of Kelley, Casey, & Moyer
P.C., WBA treasurer; Jill Kro-
likowski of Krolikowski & Sokol
P.L.L.C., WBA immediate past
president; Lucy Snyder of
Asset Acceptance Capital Corp,
WBA president; Angela Davison
of Amcor PET Packaging USA
Inc, WBA vice president; Eliza-
beth Smith of Asset Accep-
tance, WBA vice president; Eliz-
abeth Sokol of The Law Offices
of Elizabeth L. Sokol P.L.L.C.,
WBA recording secretary; and
Stacey King of Garan Lucow
Miller P.C., WBA corresponding
secretary.
Photo by John Meiu
(See WIND DRIVEN, Page Two)
(See SUCCESS, Page Two)
The Detroit Economic Club (DEC) will
present Michael Morris, chairman, president
& CEO of American Electric Power Co., on
Monday, June 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30
p.m. at the Troy Marriott. Morris will speak
of “Energy: The Next U.S. Challenge.”
Cost to attend the luncheon is $40 for DEC
members, $50 for guests of members, and $75
for non-members.
Reserve tickets at www.econclub.org or
call the DEC at (313) 963-8547.
‘U.S. Energy Challenges’
topic of Economic
Club program, June 23
Presidents’ Dinner to
feature political analyst
Jamal Simmons
Legal Aid & Defender to
show off headquarters
at June 19 open house
OAK front page Jun13-6 6/12/08 9:26 AM Page 1