Double Duty BRIEFS Attorney Makes Anything but Short Work of Schedule by TOM KIRVAN Longtime Nurse at St
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DLN Front Jul26-2 7/25/11 3:15 PM Page 1 News you cannot get anywhere else. www.legalnews.com Vol. CXVI, No. 147 Tuesday, July 26, 2011 75 Cents DAILY Double Duty BRIEFS Attorney makes anything but short work of schedule BY TOM KIRVAN longtime nurse at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in “I attended law school during the day and City council confirms Legal News Pontiac and a graduate of Rush University then worked nights at Beaumont Hospital,” School of Nursing in Chicago. Colter said. “The challenge of going to school Elhasan as magistrate Attorney Gretchen Colter, a partner at Bow- “She is my best friend, and I've long and working full time was a schedule that I was man and Brooke in Troy, has made a habit of admired her dedication and commitment to the accustomed to, since most of my life I've for 20th District Court moonlighting, regularly spending her Saturdays nursing profession,” Colter said of her mother, always worked two jobs. It has become second Zenna Faraj far from the legal demands of defending prod- who now lives in San Diego. “She always had a nature to me. My work drives me.” Elhasan, a partner uct liability claims. real passion for her work.” She landed a summer associate's position with the law firm Her weekend work is no picnic, however. It The mother-daughter bond has grown with Bowman and Brooke entering her final Allen Brothers, is every bit as challenging and personally stronger since Colter's father, Robert, died of year of law school, immediately whetting her Attorneys & Coun- rewarding as any day spent in the high stakes complications from lymphoma at age 59. A appetite for work in the products liability field. selors, has been world of a state or federal trial court. graduate of Purdue University, where he played “The firm's offices were located in the Fisher appointed magistrate From 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. each Saturday, football for the Boilermakers, her father served Building at the time and I loved getting the and probation direc- Colter assumes a different professional per- in the Marines during the Korean War. experience of defending product liability claims, tor of the 20th Dis- sona, pulling a 12-1/2-hour shift as a nurse on “He was a very gregarious man who loved especially those related to the medical or phar- trict Court in Dear- the Neuroscience Unit at William Beaumont the outdoors, hunting, and fishing,” Colter said maceutical fields,” Colter said. “My interest in born Heights, Michi- Hospital in Royal Oak. It is work for which she of her father, who worked as an engineer for a science and medicine really proved to be benefi- gan. has been well suited since graduating with a tool and die company. “He got the most out of cial as I became more involved in those types of Elhasan was degree in nursing from the University of Col- life, but unfortunately his life was far too cases.” appointed by the orado in 1981. short.” Since joining the firm 17 years ago, Colter court to the position “Nursing offers a whole different set of Like her father, Colter has enjoyed a life- has defended cases involving medical device, Zenna Faraj and confirmed by the challenges for me, which is why I find it so long fascination with the wonders of nature, pharmaceutical, and automotive manufacturers Elhasan Dearborn Heights interesting and professionally stimulating,” working after high school at various waitress- in both state and federal courts. She has defend- City Council. Colter said. “It has become so much a part of ing jobs in Yellowstone Park, the Grand Teton ed claims related to surgical implants, contact In her new role as magistrate, Elhasan will han- me, of who I am as a person. It's a job that I National Park, and several ski resorts out west. See DUTY, Page 5 dle traffic violations and other small crimes. She love and from which I gain great satisfaction Photo by Robert Chase “I was a waitress at the Old Faithful Inn at will also serve as probation director, where she each and every time I walk into the hospital.” As a lawyer and a registered nurse, Yellowstone,” Colter said of her western will oversee the 20th District Court’s probation Her nursing career, which began at the Uni- Gretchen Colter knows the ins and outs odyssey after graduation from Birmingham DETROIT department and play an active role in preparing versity of Colorado Health Science Center in of the legal and medical professions. Seaholm High School. “It was a great experi- recommendations for sentencing of offenders Denver, has run the medical gamut, including ence to live in such magnificent areas out west. placed under the court’s supervision. stints in the surgical, neurological, cardiac, into perspective all the things in life that we The beauty is simply amazing.” State ban on affirmative Elhasan, 34, has been practicing law since emergency, oncology, and orthopedic units. should be thankful for each day. Being in nurs- A decade into her nursing career, Colter 2004 and received her Juris Doctorate from the “I love the clinical aspect of nursing and the ing helps keep me grounded and heightens my began to consider the possibility of enrolling in University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. She high intensity of the profession,” Colter said. “I awareness of the struggles and suffering so medical school or law school, eventually elect- action may get 2nd look received her undergraduate degree in 2000 from have tremendous compassion and respect for many people experience on a daily basis.” ing to return to Michigan to attend the Univer- the University of Michigan and is working toward my patients. When I see what they are going Her interest in the medical field undoubted- sity of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where she her master’s from Wayne State University. through with their health challenges, it puts ly can be traced to her mother, Eva Lou, a earned her juris doctor in 1994. Key question: Will Elhasan is an active member of the Arab Amer- ican community and serves on the advisory board judges take the case? of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Com- BY ED WHITE mittee and as secretary for the Arab American Associated Press Political Action Committee. She also serves on a Legal Mentors number of non-profit boards, including Child’s DETROIT (AP) — Facing a deadline this Hope, a child abuse prevention council in Wayne week, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette County, and the Arab-American Women’s Busi- has pledged to ask an entire federal appeals ness Council. court to suspend and re-examine a landmark In 2006, Elhasan was appointed assistant cor- decision that overturned the state’s ban on poration counsel in the City of Dearborn affirmative action in college admissions. Heights. Her appointment to the district court But here’s the key issue: Will a majority of came in May 2011. the court’s 15 active judges agree to take the case? WSU Law Alumni The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hears cases in three-judge panels. It would be rare for Association announces the full court to sweep aside the work of one of its panels and start from scratch, but this is not new board officers a typical case. It involves a 2006 law approved Wayne State University Law School and its by 58 percent of Michigan voters and a very Law Alumni Association (LAA) this week contentious issue — the role of race and gender announced the newly elected LAA board officers in decisions by public officials. and members. “This is a fascinating case. It’s a close call,” The officers for 2011-12 are: President said Jonathan Adler, who teaches constitutional Suzanne Johnson, ’84; President-elect Rob Kent, law at Case Western Reserve University law ’08; Vice President for Planning Kim Yapchai, school in Cleveland. ’93; Vice President for Finance June Lee, ’01; Robert Sedler, an expert in constitutional Vice President for Membership Michael Fayz, law at Wayne State University law school in ’91; Treasurer Cesare Sclafani, ’08; and Secre- Detroit, said affirmative action may be “politi- tary Stefania Gismondi, ’10. cally hot,” but that’s not a reason for the full Just The Beginning Foundation (JTBF) hosted “Oral Arguments, Parent Seminar and Reception” to close its inaugural Board members who were elected or re-elect- court to intervene. Detroit Summer Legal Institute on Friday, July 15, at the U.S. District Court in Detroit. Approximately 35 lawyers were ed are: Kevin Bartlett, ’97; Sarah Biedron, ’11; “The reason may be it raises an important recruited to serve as continuing mentors to the high school students in the program and most of those lawyers attended Michelle Burns, ’10; Meghan Curavo, ’10; Car- constitutional issue,” Sedler said. the reception. Among those taking part were (l-r) Thomas Randolph of Randolph Law Group; Leslie Scott; Khalilah los Escurel, ’01; Kevin Kalczynski, ’00; David On July 1, the appeals court, in a 2-1 deci- Spencer of Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, & Cohn LLP; Terrence Thompson, assistant U.S. attorney, Eastern District of Michael, ’03; Stephen Ravas, ’05; Hayley Rohn- sion, struck down Michigan’s Proposal 2, Michigan; Jessee Dagen, JTBF program director; Saima Mohsin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office; Chastity Graham of the Davé, ’07; Jami Statham, ’06; Sara VanderWerff, which bans the consideration of race and gen- Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office; Andrew Densemo of Federal Defender Office; U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge ’91; and Margaret VanMeter, ’87.