www.fbamich.org FBAnewsletterSummer 2008 Federal Bar Association - Eastern District of Michigan Chapter - 50 years of service to our Federal Bench and Bar Gilman Award Luncheon President’s Column On May 22, 2008, the Chapter held its annual Leonard Mark A. Goldsmith R. Gilman Award Luncheon at the Atheneum Hotel in Detroit. Each year, the Chapter celebrates the life and Interior Design achievements of Leonard R. Gilman by presenting an award to an outstanding practitioner of criminal law. This year, For as long as there Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff presented the Gilman Award to have been lawyers Stephen T. Rabaut, a sole practitioner in Sterling Heights. and judges, they have Rabaut has consistently provided excellent service to the sought out each other’s legal community for 28 years. Most recently, he was the defense attorney in the highly publicized Stephen Grant company. To be sure, murder case. Although the case was very involved and there is a utilitarian mo- very challenging, he achieved the best possible result tive in these encounters, at least in part. Lawyers seek while remaining focused and attentive to his other clients. to lose their anonymity, and judges their isolation. Judge Zatkoff described Rabaut as a “lawyer’s lawyer” But there is something deeper involved, as well. Law- who exemplifies the remarkable qualities of a Gilman yers and judges play defined roles in our legal system. award recipient. Each wears a mask prescribed by the character played, Also honored at the luncheon was Geneva S. Halliday. often obscuring the character within. Advocates must Halliday is a retired Assistant U.S. Attorney, as well as a assert positions based on client interests – not their own past Chapter President and 6th Circuit President. Among her many accomplishments, Halliday improved the Na- values. Judges must make decisions based on their tional Leadership training program, coordinated the New honest view of the law, which may well be at variance Lawyers Seminar, and is a founder of the (Habeas) Chorus with their personal views of sound policy. Line. Alan Harnisch, who presented the award to Halliday, Although invaluable in promoting the public interest, described her as “the grand lady of the Eastern District of this relentless role playing kindles within the thoughtful Michigan Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.” lawyer and judge a desire to share with their fellow legal The luncheon concluded with remarks from the key- actors an interior view of themselves: their individual note speaker, famed author and attorney Scott Turow. identities and their personal values. Turow discussed the experiences that led him to choose Bar associations serve as a medium for this kind law as a profession in addition to being a novelist. He cited of exchange. Discarding robes and briefs, judges and his desire, as a young novelist, to write about the Chicago rental market and the lawyers can engage in conversations without any man- implied warranty of dates from the principals or institutions that they serve, INSIDE THIS ISSUE habitability as the revealing a dimension of their inner vision that often is Mentoring Program pg.2 experience that made screened from public view. him realize he was Bar organizations make possible revealing conversa- Proper Redaction pg.2 interested in the law. tions not just about the law, but every facet of the human Terry Berg pg. 2-3 He believes that his condition. Without the constraints of litigation as their Annual Dinner pg.3-4 choice to be an at- frame of reference, lawyers torney has allowed and judges are free to express Tidbits & Trivia pg.4-5, 8 him to meet more themselves on subjects that Color Event Photos pg.6-7 great people through- WINNER Special out his life than any are, for the most part, absent 5 YEARS Recent Events Recap pg. 8-11 from the litigation forum, such National FBA other profession Outstanding From Dave Weaver pg.9 would have afforded as politics, culture, religion and N e w s l e t t e r Calendar of Events pg.12 him. See page 6 for the arts. A w a r d photos. (continued on page 2) 1 President’s Column (continued) Chapter Launches Mentoring Program In facilitating these exchanges, bar On January 10, 2008, the Chapter launched its Mentoring Program groups help to fulfill the promise many of us for “newer” lawyers. The program focused on the handling of a trade anticipated when we joined the legal pro- secrets case from filing to conclusion of an evidentiary hearing. Five fession: the promise of elevated personal sessions were held and concluded on May 15, 2008, with closing ar- growth, even as we learned and practiced guments followed by a reception. Approximately 50 “newer” lawyers our trade. participated under the guidance of team leaders: Robert Brower of Bod- At the FBA, we have made fulfillment of man, Ed Kronk of Butzel Long, Kathleen Lang of Dickinson Wright, that promise part of our mission. Our pro- Tom Cranmer of Miller Canfield, Patrick Hickey of Dykema, and Bill grams are designed not simply to make us Winsten of Honigman. The Mentoring Program took a “learn by doing” approach, and the participants were able to appear before Judges Cle- better informed legal technicians, but more land, Cox, and Hood and Magistrate Judges Morgan, Pepe, and Majzoub. reflective human beings. The Mentoring Program was the brainchild of Judge Mark Goldsmith, This past year we served up an abundant Immediate Past President of the Chapter, and was coordinated by Kelly feast of programming in support of this mis- Walters of Dykema and Dennis Levasseur of Bodman. sion. We sharpened the tools of our trade, with programs on immigration, EEOC prac- tice, e-discovery, expert testimony, financial Proper Redaction of Documents litigation and trial practice. By Daniel J. LaCombe* But we also provided venues to enhance self-revelation and mutual discovery of our A recent article in the Connecticut Law Tribune pointed out the values hierarchy: continued problem of improper redaction techniques by attorneys and • a program on terrorism, where we con- other end users. The Tribune reported that lawyers for General Electric fronted the awful choices we must make in improperly “redacted” information from pleadings filed with the U.S. a democracy between liberty and security; District Court for the District of Connecticut. These documents were • a bench-bar conference, where we ex- available on PACER, where someone simply copied the black bars cov- plored the role of lawyers in our society and ering the text and pasted them into a Word document. The underlying the state of race relations; sensitive information (metadata) then was visible. The problem emerges when a native format document is electroni- • a book club, which highlighted the con- cally converted to a .pdf format. If the document is first printed out, then flicting judicial philosophies that compete for scanned to .pdf before filing, the metadata is no longer accessible. our loyalty; There are other effective means to delete metadata in a direct • the Careers in Justice program, which electronic conversion from a native document to a .pdf format. The allowed us to share our personal career simplest method is to omit the information from the original document. choices with underprivileged students. For example, a Social Security number can be included as XXX-XX- As one administration closes and the 1234. Commercially-available software also can be used to redact, next begins, there is a fixed star in the FBA not just hide, the sensitive information. Redax from Appligent is one constellation that continues to guide us: our commercial product widely used by federal agencies. Adobe Acrobat 8.0 Professional is another commercial product with a robust and ef- commitment to providing opportunities to en- fective redaction tool that scrubs the metadata and other information counter ourselves and to discover the interior from the document. design of our legal joint adventurers. Effective techniques for removing metadata is key to avoiding the By facilitating these encounters and problems experienced by counsel for General Electric. discoveries, the FBA makes us more en- *Daniel J. LaCombe is a member of Barris Sott Denn & Driker gaged professionals and nobler spirits. This PLLC. transformative process is precisely what judges and lawyers have always sought in seeking each other’s company throughout the ages. 2 The Award was established pursuant to the Chapter’s resolution to annually honor an attorney who shall be chosen pursuant to the following criteria: 1. The attorney has been significantly engaged in the practice of civil law; 2. The attorney demonstrates the highest levels of legal competency and professionalism; 3. The attorney’s conduct is in accordance with the highest standards of professional integrity and personal courtesy as set forth in the Civility Principles of the United States District Court for the Terry Berg and his daughter Helen Marie Eastern District of Michigan; 4. The attorney has dem- onstrated, while fulfilling the Terry Berg’s Daughter Receives fundamental duty to represent National FBA Scholarship clients vigorously, a mindful- ness of the equally important AUSA Terry Berg’s daughter, Helen Marie Berg, is the obligation to the administra- recipient of the Foundation of the FBA’s Public Service tion of justice, which is a Scholarship. Helen Marie is a recent graduate of Mercy truth-seeking process designed High School in Farmington Hills. She lives in Detroit with to resolve human and societal her parents and her younger brother and sister. problems in a rational, peace- Helen Marie was the Editor in Chief of Newsprint, ful and efficient manner; and Mercy’s student newspaper, and is also active in drama, 5. The attorney is guided Edward M.