By Kurt Anthony Krug
Legal News
Have a complaint about an attorney?
Jennifer M. Petty, a paralegal for the Attorney Discipline Board of Michigan — the adjudicative arm of the Michigan Supreme Court that supervises and disciplines attorneys practicing law in Michigan — will talk about the grievance process at the Meet ‘N’ Greet of the Henry Ford Community College Paralegal Studies program on Friday, Oct. 14.
The event, scheduled from 6:30-8:30 p.m., will occur on HFCC’s main campus in Dearborn, specifically the Rosenau Room A of the Andrew A. Mazzara Administrative Services & Conference Center (ASCC).
“We are the judicial arm of the Michigan Supreme Court for attorney discipline,” Petty explained. “The Attorney Grievance Commission acts as the prosecutor for the Michigan Supreme Court and files charges against the attorney in question. (The AGC) files the charges with us and we act as the court. (More than) 400 volunteer Michigan attorneys serving as hearing panelists, where they hear formal complaints.”
The ADB appoints hearing panels composed of three volunteer attorneys to conduct the trial-level proceedings.
According to Petty, if misconduct is determined, the sanctions vary from a reprimand, which stays on the attorney’s record for the rest of his or her career, to disbarment, where the attorney cannot practice law and loses his or her law license.
However, disbarment is not permanent in Michigan.
After five years, an attorney may petition to be reinstated, but only a small percentage ever does so, according to Petty.
That said, when an attorney petitions to be reinstated to the practice of law in Michigan, he or she must go before another hearing panel and the level of scrutiny is much higher, including the fact that any attorney suspended for three years or more must re-take the bar exam.
The ADB also considers petitions for review of decisions by a hearing panel. A decision of the ADB may be appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Petty, of Redford, who has been on the HFCC Advisory Board for the Paralegal Studies program, has been a paralegal since 1998.
She graduated with her certification from the Paralegal Certificate Program at Oakland University in Rochester, which is accredited by the American Bar Association, as is the HFCC Paralegal Studies Program.
“If a paralegal program is ABA approved, that shows a uniformity of training whether it’s in Michigan, Florida, or whatever state because the ABA has set the proper criteria that needs to be in the curriculum,” explained Petty.
An employee of the ABD since 1999, Petty is currently working on an associate degree in criminal justice at Schoolcraft College in Livonia.
Her duties for the ADB include assisting the hearing panels with writing reports of the panel proceeding, as well as the orders of discipline. She issues notices on the ADB web-site, in which she also serves as the webmaster.
“Our purpose in inviting her to speak is to introduce the students to the notion that paralegals work at many different jobs, not just in the traditional law firm setting,” said Shelly Loomus, HFCC Paralegal Studies program director.
According to the 2010-11 Bureau of Labor and Statistics Handbook, employment of paralegals and legal assistants is projected to grow 28 percent between 2008 and 2016 — Employers are trying to reduce costs and increase the availability and efficiency of legal services by hiring paralegals to perform tasks once done by lawyers.
Paralegals are performing a wider variety of duties, making them more useful to businesses.
“Many of our students are changing careers or returning to work after time off. I know that many of our students had been laid off from other jobs,” said Loomus. “Paralegals have been identified by the U.S. Department of Labor as one of the fastest growing professions in the nation and that has contributed to our increased enrollment.”
Currently, there are 240 students enrolled, according to Loomus, who received her juris doctorate at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to teaching law classes at HFCC, Loomus has also taught at the University of Michigan Law School, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and the University of Washington School of Law.
“Our program is unique because our faculty is extremely dedicated and makes the students their priority. Again and again I hear stories about how the faculty has gone out of their way to assist students. Our program is also unique because of its suppleness,” said Loomus.
She added, “We continually self assess and adapt our curriculum to reflect changes in the legal profession. We are introducing new technology into the classroom and we recently added a course specifically designed to help students hone their Internet research skills. We continue to craft ways to make our students more marketable. We are also adding skill-based assignments to the curriculum so that when students graduate, they have a comprehensive portfolio of legal documents to present to prospective employers. Finally, our program is unique because it is student-centered and responsive to student needs.”
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