By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
For several years Cara Cunningham, assistant professor of Legal Writing and Research at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, has been chairing the renovation project of the 19th century law school building. When Dowling Hall – named for Rev. Michael P. Dowling – is re-dedicated today, she and her team will celebrate the culmination of several years’ work.
“We talked about different iterations of the building project for about 10 years — and it was frustrating not to see it come to fruition. Some people had lost hope,” she says.
“We studied the feasibility of staying in the building. Over the years, we had built in inefficiencies, and departments were scattered on all three floors.”
After attending a conference on renovations, Cunningham told her colleagues, “The building has good ‘bones,’ we need to peel back the inefficiencies. We can do it.”
The building features historic, handcrafted columns, high ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the Detroit landscape, including the river.
The 1890 chapel, once used as a lecture hall, is now a student service center. Four new classrooms were created, and room sizes were adjusted. A dean’s suite and alumni relations are now housed on the second floor. Future renovations in the three-phase project will include a courtyard and clinic spaces.
“I’d no idea what I was getting into back in 2007, but it’s been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” Cunningham says. “It’s been so much fun, like a jigsaw puzzle. The renovations make so much sense, with much better use of combining people and proximity.
“And when we started demolition and researched the history of the building, a lot of treasures came to light.”
Those included initials hand carved in the attic by a student in 1893; a chalkboard with writing, hidden behind third floor masonry; and a Pieta statue of the Virgin Mary and crucified Christ, too large to remove from the attic when a firewall was built, but lifted through the roof by crane during renovations.
“We think it dates back to 1894. We’ve only heard of two similar statues, in the Czech Republic and in Kansas City, Missouri,” Cunningham says.
“There’s also a historic stairwell that was restored to its original 1890 beauty. You have to think of all of our alumni, especially those who went on to sit in the highest offices, Sixth Circuit. You can almost feel their exam sweat on the banister.”
Cunningham, a UDM faculty member since 2000, teaches Public International Law, Applied Legal Theory and Analysis, and International Advocacy, and was named Faculty Member of the Year by the Moot Court Board of Advocates.
In 2005, she was named director and then assistant dean of Academic Initiatives, assisting the dean in the implementation of a new curriculum, including the Law Firm Program.
She is curriculum director for two joint-degree programs: The Degrees of the Americas Program with the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and The Canadian & American Dual J.D. Program with the University of Windsor Faculty of Law.
“When I was chief of staff for Dean (Mark) Gordon, we developed the Mexico program from the ground up, creating the only such program in the world,” she says. “Monterrey is a leading industrial city and a base for a lot of U.S. companies. I’ve been there twice, and Mexican staff members have visited UDM. The program is in its infancy – we’re still negotiating and tweaking it.
“The Canadian program is the opposite end of the spectrum — it’s well developed, and we’re tweaking it, increasing the number of electives, and streamlining courses to eliminate overlap.”
Deputy editor for the American Bar Association International Law section’s annual “Year In Review” publication, Cunningham is an active member of the Legal Writing Institute, serving on its Global Legal Skills and Diversity Initiatives committees, and is a frequent guest speaker around the country and in Mexico.
The Romulus native was the first generation of her family to attend college, and knew from middle school that she wanted to study law.
“My mom used to say, you always argue with me, you should be a lawyer.”
With a passion for the history of American Government, she studied political science and pre-law at Michigan State University, before earning her law degree at UDM.
After completing a federal judicial clerkship, she litigated at the trial and appellate levels, specializing in employment, civil rights, and tort-reform litigation.
After working for the small law firm of Oakley and Oakley in Romulus, she worked at Dib & Fagan in Detroit.
“I loved the interaction with clients,” she says. “There were some horrific cases, and I would take the role of counselor as well as attorney, I enjoyed that role and I enjoyed helping people. But I also found it frustrating, when clients I knew had been wronged might not always get the results they deserved.”
The teaching opportunity at UDM presented itself as Cunningham was starting a family.
“It was perfect,” she says. “I had always thought of myself as a litigator, but I realized the teaching opportunity was one that I couldn’t resist. It keeps me close to the law and enables me to help people on an individual basis, with more flexibility and control.
“I love UDM, it has a true sense of community, with colleagues and students. Some of my former professors are now my colleagues. It’s a wonderful sense of tradition and continuity. It’s also the sort of place where, if you have ideas, you’re given the freedom, support and flexibility to develop them.”
In her leisure time, the mother of three young boys enjoys being a homemaker – “and I’m learning a lot about football and soccer.”
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