Ned Macey works at Nacht, Roumel, Salvatore, Blanchard and Walker, P.C. where his primary focus is plaintiff’s employment and civil rights.
He and his wife Melanie grew up in Indianapolis and went to college together at Haverford College outside of Philadelphia. After graduation, they married and moved to Ann Arbor so she could earn her master’s degree at the University of Michigan. He was a server at Weber’s Inn before he worked for two years at the Washtenaw County Friend of the Court. After traveling for a year with his wife’s first post-graduate job, Macey enrolled at the University of Michigan Law School. His wife soon followed. The first of their three children, who are now 7, 5, and 1, was born in his 2L.
Upon graduation, Macey clerked first for Federal District Court Judge David Hamilton, and then for Judge Eric Clay on the Sixth Circuit. He joined Nacht Law in 2010 and works out of the firm’s Ann Arbor and Birmingham offices.
By Jo Mathis
Legal News
Residence: Royal Oak.
What is your most treasured material possession? Hard to say, but I have recently learned from a flooded basement that at a certain point, almost everything is replaceable.
What one thing do you wish people knew about your work? I wish people could see how hard job loss or threatened job loss is on people. So much of our identity is tied up in work that when our ability to perform that work is questioned, it becomes very difficult for the person. Then, if they lose a job, they have financial insecurity and all the anxiety that causes.
Favorite local hangouts: The Big House.
Favorite websites: Grantland.com; ESPN.com; FootballOutsiders.com; Anything that tells me something new about sports; TripAdvisor.com.
What is your happiest childhood memory?
Attending the 1990 World Series in Cincinnati and watching my then-favorite player Eric Davis hit a home run in his first at-bat. And skipping school on my birthday in 1993 to go to Wrigley Field to watch my favorite pitcher Greg Maddux return for his first start as an Atlanta Brave.
What would surprise people about your job? I think people would be surprised how much time I discuss with clients the difficulties of litigation. I love to litigate, but frequently, prolonged litigation is not in my client’s best interest. All too often, my client has a case where if it were up to me, the lawyer, I would litigate it to trial, but I end up recommending an early resolution to clients. For individual employees, litigation can become time-consuming, expensive, and emotionally difficult. It also simply takes way too long to get to a trial.
What do you wish someone would invent? A device that would automatically track my billable time. (And yes, I know there are a million things that almost do that).
What has been your favorite year so far? 2005. I deferred at Michigan law. My wife was working for DaimlerChrysler at the time. She rotated for three months to Melbourne, Australia and three months to Stuttgart, Germany. I travelled along as a man of leisure; highlighted by living on the beach in Australia. We also attended all four of tennis’ grand slams that year.
What’s your most typical mood? Relaxed – I hate stress and do everything in my power to avoid it.
What’s the most awe-inspiring place you’ve ever been? The Great Wall of China.
If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would that be? Dave Dombrowski, Detroit Tigers’ general manager. I have tons of good ideas about how to improve the Tigers.
What’s your proudest moment as a lawyer? The oral argument for a Court of Appeals argument to try and protect a jury verdict. I was prepared for every question and walked out of the court with my client very certain that she would keep what the jury awarded her. I then spent the two months before the opinion came out being convinced that I would lose—which fortunately I didn’t.
How would you describe your home? Busy. With three kids under 8, there isn’t a lot of down time.
What word do you overuse? I tend to overuse words in a cyclical fashion – once I get on a word I use it way too much for about a week. I tend to overuse “literally” even though I am very intent on using it correctly.
What is something most people don't know about you? I’m fifth on the Haverford College record book for most runners picked off by a pitcher. That’s the most impressive thing of my not-so illustrious college baseball career.
If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be? Aaron Burr, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and W.E.B. DuBois. Sort of an eclectic mix but basically people I have been fascinated with since college, where I majored in history (or in the case of Burr, since reading the Gore Vidal novel in high school). We would effectively trace all of American history from the founding through World War II from three very interesting perspectives.
Can’t-live-without technology: The DVR. I can’t imagine how anyone watched TV when they had young children before these were invented.
What was the greatest compliment someone ever paid you? My daughters both routinely tell me I’m the best daddy in the world. Of course, I’ve also convinced them my somewhat soft belly is like a rock, so maybe I should take it all with a grain of salt.
What is your motto? “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need.”
What would you like carved onto your tombstone? “Loving husband and father.”
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