In its continuing efforts to foster collegiality between the Oakland County bench and bar, the Oakland County Bar Association (OCBA) will continue its “Luncheon Limine” brown bag lunch series between judges and attorneys online via Zoom. “Luncheon Limine—Federal Court” will take place Thursday, April 21, from noon to 1 p.m.
Participants can bring their questions (and their lunch) for an informal discussion of legal topics and practice issues. April's lunch will feature the opportunity to get to know and ask questions to two distinguished judges from the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Judge David M. Lawson and Judge Laurie J. Michelson, with a focus on the differences between practicing in the state and federal courts.
Lawson was nominated to the federal court by President William Jefferson Clinton in 1999, confirmed by a unanimous Senate in 2000 and began service on August 4, 2000. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame and Wayne State University Law School. After clerkships in the Oakland County Circuit Court with Judge John N. O'Brien and the Michigan Supreme Court with Justice James L. Ryan, he practiced law small, medium, and large law firms in southeastern Michigan for 24 years.
Lawson has served as a special assistant attorney general and special prosecutor for the Oakland County one-man grand jury from January 1978 to 1980, and a special prosecutor for Livingston County. He has been a faculty member of the Michigan Judicial Institute since its inception in 1977, and has lectured throughout the country for over 35 years on the subjects of evidence and procedure. He has published several articles on these subjects. He has served as a visiting professor of Evidence and Constitutional Law at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and has served as a lecturer at the University of Detroit Law School, the Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), the Wayne County Clinical Advocacy Program, and several state and local bar association seminars.
Michelson was commissioned by President Barack Obama in 2014 to serve as a U.S. District judge for the Eastern District of Michigan. She served as a U.S. magistrate judge in this District from 2011 to 2014. Michelson received her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1992 and a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 1989. After law school, she served as Law Clerk to Judge Cornelia G. Kennedy of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She then joined Butzel Long, where she practiced in the areas of white collar criminal defense and media/intellectual property law.
Michelson is a past president of the Eastern District of Michigan Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She serves on the Advisory Board of Trustees of Eton Academy and is a member of the Detroit Goodfellows.
Space is limited for this free event. To register and receive the Zoom details, visit www.ocba.org and click on “events.” For questions, contact Jennifer Roosenberg at jroosenberg@ocba.org or 248-334-3400.
