Rasul Raheem
Wayne State University Law School mourns the loss of Rasul Raheem, ‘84, a distinguished alumnus who passed away on June 2.
Raheem was an active Wayne Law alumnus. He was among the founders of the Wayne Law Black Alumni Council (BLAC) and served as the first chair. He returned to Wayne Law, earning his master of laws degree in corporate and finance law in 2003.
Raheem was born in Philadelphia and raised in Ann Arbor. He was a star athlete at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, playing football, basketball, baseball and running track and field. He graduated from the University of Michigan, where he was elected to student government, with a bachelor’s degree in general studies; studied business administration at LaSalle University in Philadelphia; and then turned to Wayne Law, where he worked as a research assistant for Distinguished Professor John Dolan.
After graduation, Raheem worked for a small law firm, Kirk, McCargo, & Arbulu, in Detroit. In 1988, he began his career in banking law as vice president and senior counsel with Michigan National Corp. From 2001 to 2007, he worked as first vice president and senior counsel for LaSalle Bank Corp. In 2007, he joined Bank of America as senior vice president and assistant general counsel. He also was an adjunct professor at Cooley Law School from 2011 to 2016, teaching a course on financial institutions and regulatory compliance. From 2018 to 2023 he served as senior counsel at Dykema before his last position as general counsel and head of compliance at the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department.
Raheem was a member of the American Bar Association, National Bar Association, Detroit Bar Association, Oakland County Bar Association, and Wolverine Bar Association. He was a past president of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association. Raheem was named as a 2021 Best Lawyer in America.
A memorial service was conducted June 9 at the Kemp Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Southfield.
