Daily Briefs

 Michigan Supreme Court takes case involving pensions 

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to look at a 2011 law and decide whether it was legal for the Legislature to make significant changes to the state pension system.

The law requires thousands of state employees to contribute 4 percent of their pay to get full pension benefits.
The appeals court struck down a portion of the law in August, saying only the Civil Service Commission can change compensation, not the Legislature. Unions had sued.
In an order released Thursday, the Supreme Court says it will decide whether the law is constitutional. The law signed by Gov. Rick Snyder gives employees with pensions a choice: pay 4 percent to stay in the plan or freeze the pension benefit and move to a 401(k).
 

Michigan Supreme Court will look at right-to-work law 

 
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court will decide whether state employees are covered by a law that makes financial support for unions voluntary.
The state appeals court in August said the so-called right-to-work law does apply to 35,000 state workers. In an order released Thursday, the Supreme Court says it will take the case.
The 2013 law says public and private workers in Michigan don’t have to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. More than two-thirds of state employees are represented by unions.
Opponents say lawmakers are treading on the constitutional turf of the Michigan Civil Service Commission, which sets pay for state employees. The commission is dominated by appointees of former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat.
 

Chief judge to deliver I. Goodman Cohen Lecture in Trial Advocacy Feb. 4

 
Chief Judge Gerald E. Rosen, who has served for 24 years on the federal bench in Detroit, will deliver the 29th annual I. Goodman Cohen Lecture in Trial Advocacy. Rosen’s lecture, “Trial Practice as Viewed from the Perspective of the Trial Judge,” will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 4, in the Wayne State University Law School Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium with a reception to follow. The event is free and open to the public. For more information about this event, contact Robert Sedler at (313) 577-3968 or rsedler@wayne.edu.
 

WLAM hosts lunch and learn Feb. 6 in Detroit

 
The Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Wayne Region hosts a lunch and learn “Mentors v Sponsors” on Thursday, Feb. 6, from noon-1 p.m. at the SMART Detroit Conference Center, 13th Fl., Penobscot Building, 645 Griswold. Learn the differences between sponsors and mentors, why sponsors are such a hot topic, how sponsors can make a bigger, faster difference in your career and how you can develop sponsors or become one. Speaker will be Elizabeth Jolliffe, Your Benchmark Coach.  Lunch provided by WLAM Wayne. Please RSVP by Feb. 4 to elizabeth@yourbenchmarkcoach.com. 

 

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