LEGAL NEWS PHOTO BY CYNTHIA PRICE
by Cynthia Price
Legal News
Thrun is a law firm with a true specialty: public school and education law.
Now the firm has expanded its West Michigan presence with an office off of the East Beltline, where two attorneys will practice full-time and associates from the Lansing office will be housed one or more days a week.
The firm boasts an impressive place in the history of public school education, as well as an unforgettable and pioneering woman lawyer who made a real difference in the Michigan of the mid-twentieth
century.
In 1955, Caroline Thrun joined her husband Fred at the firm he had founded in 1946, which specialized in representation of schools. At that point she had already had a 20-year legal career as an Assistant Attorney General and legal counsel to the Michigan Department of Education, advising the Superintendent of Public Instruction. She wrote a report for the U.S. Supreme Court on school desegregation.
Thrun started out as a schoolteacher, and she attended law school while raising three children. Together the Thruns were to have a lasting influence on the education system, when they brought their practice expertise to bear on drafting a 1955 revision to the Michigan School Code. One provision of the rewrite was to enable the formation of school districts, addressing the random nature of public school organization at the time.
Caroline Thrun also wrote the School Code revision adopted in 1976. At the time, she was 79 years old. The Michigan Legislature honored her shortly thereafter and, in 2005, she was posthumously inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.
In the meantime, the Thrun’s son Robert had joined the firm, and he and his father drafted the Community College Act of 1966. The firm also provided no-cost technical assistance to the legislature when the School Code again underwent revision in 1996.
That tradition of working with the educational system through policy analysis, counseling, and all varieties of legal representation continues today. The 29 attorneys at Thrun represent over 450 school districts out of the 540 in Michigan. The firm also serves public school academies and municipal clients.
Chris Harty, Thrun’s Marketing and Operations Manager, says, “We have extensive knowledge in our field, and we have had a lot of successes in the courts and fighting for the districts.”
Harty says that educational clients may choose from an a la carte menu of types of representation. Some use Thrun exclusively and establish a relationship with one attorney; others may use different attorneys, from Thrun or from both Thrun and other offices, for different types of legal needs. Labor and employment representation, for example, may require different expertise than facilities or financing law, but, according to Harty, “Thrun runs the gamut of legal services,” including litigation.
Until last June, the firm had two locations, one in East Lansing where the majority of attorneys have offices, and one in Novi.
But, Harty says, “We were looking to expand on the west side of the state, for two major reasons: we want to expand our practice with districts there, and we wanted to offer cost savings for the clients we already have, so that we can charge less for getting to their sites.”
It also made it easier on the attorneys who practice here. “I love being here,” says Meg (Margaret M.) Hackett, one of the two lawyers who will permanently call the Eaglecrest office home. “I commuted to East Lansing for over six years, but since I live in Rockford, this makes it much easier for me to see my clients.”
Hackett was the general counsel for Gateway Middle/High School in Grand Rapids for eight years and Ferris State University assistant general counsel for four years as part of a 25-year career prior to joining Thrun in
2007. Her expertise includes special education law and appellate practice.
2007. Her expertise includes special education law and appellate practice.
She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame, followed by her J.D. from University of Michigan Law School. She served as clerk for Judge Cornelia G. Kennedy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and is admitted to the District of Columbia bar as well as in Michigan.
Hackett’s broad professional involvement includes formerly serving as president of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Western Region, and membership in the Michigan Council of School Attorneys, the National School Boards Association Council of School Attorneys, the National Association of College and University Attorneys, and life membership in the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference.
The other attorney in Grand Rapids is Daniel Martin, who started at Thrun slightly before the new office opened in June. He hails from Grand Haven and worked for a law firm there as part of his 15 years in representing cities, townships and school districts. He specializes in the Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act, as well as in ordinance drafting, downtown development authorities and tax increment financing, and zoning and planning including brownfield redevelopment.
Martin graduated magna cum laude from Albion College with his B.A. and from Notre Dame Law School with his J.D He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan’s Public Corporation Law section, the Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys, and the Michigan Council of School Attorneys.
Currently “rotating” at the additional space in the new offices is Katherine Wolf Broaddus, who was named a 2013 “Rising Star” by Michigan Super Lawyers and concentrates her practice in general school law, special education, and labor and employment.
A social worker before attending Valparaiso University School of Law, Broaddus is currently the President of the Michigan Council of School Attorneys.
Thrun Law Firm annually holds seminars around the state to update its clients and educate them on a variety of topics. There will be one in Grand Rapids on April 30 (for more details visit www.thrunlaw.com), and Chris Harty advises that there will be an open house at the new office afterwards.
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