By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
He is a collector, particularly of fancy cars, some of the vintage variety. It is a hobby of his that corresponds to a collection of a different sort.
Appointment books.
He has 37 of those, one for each year that he has practiced law. The books are tucked away in desks and drawers in his Troy law office, serving as a handy reminder of the years of work that he has devoted to building a successful law practice.
Periodically, Donald McGinnis Jr. will dig into his archives of appointment books to see where he has been – and perhaps where he is going.
“The books serve as a bit of legal history, reminding me of how I got to this point in my career,” McGinnis said. “I’m amazed at some of the stuff that I uncover. I’m now seeing clients from second and third generations. It’s heartening to see the loyalty and the longevity.”
There are good reasons for that, of course. McGinnis – who grew up in Royal Oak, next door to a local legal legend – built his reputation as a “handshake lawyer,” a man whose word is as good as the handshake promise that seals it.
“When I shook your hand on something, it was as good as a signed contract,” McGinnis said of the way of his legal world in years past. “Now, unfortunately, times have changed to the point where you wouldn’t dare rely solely on a handshake agreement to get things done. It’s a reflection of the times we live in, where there is so much uncertainty at virtually every turn. It would be nice to turn back the clock.”
His belief in the hallmarks of the legal profession took root in Royal Oak where McGinnis “rubbed elbows” with some of Oakland County’s finest attorneys, including Probate Court Judge Arthur E. Moore.
“Judge Moore was our neighbor when I was growing up,” McGinnis recalled. “I shoveled his walk and took out his trash, and got to know him as a man to truly be admired for all that he did in the law and in the community. He was one of the men who helped spark my interest in becoming a lawyer.”
A graduate of Birmingham Brother Rice High School, McGinnis was a member of the fledgling ski team there, a sporting interest that figured in his decision to attend college at the University of Colorado in Boulder. As a high school student, McGinnis was one of the state’s finest skiers, but at Colorado he was just one of many with an interest in grabbing a coveted slot on the college ski team. The Colorado squad was dotted with future Olympians such as Billy Kidd and Spider Sabich, the Alpine star who later would meet an unkind fate at the hands of French singer Claudine Longet.
“Needless to say, I didn’t make the college ski team,” McGinnis said with a shrug. “The cream of the crop was on that team and it was a bit tough for a kid from Michigan to compete with that kind of talent.”
With his ski dreams shelved, McGinnis concentrated on his pre-law studies instead while still finding time to fully enjoy the “college experience” that Boulder had to offer.
“I was on the typical 2 to 2 schedule,” McGinnis said of his college days. “Up at 2 p.m. and in bed by 2 a.m. It worked well for me.”
McGinnis also knew that by the time he graduated from Colorado in 1969, he would need to head back to Michigan to pursue a career in the law.
“There were far too many distractions out there if I wanted to become serious about going to law school and getting a job in the legal profession,” McGinnis said with a smile. “That plus all my connections were back in Michigan. I stood a much better chance of making it if I returned to my roots.”
The decision to attend Detroit College of Law, located then on the site of where Comerica Park stands today, made the most sense to McGinnis.
“They did a nice job of making you a ‘nuts and bolts lawyer,’” said McGinnis. “It was a very good place to get my legal education.”
Fittingly, he clerked for then Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Moore during law school, a legal assignment that “accelerated my learning by a good two to three years,” according to McGinnis. In 1973, he teamed with attorney Howard Arnkoff in opening his own practice, specializing in trial litigation involving criminal cases and family law matters. Early on, as a court appointed attorney, McGinnis received his legal baptism under fire.
“My first assignment was a major kidnapping case involving a young Pleasant Ridge girl,” McGinnis related. “The defendant was black and the community from where the girl was kidnapped was all white. It seemed like virtually every TV station in the world had a truck out front of the courthouse that day. There I was, a brand new lawyer, with what seemed to be a hundred microphones stuck in front of my face for a comment on the case. The case actually went to trial, which nobody would have predicted given the weight of the evidence against the defendant. It was quite a way to start my career.”
As years passed, McGinnis shifted the focus of his practice to family law work. The firm began handling more probate law matters when the retired Judge Moore joined the practice “Of Counsel.”
“It was truly special to have Judge Moore join the firm,” McGinnis said. “He had such a reputation as an expert in the probate field.”
The growth of the firm coincided with his involvement in bar association and community service activities. He served as an adult education teacher in his hometown of Troy for more than a decade, and was elected to the Troy school board, a five-year stint that included two years as president.
“It was a fabulous experience to be involved in helping shape the educational policies of a growing school district,” McGinnis said. “It was a way to give back to a community that has been so good to me and my family.”
He currently is chairman for the Act 78 Commission for the Troy Police and Fire Department and serves on the board of the Oakland County Community Trust, a scholarship program for students in local schools. It is in addition to his continued involvement with the Oakland County Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan, where he serves on the Board of Commissioners with his daughter Maureen, an attorney in the McGinnis Law Firm.
Last fall, they became the first father-daughter combination to serve on the State Bar Board. It was an “incredibly proud moment” for McGinnis, a past president of the Oakland County Bar Association.
“To have my daughter involved in my law practice is special enough, but to have her serve on the State Bar Board of Commissioners with me is really a blessing,” McGinnis said. “The fact it is the first father-daughter combination in state history makes it even more amazing. It’s one of my greatest joys in life.”
“Others” include his two other daughters, Lainie, a nurse, and Christine, a teacher. Like Maureen, they all headed west to college, studying hard while enjoying the opportunities to ski the mountains of Colorado.
A love of the winter sport has been a family passion now being enjoyed by a third generation. McGinnis’s parents, Marijane and Donald Sr., had a lifelong love of skiing, making regular weekend trips with their family and friends to the Otsego resort near Gaylord. His father, a native of New York, owned a machine tool company. His mother, who grew up in Royal Oak, graduated from Vassar College and was a star swimmer in her day.
They may well have watched with curious interest their son’s early fascination with cars, spawned in large part while he worked at a gas station on Woodward during high school.
“I was a real ‘gear-head’ kid from Royal Oak,” McGinnis said. “I dreamed of someday owning some of those cars that I was working on.”
Over time, it would become a dream fulfilled. At one point, several years ago, McGinnis owned more than 20 high-profile cars, including some vintage Corvettes, a 1932 Ford Roadster and a deluxe Shelby Cobra, one of the premier muscle cars in automobile history. His current collection includes two high-powered Mustangs, both meticulously restored, and several other premium sports cars. He even has a beautifully kept Lincoln stretch limo for good measure. The four-wheel gems are stored in a building he owns off Coolidge in Troy, a place where he can “get away from it all” in pursuit of his restoration passion.
“I will always be happy when I’m under the hood of a car,” he said, cracking a wide smile.
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