By Paul Janczewski
Legal News
An unscrupulous attorney unwittingly pushed over the first domino in Mark W. Latchana’s law career.
Those rectangular pieces cascaded and led Latchana on a singular path through Michigan State University and Wayne State University Law School. Clicking faster now as the chain-reaction continued, those falling dominos saw Latchana land success as a county prosecutor, civil litigator, and defense attorney.
For now, the falling pieces have quieted as Latchana prepares to take the bench in January as a newly-elected judge on the 67th District Court.
“Anything in life is about timing,” said Latchana, 38, of Davison Township. “And the reality of being elected in November is still settling in. But District Court is where I want to be,” he said. “And this is the job I want to do.”
To fully understand Latchana’s drive and focus requires a careful look at the parents who raised him. Marvin Latchana, a native of Guyana, South America, was one of five siblings raised in a family with little money, except a small sum earned by his father, a hardware store operator.
Marvin Latchana incorporated hard work and smarts to earn scholarships to a college in Montreal, and later a medical school in Ireland. While in Dublin, he met Dorothy O’Gorman, and they married.
The couple then moved to Trinidad, where Mark was born, “a third-world country,” Latchana joked. His father had family there, and started a medical practice, but the Latchana’s later moved back to Guyana where his father worked as a doctor.
“But the political situation there was very unstable,” he said. Latchana has seen pictures of the place they lived and described it as “a pretty rustic existence.”
Latchana’s father sent out resumes to 50 hospitals in the United States, and heard from only two. One was Hurley Medical Center in Flint. He flew there, unannounced, in the early 1970s and told officials he was ready to work.
“He basically guilted them into giving him a job,” Latchana said.
The family lived in downtown Flint. Latchana was 5 years old when they arrived. A few years later, his father opened his own practice in Flint Township specializing in internal medicine. His mother earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan-Flint and a master’s from U-M, and is currently a clinical social worker at the Oakland Psychological Clinic. The couple has two other children.
Latchana graduated from Carmen-Ainsworth High School in 1990.
“After high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do,” said Latchana, who chose MSU for the many programs and opportunities it offered.
In his second year, he and three friends moved into a rental house, but the original landlord sold it to another person, a Lansing-area attorney. In the middle of their lease, the landlord claimed the four had damaged the house, and told them he was keeping their $2,500 security deposit.
“We knew that we had done nothing wrong,” Latchana said.
They also learned that the landlord was going to use that security deposit to remodel the house. He made threats against the four and “threw around some legal jargon,” Latchana said. “So we went to court.”
Latchana knew nothing about the law, but visited the court, obtained some pamphlets and undertook a crash course in landlord-tenant law and was “hired” by the roommates to represent them in court. The timing was perfect for the first domino to tumble.
“I became interested in law because I didn’t want to get taken advantage of in court,” he said. He won the case for the group, they got their security deposit back, and moved into another rental the next year.
“But it kind of got my feet wet, and it struck me that you can go to court, have a good outcome and learn something about the law,” Latchana said.
He started taking law classes, and applied to Wayne State University Law School after graduating from MSU in 1994 with a bachelor of science degree in business and pre-law.
He started law school in 1994, but had no idea what branch of law he would enter. During law school, Latchana worked part-time for a Detroit firm as a clerk, doing research. But in his second year, he landed a paid internship at the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office, and fell in love with criminal law.
He practiced law in court under the supervision of professional prosecutors and gained practical experience from the summer gig.
“That summer solidified what I wanted to do,” Latchana said. “I enjoyed being in court, arguing cases, and I enjoyed criminal law more than any other thing I had done.”
Latchana enjoyed the prosecution work so much that he volunteered to work for free there a few days each week throughout his final year of law school.
After graduating in 1997, a position opened up in the prosecutor’s office - there’s that timing thing again - and Latchana was hired.
“At that point in my career I wanted to be a prosecutor,” he said. “I was comfortable, and it was gratifying to help people get justice.”
He stayed for five years, moving up the ladder from district court to circuit court, and handled many high-profile cases involving murders and other heinous crimes.
“There wasn’t a day I didn’t look forward to going to work get that next case, that next file,” Latchana said.
After five years there, Latchana was introduced to civil litigation by friends of his wife, Beth, also an attorney, who was working for a firm in Lansing. As a prosecutor, Latchana said the number of cases assigned to he and others could be mentally taxing, and he saw the stress it took on some of his co-workers and did not want to go down that path, especially when they were trying to start a family. He also realized that he had not given himself a chance to look at other types of law, so he hooked up with an Okemos firm handling medical malpractice defense cases.
But after a year, Latchana missed the daily interaction between attorneys, judges and others in the legal community.
“I enjoyed certain aspects of civil litigation, but I did not enjoy sitting in an office for hours each day reading, researching and writing briefs,” he said. “I realized that lifestyle wasn’t for me. I felt isolated.”
Latchana looked back at his father’s bold move, striking out on his own, and decided to move back to Flint and open his own practice as a criminal defense attorney, where he knew practically everyone in the legal community.
With the help of attorneys in the Genesee County Bar Association and others, and the camaraderie of those lawyers, Latchana found his law practice growing as he handled many cases, some gaining national media attention.
He later shared an office and expenses with a prominent Flint firm, and counts several local attorneys, judges and prosecutors as mentors, friends and confidants.
“You go through a lot of business cards, keep the telephone book handy, rely on family and friends and touch base with people you know in the community,” he said.
After nearly eight successful years, Latchana saw an opportunity to run for judge. Again, the timing seemed right.
“I believed I could better serve the public in the role of judge,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed serving the public as a prosecutor, as a defense attorney and civil litigator,” he said.
And with the Flint-area listed as one of the top five most dangerous cities in America, Latchana said he wanted to be part of a solution.
“I hope to be on the bench a long time to make changes in the community. I want my kids to grow up in a community that was as good as it was when I was young, and hopefully better. And that’s a tall order in these days.”
The spot Latchana has won led to several interesting family dynamics. He replaces Judge Richard L. Hughes, his father-in-law, who is reaching the state’s mandatory retirement age for judges. Latchana defeated Jay Snodgrass, a companion from his days in the prosecutor’s office. And Snodgrass’ father held the seat before Hughes. Latchana said he and Snodgrass remain friends, and “he remains an asset to the community.” The court seat Latchana won is based in Burton, and covers several villages, cities and townships.
Latchana met his wife, Elizabeth Hughes, when both were interns at the prosecutor’s office. They married in 1999. After failing to have children, despite three years of fertility treatments, the couple adopted Eva, now 6, from Guatemala, when she was just over four months old.
Eleven months later, Beth became pregnant with Abby, now 4, and later had a boy, William, 19 months.
“We’re done now - I think,” Latchana said.
He said having children affects how he approaches law now. Although he still gives his work the time necessary, Latchana said having children puts things in perspective. Beth continues to work from home as a partner in a law firm handling employee health benefits law.
Latchana said he has picked up tips practicing before judges all over the state and he hopes to incorporate their better traits into his overall judicial temperament.
“I do not, and will not, sacrifice treating people fairly,” he said. “This court exists to serve people.
“It will evolve over time, but I want to be viewed as fair, strong on violent crime, and willing to take an unpopular position if necessary,” he said. “I want to be consistent, so the public and attorneys know what to expect.”
Latchana said his experiences as a prosecutor, defense attorney, and civil litigator brought him a greater understanding of district court matters and honed his skills.
He hopes to help the court work more efficiently and make better use of existing technology.
Latchana said it was “humbling” to be elected and it’s not a responsibility he takes lightly.
“It was my dream, and so many people invested in it,” he said.
A pilot since 2004, Latchana is used to soaring above the clouds. And he said there are similarities to operating a plane, a law practice and a judicial seat.
“If you follow procedures, and focus, the system works,” he said. “And I learned from my parents that hard work pays dividends.”
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