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 at Wayne State University Law School.
Rosen’s lecture, “Trial Practice as Viewed from the Perspective of the Trial Judge,” will take place Tuesday, February 4, in the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium at the law school, 471 W. Palmer St. It will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a reception to follow. The event is free and open to the public.
Parking will be available for $6.50 in Structure One across West Palmer Street from the law school.
“I am very pleased that Judge Rosen has accepted our invitation,” said Wayne Law Distinguished Professor Robert Sedler, event organizer. “During his years as a U.S. District Court judge, he has earned a reputation as a tough, fair, hardworking judge. He has presided over numerous cases, including a number of high-profile cases, and he was appointed in August to mediate disagreements between the city of Detroit and its creditors during bankruptcy proceedings.”
Rosen was nominated by President George H.W. Bush to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1989 and was invested in 1990. In 2009, he became the court’s chief judge. He teaches Evidence at Wayne Law and other law schools and frequently publishes and lectures, including recently when he spoke to judges at the Supreme People’s Court in China.
Rosen earned a degree in political science from Kalamazoo College. After graduation, he worked as a legislative aide for U.S. Sen. Robert Griffin, R-Mich., and studied law at night at George Washington University, earning his law degree in 1979.
From 1980-90, he worked for Detroit law firm Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone, where he was a senior partner who litigated a number of high-profile cases. As a federal judge, he has presided over cases involving abortion, physician-assisted suicide, terrorism and casinos.
The I. Goodman Cohen Lecture Series was established by the family of the late I. Goodman Cohen, a prominent trial lawyer who was active in the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association, known today as the Michigan Association for Justice.
“The lecture is an important part of the education function of the law school,” Sedler said. “It provides the opportunity for educational outreach to the Detroit legal community and offers a valuable experience for our students and faculty. Each year, we invite a prominent jurist, lawyer or academic to deliver a public lecture on an aspect of trial advocacy.”
