Mara Kent is a life-long resident of Ann Arbor. Her practice areas include estate planning,
probate and trust administration, advanced wealth planning, elder law, special needs planning, estate planning for surrogacy and assisted reproduction, same-sex parental confirmations, adult and step-parent adoptions, and prenuptial agreements. Kent is a 1993 graduate of the University of Michigan and a 1996 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where she graduated second in her class. She is a partner at Ferguson Widmayer & Clark, PC in Ann Arbor.
What jobs did you have before you became an attorney?
My first job was working at the Gallup and Argo Park Canoe Liveries as a 14-year-old in Ann Arbor. I progressed to a waitress at the Michigan Union while in college and ultimately made it to the big time as a server at Olive Garden. My career focus turned while in law school, where I worked as a law clerk at Ford Motor Co. in the employment litigation division.
After law school, I proudly served as a judicial law clerk for Michigan Supreme Court Justice Michael F. Cavanagh. Subsequently, I was in private practice and then shifted and taught law school as a tenured professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School for 14 years. I then returned to what I love doing: private practice.
Did you always know you wanted to be an attorney?
No. I have always loved to write and have always had a creative side. I started at the University of Michigan, focusing on creative writing in the College of Literature, Science, and Arts (LSA), then I transferred to the Art School heading into my junior year, thinking that I wanted to follow that path. Working hard to catch up on credits following transferring from LSA to Art, I decided that I prefer to create art on my own terms and not as a profession. My dad is an attorney, and I had always been interested in the legal profession, so I decided to switch to law where I could also continue to write as a career.
What area of the law do you like the best and why?
I love what I currently do: primarily estate planning, probate, and trust administration. I really love helping others, and I enjoy being able to guide people on how to stay out of court and what to do with their assets when they pass away. I also enjoy doing adult and stepparent adoptions, while assisting clients with parental confirmations of their families conceived through IVF or surrogacy.
What is the biggest challenge facing you as an attorney today?
Honestly, email! It is the bane of my existence. It never ends.
What was one of the most challenging cases you’ve worked on, and what did you learn from it?
Hands down, the most rewarding case I worked on was a Homes for Generations case I assisted with. The client’s family lived in Ann Arbor for decades and were descendants of the Underground Railroad. The client’s mother died around 2003, and the will specified that the house should not be sold unless all the siblings agreed. Our client lived in the home after her mother died, but because probate was never completed (due to the lack of agreement among potential beneficiaries), the estate was open for over two decades.
Through a path of mediation, divorce, probate, and uncapping issues for the property, an entire team of people helped to resolve the case in favor of our client. I will forever be grateful to our client and her brothers for reaching an agreement to keep her in the house, the late Catherine McClary, Judge Owdziej, Judge Conlin, Teresa Killeen, Kelly Roberts, and countless volunteer attorneys such as Miriam Saffo, Mike Shelton, Eric Sloat, and Paul Fessler (to name a few) who helped along the way. We were able to resolve the case after about six years. It was truly a culmination of teamwork from the attorneys in this county, which makes me so thankful for the members of the Washtenaw County Bar Association.
Who has been your greatest mentor?
I’ve been blessed with many great mentors; I never stop learning from others. A few that come to mind are Victor Morrocco at Ford Motor Co.; Michigan Supreme Court Justice Michael F. Cavanagh; Michael Cox (not the politician), Otto Stockmayer, Pete Jason, Mable Martin-Scott, Gina Torielli, and my fellow professors at Cooley law school; Jane Bassett; Kate Sharkey; my business partners and attorneys at Ferguson Widmayer & Clark including Pete Clark, Mike Shelton, Ginny Cardwell, Eric Sloat, Warren Widmayer, and Miriam Saffo; my mom and dad; and last but not least, my husband Tom Kent, who is an attorney at the Office of the General Counsel at the University of Michigan.
Favorite part of your job?
My clients. I feel lucky to be able to help so many people in our community.
Tell us a little about your family.
I grew up in Ann Arbor, attending Freeman Elementary (in Dixboro), Clague Middle School, Huron High School, and the University of Michigan. I met my husband after Michigan and before law school, although we knew “of” each other having both attended the same middle school, high school, and U of M just a year apart. We went to law school at the same time while dating, although at different schools. We graduated law school in 1996, took the bar exam, got married, bought and fixed up our first house, and started our first legal jobs all in the span of about three months. We have two daughters who both completed their undergraduate degrees at the University of Michigan. Our oldest, Grace, went on to graduate school at Georgetown and now lives in Washington DC and works at an HBCU out there. Our youngest daughter, Celia, is in graduate school at Yale University and is living in Connecticut. Our “doghter” (Scout) is a “lab-ihuahua” rescue from the Huron Valley Humane Society, who is my best walking buddy.
What are some favorite places that you have visited?
Our National Parks! This past summer, I made another trip to Yosemite National Park, where I completed a bucket-list hike of climbing Half-Dome. The 17-mile round-trip hike covers a 4,800-foot elevation gain to a summit height of 8,846 feet, with the last stretch requiring a 400-foot ascent up at 45-degree granite slope assisted by two steel cables. It was a challenge for sure, but an accomplishment of a lifetime that I will never forget. I’m enjoying going to as many National Parks as I can, with Acadia and either Glacier or North Cascades on my list for this year.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to create art—acrylic and water-color paintings, mosaics, and anything hands-on. I enjoy being active outdoors: hiking, biking, running, walking, kayaking, and playing golf. I also love doing home-improvement projects with Tom.
What are you listening to lately?
I love listening to audio books while walking/hiking (a big fan of Kristen Hannah and historical fiction), “The Rest is History” podcast (thank you, Alex Shehab for my “curriculum”), and an eclectic mix of music—current favorites are alt rock like Del Water Gap, Royel Otis, Sombr, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Noah Khan, Young the Giant, MGMT, and Cage the Elephant, to name a few.
What’s the greatest gift we can give ourselves?
Spending time with our loved ones. I am so very lucky to be close to my family. My dad turns 86 in March and my mom is 83. They live an active life here in Ann Arbor, biking 20 miles on the weekends and walking 3 to 8 miles per day during the week—they even ran three 5Ks last year! We grew up on a farm, and they still work out on the farm, planting trees all summer long. They are truly an inspiration, and I feel so lucky that they are still in my life and are sharp as a tack. I have a brother who is a local dentist in Brighton who has two boys (one in dental school and the other who is a petroleum engineer who works on carbon capture) and a sister who lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and my high-school aged nephew. I have over 50 first cousins whom I am surprisingly close with (my mom was one of 14 children). I am also so lucky to have a wonderful mother-in-law and step mother-in-law, along with some amazing cousins-in-law!
Any words of wisdom to pass on to new lawyers?
Get involved! Join your bar association. Go to activities. Meet attorneys who practice outside your practice area.
(This article is reprinted from the Res Ipsa Loquitur newsletter with permission from the Washtenaw County Bar Association.)
probate and trust administration, advanced wealth planning, elder law, special needs planning, estate planning for surrogacy and assisted reproduction, same-sex parental confirmations, adult and step-parent adoptions, and prenuptial agreements. Kent is a 1993 graduate of the University of Michigan and a 1996 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where she graduated second in her class. She is a partner at Ferguson Widmayer & Clark, PC in Ann Arbor.
What jobs did you have before you became an attorney?
My first job was working at the Gallup and Argo Park Canoe Liveries as a 14-year-old in Ann Arbor. I progressed to a waitress at the Michigan Union while in college and ultimately made it to the big time as a server at Olive Garden. My career focus turned while in law school, where I worked as a law clerk at Ford Motor Co. in the employment litigation division.
After law school, I proudly served as a judicial law clerk for Michigan Supreme Court Justice Michael F. Cavanagh. Subsequently, I was in private practice and then shifted and taught law school as a tenured professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School for 14 years. I then returned to what I love doing: private practice.
Did you always know you wanted to be an attorney?
No. I have always loved to write and have always had a creative side. I started at the University of Michigan, focusing on creative writing in the College of Literature, Science, and Arts (LSA), then I transferred to the Art School heading into my junior year, thinking that I wanted to follow that path. Working hard to catch up on credits following transferring from LSA to Art, I decided that I prefer to create art on my own terms and not as a profession. My dad is an attorney, and I had always been interested in the legal profession, so I decided to switch to law where I could also continue to write as a career.
What area of the law do you like the best and why?
I love what I currently do: primarily estate planning, probate, and trust administration. I really love helping others, and I enjoy being able to guide people on how to stay out of court and what to do with their assets when they pass away. I also enjoy doing adult and stepparent adoptions, while assisting clients with parental confirmations of their families conceived through IVF or surrogacy.
What is the biggest challenge facing you as an attorney today?
Honestly, email! It is the bane of my existence. It never ends.
What was one of the most challenging cases you’ve worked on, and what did you learn from it?
Hands down, the most rewarding case I worked on was a Homes for Generations case I assisted with. The client’s family lived in Ann Arbor for decades and were descendants of the Underground Railroad. The client’s mother died around 2003, and the will specified that the house should not be sold unless all the siblings agreed. Our client lived in the home after her mother died, but because probate was never completed (due to the lack of agreement among potential beneficiaries), the estate was open for over two decades.
Through a path of mediation, divorce, probate, and uncapping issues for the property, an entire team of people helped to resolve the case in favor of our client. I will forever be grateful to our client and her brothers for reaching an agreement to keep her in the house, the late Catherine McClary, Judge Owdziej, Judge Conlin, Teresa Killeen, Kelly Roberts, and countless volunteer attorneys such as Miriam Saffo, Mike Shelton, Eric Sloat, and Paul Fessler (to name a few) who helped along the way. We were able to resolve the case after about six years. It was truly a culmination of teamwork from the attorneys in this county, which makes me so thankful for the members of the Washtenaw County Bar Association.
Who has been your greatest mentor?
I’ve been blessed with many great mentors; I never stop learning from others. A few that come to mind are Victor Morrocco at Ford Motor Co.; Michigan Supreme Court Justice Michael F. Cavanagh; Michael Cox (not the politician), Otto Stockmayer, Pete Jason, Mable Martin-Scott, Gina Torielli, and my fellow professors at Cooley law school; Jane Bassett; Kate Sharkey; my business partners and attorneys at Ferguson Widmayer & Clark including Pete Clark, Mike Shelton, Ginny Cardwell, Eric Sloat, Warren Widmayer, and Miriam Saffo; my mom and dad; and last but not least, my husband Tom Kent, who is an attorney at the Office of the General Counsel at the University of Michigan.
Favorite part of your job?
My clients. I feel lucky to be able to help so many people in our community.
Tell us a little about your family.
I grew up in Ann Arbor, attending Freeman Elementary (in Dixboro), Clague Middle School, Huron High School, and the University of Michigan. I met my husband after Michigan and before law school, although we knew “of” each other having both attended the same middle school, high school, and U of M just a year apart. We went to law school at the same time while dating, although at different schools. We graduated law school in 1996, took the bar exam, got married, bought and fixed up our first house, and started our first legal jobs all in the span of about three months. We have two daughters who both completed their undergraduate degrees at the University of Michigan. Our oldest, Grace, went on to graduate school at Georgetown and now lives in Washington DC and works at an HBCU out there. Our youngest daughter, Celia, is in graduate school at Yale University and is living in Connecticut. Our “doghter” (Scout) is a “lab-ihuahua” rescue from the Huron Valley Humane Society, who is my best walking buddy.
What are some favorite places that you have visited?
Our National Parks! This past summer, I made another trip to Yosemite National Park, where I completed a bucket-list hike of climbing Half-Dome. The 17-mile round-trip hike covers a 4,800-foot elevation gain to a summit height of 8,846 feet, with the last stretch requiring a 400-foot ascent up at 45-degree granite slope assisted by two steel cables. It was a challenge for sure, but an accomplishment of a lifetime that I will never forget. I’m enjoying going to as many National Parks as I can, with Acadia and either Glacier or North Cascades on my list for this year.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to create art—acrylic and water-color paintings, mosaics, and anything hands-on. I enjoy being active outdoors: hiking, biking, running, walking, kayaking, and playing golf. I also love doing home-improvement projects with Tom.
What are you listening to lately?
I love listening to audio books while walking/hiking (a big fan of Kristen Hannah and historical fiction), “The Rest is History” podcast (thank you, Alex Shehab for my “curriculum”), and an eclectic mix of music—current favorites are alt rock like Del Water Gap, Royel Otis, Sombr, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Noah Khan, Young the Giant, MGMT, and Cage the Elephant, to name a few.
What’s the greatest gift we can give ourselves?
Spending time with our loved ones. I am so very lucky to be close to my family. My dad turns 86 in March and my mom is 83. They live an active life here in Ann Arbor, biking 20 miles on the weekends and walking 3 to 8 miles per day during the week—they even ran three 5Ks last year! We grew up on a farm, and they still work out on the farm, planting trees all summer long. They are truly an inspiration, and I feel so lucky that they are still in my life and are sharp as a tack. I have a brother who is a local dentist in Brighton who has two boys (one in dental school and the other who is a petroleum engineer who works on carbon capture) and a sister who lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and my high-school aged nephew. I have over 50 first cousins whom I am surprisingly close with (my mom was one of 14 children). I am also so lucky to have a wonderful mother-in-law and step mother-in-law, along with some amazing cousins-in-law!
Any words of wisdom to pass on to new lawyers?
Get involved! Join your bar association. Go to activities. Meet attorneys who practice outside your practice area.
(This article is reprinted from the Res Ipsa Loquitur newsletter with permission from the Washtenaw County Bar Association.)
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