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Thomas M. Cooley Law School is continuing the implementation
of its award-winning
Professionalism Program. Cooley has launched the Center
for Ethics, Service, and Professionalism, which is dedicated
to the following ideals:
- Lead by modeling and teaching ethics
- Foster and encourage service
- Practice professionalism
- Commit to our communities
 Cooley Professor Recognized as One of the Nation's Most Influential Black Attorneys
February 22, 2012 - Thomas M. Cooley Law School professor and director of the school's graduate degree program in Corporate Law and Finance, E. Christopher Johnson Jr. has been selected as one of the nation's most influential black attorneys in the "Pipeline Builder" category by On Being A Black Lawyer Media Company (OBABL). [full story]
 Heather Spielmaker To Receive Ingham County Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award
November 1, 2011 - Heather Spielmaker, director of Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Center for Ethics, Service and Professionalism, will receive the Ingham County Bar Association's (ICBA) Liberty Bell Award for her work helping members of the military receive legal assistance through Cooley Law School's Service to Soldiers: Legal Assistance Referral Program. [full story]
Cooley Assistant Dean, Graduate Receive Appointments by the Michigan Supreme Court
October 10, 2011 - Martha Denning Moore, assistant dean and professor at Cooley Law School's Ann Arbor campus, and David Porteous, graduate of Cooley and principal of the law firm of McCurdy Wotila & Porteous, have both been re-appointed to the Attorney Grievance Commission (AGC) by the Michigan Supreme Court. [full
story]
Father-Daughter Team Wins Prestigious Champion of Justice Award
The father-daughter team of 70th District Court Judge M.T. Thompson, Jr. and Cooley Professor Monica Nuckolls were recently honored with the State Bar of Michigan's 2011 Champion of Justice award.
[full
story]
 Cooley Staff Person Honored for Work with United Way Campaigns
Lisa Davis, Coordinator of Student Professionalism at Cooley Law School, has been named this year’s recipient of the Capital Area United Way’s Marion Marshall Award. [full story]
 Student
Honored for 'Above and Beyond' Community Service
At the school's Honors Convocation in Grand Rapids, the Student Great Deeds Award was presented to Jennifer Bylsma. [full
story]
 Cooley Professor Victoria Vuletich Named Chairperson for ABA Center for Professional Responsibility Continuing Legal Education Committee
Cooley Law Professor Victoria Vuletich has been named chairperson for the American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility Continuing Legal Education Committee. [full
story]
Professionalism In Action
Before incoming Thomas M. Cooley Law School students step into their first law school class, they are oriented to the importance of attorney ethics and professionalism through a collaborative program between the State Bar of Michigan and Cooley, called Professionalism in Action. Begun in 2009
by then State Bar of Michigan President Edward H. Pappas, the program brings students, local attorneys and judges together to discuss the role and importance of ethics and professionalism in both the study and practice of law. Learn more about the program.
Cooley's Professionalism Publications
Inspiring Pro Bono: The
Thomas M. Cooley Law School Experience
 Faculty
and students regularly contribute thousands of hours per
year to such efforts through pro bono projects and through
externships and clinics. In this document, we focus on the
2009 pro bono efforts our students have undertaken without
the awarding of academic credit - not even clinic or externship
credit. Cooley has truly fostered an overwhelming commitment
to
pro bono service.
 Reflections
of a Lawyer's Soul: Institutional Experience
of Professionalism at Thomas M. Cooley Law School by
Amy Timmer and Nelson Miller
Creating a Culture of Professionalism in Law School: The
Thomas M. Cooley Law School Experience
 How
Cooley successfully implemented the 18 initiatives from the
original plan. This program was selected for the 2006
Professionalism Award from the ABA Standing Committee
on Professionalism. Read
about the ABA Professionalism Award.
Professionalism
Plan:
Professionalism - Taught, Learned, and Lived in Law School
 Eighteen
proposed initiatives, developed by Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
Endorsed by the Student Bar Association, Faculty, Staff,
Board of Directors, Alumni Association, and Board of Governors,
and supported by the State Bar of Michigan.
Michigan's Guide to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
(SCRA)
 Download
a copy of the Michigan's
Guide to Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (pdf).
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) offers special
protections to soldiers against civil actions like divorce
and foreclosure while they are deployed.
Cooley
and attorneys with Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP
(Honigman) bring clarity to SCRA's application for
Michigan's courts and, ultimately, provide another layer
of support to Michigan servicemen and women.
SCRA amendment for mortgages
and cell phones
Members
of the Bench - Feb. 2011 
Judge Advocates, Legal Administrators, and Paralegals - Feb
2011
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 "Ethics, Who Needs Them?"
Monday, March 26, Noon
Grand Rapids Campus, Room 529
111 Commerce Ave SW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Presented by Senator Arlan Meekhof
Senator Meekhof serves the 30th Senate District in Michigan. He is majority floor leader for the 2011-2014 term, where he represents the Republican majority on the Senate floor, expediting legislative proceedings through parliamentary procedures such as motions, communications and points of order. He also serves as a member of the Government Operations, Natural Resources, Environment and Great Lakes, and Regulatory Reform committees. RSVP to Karen Rowlader at rowladek@cooley.edu.
 "Getting
Through It: Bankruptcy Basics"
(attend one or attend all)
• Wednesday, January 11, 2012
• Wednesday, February 8, 2012
• Wednesday, March 14, 2012
• Wednesday, April 11, 2012
• Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The FREE seminars will be at the United States Bankruptcy Court,
211 West Fort Street, 21st Floor, Detroit, Michigan 48226. Topics to be covered include:
• Overview of the bankruptcy process
• Differences between Chapter 7 (liquidation)
and Chapter 13 (reorganization)
• Discharging debts and what isn’t dischargeable
• What to expect at the meeting of creditors
• Explanation of forms
• The automatic stay - the Bankruptcy Law’s
"stop sign"
This is an education seminar only. For more information please contact the Pro Se Law Clerk
at (866) 478-4436 or (313) 234-0074.
 Schools of Hope Students, faculty, and staff at the Grand Rapids campus collected school supplies for Heart of West Michigan United Way's Schools of Hope program. Students Monique Howery and Blair Parker volunteered to help "Stuff the Bus." [more]
 Day of Caring Heart of West Michigan United Way's Day of Caring was a huge success. The Grand Rapids campus participated in three projects (2 more than in 2010). [more]
In 2011 our students who participated in our externship program and our in-house clinics worked a minimum of 395,074 hours, the minimum number of hours required to be logged for each student for academic credit. (Of that total, the students engaged in clinics and externships in public interest placements—prosecution, legal services, public defender, judicial and government placements— logged a minimum of 246,674 hours.) When combined with hours worked in clinics beyond what was required for academic credit (23,029), and with the 3,698 hours worked in non-clinic pro bono programs (offered for no academic credit), total hours of free legal assistance offered by Cooley in 2011 was 421,801. At an average $150/hour, the value of that work is over $60 million.
Notably, students worked 23,029 hours beyond what was required for academic credit in just the clinics. Combined with the 3,698 hours worked through the pro bono programs listed below, also not for academic credit, Cooley provided a total of 26,727 hours of pro bono assistance to the poor and underserved, for no academic credit.
For additional information on Cooley's pro bono programs
visit Pro
Bono Programs and Pro
Bono Program Opportunities.
We will not lie, cheat, steal, plagiarize, or tolerate
those who do.
This is the commitment that all entering students take,
along with our faculty and staff, at every orientation. Before
they can begin classes at Cooley Law School, a Michigan judge
administers this oath, and new students are introduced to Cooley's
Honor Code.
 Cooley
students are visibly enforcing the Honor Code. "Student
Exam Proctors" are involved with helping our regular
exam proctors during first term midterms and practice exams. "Our
hope is that by seeing other students acting as exam proctors,
new students will understand that our own student body takes
pride in, and enforces, the Honor Code," says Amy Timmer,
Associate Dean of Students and Professionalism.
Congratulations to the winners of the
Great Deeds Award for 2011:
- Katherine Fleming - Lansing Campus
- Marjorie Gell - Grand Rapids
- TBA - Auburn Hills
- Julie Mullens - Ann Arbor
Nominate
someone for a Great Deed!
Great Deeds Awards are given to recognize a staff
or faculty member each year at each campus and students up
to once per term per campus.
Nominations are accepted from anyone who would like to recognize
a staff or faculty member for outstanding community service
or a student for demonstrated outstanding commitment to the
service of others.
Professionalism Principles
Be Accountable: Acknowledge that each member of the Cooley community is accountable for their own development as a professional and for establishing and maintaining a professional school environment.
Characteristics of a Professional:
- take responsibility for your own actions and words
- correct misunderstandings and misinformation
- pay attention to detail
- don't criticize without offering a solution
- volunteer to fix what is broken
- try to figure it out yourself, first
- follow appropriate channels in an appropriate manner
- treat others with respect and dignity
- work toward improvement, not destruction or the status quo
- anticipate the effect of your behavior
- behave in a way that will get a positive effect
- take into account the demands on and limitations of others
- commit to personal growth and learning
Serve the Community: Acknowledge that affiliation with the law profession entails public service as its primary purpose. That the profession may provide a means of livelihood makes it no less a public service (with credit to Dean Roscoe Pound, Harvard Law School). Know that professionalism requires providing excellent quality service to your clients and participation in the work of the legal community.
Focus on Students: Acknowledge that all of us–staff, students, faculty, alumni, and community members–have a stake in educating the law student in the ways of professionalism.
Promote an Ethical School Community: Acknowledge that the school community is us–it is nothing more than a composite of all the people who associate with it and in it. Creation of an ethical community can only be accomplished through the ethical acts of its stakeholders.
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