The pen may be mightier than the sword, but in today’s world of pundits and partisanism, Eric Ostermeier, ’95, says data is the most powerful of all. Since 2006, Ostermeier has authored Smart Politics, a blog he founded at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
Some people spend their work commutes catching up on email or scrolling through Facebook. Others unwind by listening to their favorite podcast. Monica Tesler, ’98, spent the better part of a year on a commuter boat dreaming of space adventures, the likes of which can be found in Bounders, her debut novel for middle-grade readers.
In 22 years as a judge with the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, the Hon. Harlan VanWye, ’67, saw it all, from despair to defensiveness to questionable wardrobe choices. But learning that a claimant named her child Harlan, after him, came as a surprise.
As a corporate attorney, Robbie Friedman, ’08, was familiar with what he describes as the “opaqueness” of legal billing. So he co-founded Viewabill, a startup based in Columbus, Ohio, in 2013. A cloud-based platform, Viewabill allows clients to see in real time how much a law firm is billing for its work.
Rebecca (Redosh) Eisner, ’89, and Lydia (Barry) Kelley, ’89, want part of their story to not be a story. Best friends who met at Michigan Law and became managing partners of two of Chicago’s biggest firms is a good tale. That they are both women adds intrigue. “I would love to reach the point where it’s irrelevant that we are women,” says Eisner. “Unfortunately, we are not there yet.”
There should be more lawyers like Charles “Chuck” Barnhill, says his longtime friend and former client, Wayne Kennedy. So Kennedy created a scholarship fund at Michigan Law to help train the next generation of lawyers at the place that trained Barnhill.
Stu Finkelstein, ’85, loves going to work every day. Through his family’s bequest to create the Finkelstein Family Debt Management Fund, he will help to ensure that future Michigan Law graduates have the opportunity to feel the same way.
Anita Jenkins, ’74, and Jim Jenkins, ’73, of Midland, Michigan, got their start at U-M, both as lawyers and as a couple (they met in the course registration line as undergrads). Ashley Davis, a 1L from Jacksonville, Florida, is the 2015-2016 Jenkins Scholar and a graduate of Florida Atlantic University.
Smart students who dream of graduating from Michigan Law should have the opportunity to do so without worrying about how to pay for it, Stan Stroup, ’69, believes. Through their bequest gift to establish a Darrow Scholarship, Stroup and his wife, Sylvia, will help make some of those dreams come true.
In November, Michigan Law celebrated the opening of the Veterans Legal Clinic, which offers veterans and, in some cases, their immediate families, legal help in matters such as family law, eviction, consumer problems, foreclosure, and employment cases.
