In the past ten-years, my law firm has produced a few short video clips to promote our mission statement. We have enjoyed just a few very slim slices of public exposure during this decade.

This 600th post publishes some of our best clips from the past 10-years. Take a look...

The very first clip features a closing argument following a three-day trial in a drunk driving case before the legendary Oakland Circuit Judge Steven Andrews way back in 2009. This poor-quality video was purchased from the Oakland County Circuit Court Administrator prior to the Court's ban on disseminating such videos of court proceedings.

This second clip features a panel discussion involving my first case before the Michigan Supreme Court back in 2006. Probably for the legal professionals among our readers.

Then we produced our first marketing video in 2010, designed for social media distribution. The colors were good, and the "actors" are actual clients. We really got a lot of mileage out of this short little clip.

Here is another throwback to the Oakland Circuit Court from 2009; a sentencing hearing for one of our few homicide cases. Now-retired and long-serving Oakland Circuit Judge Ed Sosnick can be seen presiding over the hearing. Our client pled to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death; she was sentenced to 6-months in the "work-release" program.

More recently, I was able to generate a clip resulting from one of my rare appearances before the Michigan Supreme Court in People v Robertson; a case involving the "search and seizure" clause of the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Boy, am I ever getting grey...

Finally, last year, we got it together and produced this gem with a pair of our best clients ever.

Time really does fly when you are having fun; this is certainly true in the professional setting.

If you or a loved one are facing the rough waters of a divorce or criminal charge, give us a call to discuss your options in a free  consultation.

Post #600
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Novi Judge Brian McKenzie

By: Timothy P. Flynn

I'm aging myself by belonging to a group of 50-something lawyers that can recall when Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper was a circuit court judge, then a Court of Appeals judge.  Now she is, of course, the Oakland County Prosecutor.  Impressive career trajectory.

And as the prosecutor, Judge Cooper's career is now intersecting with another local judicial luminary, Novi District Judge Brian MacKenzie. Their career collision comes through a complaint the prosecutor filed   -in the form of a petition for a Writ of Superintending Control-   with the Oakland County Circuit Court, now assigned to Judge Leo Bowman.

The Writ alleges illegal conduct against the Novi judge.  Judge MacKenzie has struck back hard with a responsive pleading that, on first blush, sure calls into question the propriety of the prosecutor's Writ.

Channel 7 Action News was one of the first news outlets to break the story about the details of Cooper's allegations.  Judge Cooper alleges that over the past decade, Judge MacKenzie handed down sentences that did not comport with the law; that he dismissed cases after guilty pleas were tendered and accepted by the Court; that he dismissed cases stating it was with the consent of the prosecutor when there was no such prosecutorial consent; and perhaps most disturbingly, that he removed these cases from the public files of the Novi District Court.

Judge McKenzie is one of those judges that polarizes public opinion.  Truly, he is an iconic figure in our local judiciary.  Some folks love him; others not so much.

Several of the defendants that have been sentenced by MacKenzie applaud the justice they received in his courtroom; Channel 7 had a few willing to go on camera to defend the judge.  You do not have to look very far around Novi, Milford and Highland to encounter people who respect Judge MacKenzie's brand of justice.

On the other hand, now-retired Oakland Circuit Judge Steven N. Andrews admonished Judge MacKenzie on an appeal from the Novi District Court to the Oakland Circuit Court way back in 2004.  In reversing McKenzie's judgment of sentence, Judge Andrews, in a tersely-worded opinion called-out the district judge for meting-out sentences that did not comport with the law; Judge Andrews characterized MacKenzie's sentences as an illegal "pattern of conduct."

We here at the Law Blogger have always known Judge MacKenzie to be devoted to the Sobriety Court he established and nurtured in the Novi District Court and to the concept of required sobriety for alcohol-convicted probationers in general.  He is also known as a friend of veterans, recently starting a veterans' court in Novi.

There used to be websites devoted to a favorable portrayal of McKenzie and there are websites devoted to the disparagement of the good judge; now all deeply buried in Google's search results by this breaking story.

Some lawyers, vocal but who must remain nameless, view the manner in which Judge MacKenzie conducts a criminal call to be akin to "Kabuki Theater": heavy on drama, light on substance.  Others see him as a champion of justice that has a positive effect on the lives of the people that appear in his courtroom.

We now shall wait and see how the Oakland County Circuit Court Judge eventually assigned to the case assesses the allegations set forth in Judge Cooper's Writ.  Stay tuned for updates on this one.

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