San Diego Attorney
Todd Macaluso

I recall putting on my shirt and tie for court while watching GMA two years ago and seeing one of my law school acquaintances, Todd Macaluso, being interviewed as the newest member of Casey Anthony's so-called "dream team" of defense lawyers.  The interview in Florida was surprising to me, as I thought Todd was a product liability lawyer in California.  Hey, headlines are headlines, right.

Todd comes from a wealthy family out east and he married well; very well.  Not interested in Harvard, NYU, or any of the tony east coast law schools, Todd collected his sheepskin right here in the "D" from the University of Detroit School of Law; class of 1987.

Before his graduation ceremony was even concluded, Macaluso was probably on a private jet to San Diego, where he hung his shingle and hasn't looked back.  And apparently he has not stopped playing around with private aircraft either, from the way the headlines read this week.

Although forced to quit the Casey Anthony case due to a serious attorney discipline conviction and imminent disbarment in California, Todd is right back in the cockpit, just in time to seize the spotlight, allegedly ferrying Ms. Anthony about the country on his private Pilatus PC-12 turbo-prop aircraft.

The national media, led by Nancy Grace, is in an absolute frenzy over Anthony's location.  Knowing Todd, he is loving every minute that he is able to steal the show by flying the infamous "Tot Mom" hither and yon.  Hopefully, his 15-minutes will expire by month's end.

Macaluso is a poster child for the adage: "image is everything".  He is acknowledged, among dozens of others, in United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's book, Making Your Case.  A mutual friend who's been to Macaluso's home says there is a photo of Todd on his yacht with Justice Scalia, apparently a friend of the extended Macaluso family.

In 2007, Macaluso received the President's Award from the UDM School of Law.  In presenting this award, UDM acknowledged Todd's lobby efforts in Congress to regulate pharmaceutical sales over the Internet. Nothing was mentioned, however, about the opportunistic nature of his burgeoning criminal defense practice.

With the benefit of hindsight, I just have to wonder if my alma mater would have bestowed its President's Award on a graduate who soon would be disbarred for misspending client trust funds; or whether Justice Scalia would acknowledge an attorney that has not only joined forces with a most infamous client, but has positively delighted in concealing her location, while she prepares with her lawyers to fleece all of us.

Only in America folks; only in America.

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Judge Brian Zahra

Justice Maura Corrigan’s resignation last week left an important vacancy at the Michigan Supreme Court at the outset of Governor Rick Snyder’s tenure.  Justice Corrigan's seat was replaced today with the appointment of long-serving Court of Appeals Judge Brian Zahra.

As this blog has noted over the past 18-months, the dissention among the liberal and conservative justices on our High Court has become public, and nasty.  While Judge Zahra is certainly a conservative judge, he has a legal scholar’s temperament and strong work ethic.  He assumes Justice Corrigan’s seat, and the balance of her term, at a time when the Court has seen some embarrassing escapades and needs a rapprochement.

Judge Zahra was a law school classmate of this Blogger at the University of Detroit School of Law in the mid-1980s.  On Thursdays after class, Zahra would get us into the Polish Falcon Club in Detroit to play basketball.  Back then, he took the law very seriously, graduating at the top of our class as one of the editors of the law review.

 

Already well-known in Detroit’s tight GOP circles by the time he graduated  law school in 1987, Zahra was made partner during a brief stint at the downtown office of the Dickenson Wright law firm.  Almost as soon as he was promoted to partner, he accepted an appointment to the Wayne County Circuit Court; courtesy of then-Governor Engler.  Shortly thereafter, he was again-appointed by Engler in 1999 to the Court of Appeals where he won re-election.

Politics aside, Judge Zahra is an excellent selection for the Michigan Supreme Court.  Ideologically, he is not too different from departing Justice Corrigan.  Like her, Zahra has solid work habits and a strong sense of public service.  Former Detroit Mayor and Supreme Court Justice Dennis Archer describes Zahra as a "moderate" conservative, "not an idealogue".


Here is Justice Robert Young's official statement on Zahra's appointment to the bench.  Also, the Free Press editorialized the appointment.

  

We think the newest justice has an excellent opportunity to quell the public discord within the Hall of Justice that has received embarrassing national attention over the past year.  We are more accustomed to seeing such rancor down the street, where the two political branches attempt to govern the state.

 

Congratulations Justice Zahra.  May you long-serve the High Court in good health. 

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