DETROIT (Jan. 21, 2009) - Wayne State University Law School and the Federal Bar Association are pleased to host Motion Day with Judge Bernard Friedman of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, from 2 - 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009. The event will take place in the Law School's Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium.

"We are honored to welcome Judge Friedman to the Law School," said Wayne Law Dean and Professor of Law Robert M. Ackerman. "This event will allow our students to experience the practice of law before one of Michigan's most highly regarded judges."

Added Professor Anne M. Burr, Director of Wayne Law's Legal Research and Writing Program, "We are very lucky to have a jurist of Judge Friedman's stature at the law school. First-year students, future litigators and those considering clerkships will all be glad they took advantage of this opportunity."

Motion Day provides an opportunity for students to spend a day in federal court, without leaving the law school. Experienced counsel will argue actual pretrial motions before Judge Friedman, who will then rule or take the matters under advisement. Students are able to observe a variety of oral argument styles, as well as the procedures of the federal district court.

Motion Day is sponsored by the Legal Research and Writing faculty and kicks off the first-year Moot Court program. As part of that program, first-year law students at Wayne Law research and write an appellate brief for the federal court of appeals. They then argue the positions taken in their brief before three-judge panels consisting of local attorneys and judges.

Judge Friedman was appointed to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, by President Ronald Reagan on April 20, 1988, becoming Chief Judge in 2004. He served in that capacity until earlier this month, when he passed the gavel to Chief Judge Rosen. Prior to 1988 he served as judge for the State of Michigan, 48th District Court, for six years.

Judge Friedman began his law career as assistant prosecutor in the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office before venturing into private practice as well as serving as Inkster, Mich. city attorney. He also served as a U.S. Army Lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps from 1967 to 1968 on active duty and continued for five more years as a U.S. Army Reserve Lieutenant in the JAG Corps from 1968 to 1973.

A native of Detroit, Judge Friedman earned his law degree from the Detroit College of Law in 1968. His is a member of both the Michigan Bar Association and the Oakland County Bar Association.

For more information regarding this event, please contact Marilyn Vaughan at (313) 577-4822. For more information on Wayne Law, please visit the Law School online at www.law.wayne.edu.

Wayne State University Law School has educated and served the Detroit metropolitan area since its inception as Detroit City Law School in 1927. Located at 471 West Palmer Street in Detroit's re-energized historic cultural center, the Law School remains committed to student success and features modern lecture and court facilities, multi-media and distance learning classrooms, a 250-seat auditorium, and the Arthur Neef Law Library, which houses one of the nation's 40 largest legal collections. Taught by an internationally recognized and expert faculty, Wayne Law students experience a high-quality legal education via a growing array of hands-on curricular offerings, five live-client clinics, and access to well over 100 internships with local and non-profit entities each year. Its 11,000 living alumni, who work in every state of the nation and more than a dozen foreign countries, are experts in their disciplines and include leading members of the local, national and international legal communities. For more information, visit www.law.wayne.edu.