The appeal of a landmark eminent domain case in the city of Detroit’s storied Poletown neighborhood will be the focus of a symposium on May 9, featuring Plunkett Cooney appellate attorney Mary Massaron.
Massaron, who represented the plaintiffs in County of Wayne v. Hathcock, will lend her perspective to the panel discussion during the Michigan Supreme Court Advocates Guild’s symposium, which will also feature former Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Young, the author of the Hathcock decision, and former Supreme Court Justice James Ryan, the author of the dissent in Poletown.
The symposium, titled: “The Story of Poletown – A Night of Hathcock, Eminent Domain and the Michigan Supreme Court,” will take place at 5 p.m. in the Partrich Auditorium at Wayne State University Law School. Billed as a night of fun, sophistication and the law, the free event is open to the public, but email registration is required by clicking here. A short reception will follow the panel discussion at 6:15 p.m.
“This was one of the most high-profile and high-stakes cases in my career,” said Massaron, a partner in Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office and one of the firm’s most accomplished appellate attorneys. “I think it will be fun and insightful to discuss this case with two former Supreme Court justices who played pivotal roles in the decision.”
A former law clerk to Justice Patricia J. Boyle of the Michigan Supreme Court, Massaron has handled or supervised the handling of over 400 appeals, resulting in approximately 150 published opinions, including over 100 appeals in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ms. Massaron’s appellate advocacy is widely known. She has won numerous victories before the Michigan Supreme Court for public- and private-sector clients, overturning multi-million-dollar judgments and establishing new legal principles.
