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Q & A with Judge Michael D. Warren, Jr., Oakland County Circuit Court

By Max H. Matthies posted 01-03-2018 16:12

  

Judge Michael D. Warren, Jr., was appointed to the Oakland County Circuit Court in December 2002 and elected to retain the position in 2004, 2006, and 2012. He is the presiding judge of the general civil and criminal division. He is the sponsor of the electronic data management system (e-filing) project of the Oakland County Circuit Court and the pilot judge for e-filing and the paperless courtroom. Judge Warren cofounded Patriot Week with his then 10-year-old daughter Leah (www.patriotweek.org) and is the author of "America's Survival Guide: How to Stop America's Impending Suicide by Reclaiming Our First Principles" (www.AmericasSurvivalGuide.com). He has received the Oakland County Bar Association's Distinguished Public Servant Award and several other awards. A former visiting professor at the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School teaching classes in constitutional law, Judge Warren has published a number of guest commentaries in various publications on the law, education, and civics. He is a former member of the State Board of Education and serves on boards for Cornerstone Schools and the Patriot Week Foundation. Judge Warren was clerk to Michigan Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Comstock Riley and a partner at Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn, LLP, before taking the bench.

Judge Michael D. Warren, Jr. – Oakland County Circuit Court

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Procedural Guidelines for Practice in Judge Warren’s Courtroom

 What are the worst things a lawyer can do in your court?

  • Lie—about the facts or law. If a lie is discovered, there will be a very bad result for the lawyer and perhaps the case. Lies are cause for sanctions, criminal contempt of court, and attorney grievance proceedings. If there are errors, omissions, or neglect, just accept responsibility for them; do not try to lie your way around them.
  • Not being prepared, not citing authority to support your position.

 

 What is the best thing a lawyer can do in court?

Be prepared. At trial, in both civil and criminal cases, you should know your closing argument when the case begins. If your opening statement is promising the jury that you will prove A, B, and C, for the rest of the trial you should be driving towards proving those points, submitting evidence and drawing out testimony that will support that opening. Your credibility will be undermined terribly when opposing counsel’s closing points to your opening statement and exposes that you proved A and C, but not B.

 

 What role does your staff play?

We are blessed in Oakland County. Each judge has two clerks, a secretary, and a staff attorney. The clerks are the front line with lawyers and jurors. They let people into the courtroom and chambers, answer the phones, process orders, call the cases, make docket entries, and prepare civil motion call. My secretary, a former clerk, handles my criminal docket, processes specific orders, and probably spends about 10 percent of her time on typical secretarial work. My staff attorney handles motions for summary disposition, appeals, judgment motions (subchapter 6.500 of the rules of criminal procedure), and ex-parte motions such as temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions. Many judges also have the staff attorney look at all motions and track what the judge is doing, including even sitting in during bench trials. 

What happens at a settlement conference?

For purposes of clarity, at Oakland County almost all the judges have pretrials. I do not consider a pretrial a settlement conference. During the pretrial, I meet with the lawyers, who will tell me about the case generally, its status, the likelihood of settlement, and the need for facilitation, and we discuss issues that might arise during the trial. Settlement conferences are somewhat uncommon—I schedule one only if both lawyers believe is a possibility and a judge’s touch adds value (versus a facilitation). Some lawyers will request a conference with me if there are client control issues and they believe a judge will help a party understand the risks involved with not resolving the case. Lawyers often seek facilitation instead and are welcome to do so. Facilitation usually does not happen until after case evaluation, which means the trial is only two or three months away. Counsel may ask for a trial continuance to undergo facilitation. I may grant a short trial adjournment of 30-45 days if it is warranted. Perhaps 20% of my cases include an order for facilitation, and many with such an order.

If I do order a settlement conference, I will issue an order that will require those with authority to settle to appear. The parties meet in my chambers. Typically, I meet with the lawyers first and review the status of the case. Then I meet with one party and its lawyer to get its point of view, and then with the other side in order to facilitate a settlement. The conference can be perfunctory and short if, for instance, the parties are millions of dollars apart and nothing will change. Otherwise, settlement conferences may last an hour or all day. I have been successful in resolving many difficult cases at settlement conferences.

When should my client come to court?

If the case is a criminal matter, your client should always come to court unless there is some unusual circumstance. Even if the criminal defendant is at the forensic center or another court or jail, I will adjourn to have the defendant present at the court.

In a civil case, typically the only time clients need to appear is at a settlement conference or at the trial if they have been subpoenaed. Other occasions would be on a motion for entry of default judgment and testimony is required to fix the or an evidentiary hearing.

What do you want lawyers who are appearing in your to know about appearing before you?

I vigorously dispense with oral argument, so assuming you will be allowed to augment your motion in oral argument is dangerous. Have authority to support your position and do not assume I am your research assistant. I am a “by the book” rule-of-law judge, and I make decisions based on what the law is and not on emotion. I apply the law fairly and in a way the higher courts demand. Follow the court rules and know the rules of evidence. Abide by the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct. I believe in moving the docket forward expeditiously and frown on motions to adjourn (unless truly unavoidable) or other attempts to delay the proceedings.

There are behaviors that are not quite the worst things you can do in my courtroom, but that could very well be detrimental to your case. Do not act in a manner that is the opposite of what a legal professional should be: a person who is respectful, polite, and who treats the courtroom, the rule of law, and justice with the respect they deserve. Being disrespectful, overly emotional, tardy, or snarky undermines what is appropriate for professionals and could jeopardize your ability to best serve your client. Unnecessarily drawing a case out, being inefficient or defensive, or getting in the way of the necessary result will likely be counterproductive. The lawyer should seek to achieve justice while zealously advocating for the client.

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