THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, January 4, 1985

15

Michigan's court rules,
the law firm
and the GOP will
now see less of
Jason Honigman

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just finished serving four army years.
So, it was decided that Louis Hon-
igman, the tailor, would leave Russia
that night. He fled on foot with a
neighbor. The Russians shot at them,
and Honigman's friend was killed.
When Louis looked down at his own
long overcoat the next morning, there
was a bullet hole in it.
Louis came to New York, like so
many other Russian immigrants, to
begin a new life. In 1911, Sarah and
their four children joined Louis in New
York. Jason Honigman was seven
years old and the eldest child. The
Honigman family moved to Detroit in
1916, when Louis Honigman had the
opportunity to make $16 a week as -a
tailor, instead of $12.
Jason grew up near Westminister
Ave. in Detroit and attended Alger
Elementary and Northern High
School. He was always an excellent
student.
.Public speaking and oratorical
contests interested him at an early
age. In high school, he was on the de-
bate team. "I figured at an early age,

that's how a lawyer operates," says
Honigman.
In 1926, he graduated first in his
law class at the University of Michi-
gan, just 15 years -after arriving in this
country. As a senior law student, Hon- •
igman was a law clerk for Abe
Sempliner and he continued to work
there after graduation. He was at-
tracted to the firm of Groesbeck,
Sethpliner, Kelly and Baillie because
Sempliner was Jewish, intelligent,
and had good political contacts. (At
that time, Groesbeck was Governor of
Michigan.)
In 1929, Sempliner left the firm
due to some disagreements with Kelly.
Groesbeck and Sempliner vied for
Honigman, but Honigman went with
Sempliner out of loyalty. He was then
associated with the firm Sempliner,
Dewey, Stanton and Bushnell.
In 1932, Bushnell became a Su-
preme Court Justice. The name of the
firm was changed to Sempliner, Dew-
ey, Stanton and Honigman. This was
never a true partnership: all four men
cultivated their own legal practices.

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Gradually, Honigman began
building a strong clientele, and he
hired Miller in 1936. By then,
Sempliner's two sons were graduating
from law school. In 1948, Jason Hon-
igman started his own practice with
Jack Miller. They added Alan E.
Schwartz in 1952 and Irwin and Avern
Cohn a few years later. Honigman,
Miller, Schwartz & Cohn is now the
fourth largest firm in Michigan and as
of this summer will employ 130 attor-
neys.
"I was responsible for starting the
firm, but I'm not alone in the buildng
of the firm. All the men who are my
partners over the years had substan-
tial roles and that included Milton J.
Miller, Alan E. Schwartz and Avern
Cohn," says Honigman. Cohn left the
firm five years ago to accept an ap-
pointment as United States District
Judge. Irwin Cohn died in November.

Honigman downplays his own
role in contributing to the success of
the firm. He believes his philosophy of
hiring the top scholastic law students

produced quality and excellent legal
•
service.
"As a measure of the quality of our -
legal performance, we gained recogni-
tion for high quality work and in turn
brought in new business," says Hon-
igman.
But, it is Jason L. Honigman who
is the legal legend in Detroit. Long
before the firm of Honigman and Mil-
ler existed, he was shaping history. In
1938, Honigman argued and prevailed
in the "Deep Rock" case before the U.S.
Supreme Court, which established a
new interpretation of the federal
Bankruptcy Act.
Honigman was the sole counsel
for the petitioners, a group of minority
stockholders of the Deep Rock Oil Co.,
who alleged they were victims in a re-
organization plan of the parent com-
pany, Standard Gas & Electric Co.
There were nine attorneys on the other
side representing Deep Rock,
Standard Gas, and the reorganization
committee.
Honigman's text appears in every
judge and trial lawyer's office in
Michigan. In 1950 he wrote the Michi-
gan Court Rules Annotated, which is
over 1,000 pages. Annually, he wrote
supplements updating the rules. He
co-authored the six-volume revision in
1963. Although he did not work on the
1984 supplement, his name- appears.
And Honigman has served on
numerous judicial and procedural
committees. For many years, he
served as chairman of the Civil Proce-
dure Committee of the State Bar of
Michigan, chairman of the Civil Pro-
cedure Committee of the Judicial Con-
ference of Michigan, chairman of the
Michigan Law Revision Commission,
and the Judicial Tenure Commission.
The list of his committee work goes on
and on. -
Some of the laws he helped- legis-
late include: the state's no-fault di-
vorce law, the statute abolishing gar-
nishment before judgment — a per-
son's money cannot be tied up during a
lawsuit — and an amendment to in-
vestigate and discipline misconduct of
judges.
The Honigman personal drive
that Onerated success in his law prac-
tice filtered down to his committee
work. "I did not know you could belong
on committees and not work," says
Honigman.
He has been active in the Republi-
can Party throughout his career. In
fact, he produced the Republican
Party's major fundraiser — Max
Fisher. It was Honigman who intro-
duced Fisher to an aspiring politician
named George Romney. Fisher then
became the finance chairman for
Romney's gubernatorial campaign.
In 1958, Honigman ran for attor-
ney general on the Republican ticket.
He was the first Jew to run for
statewide office as a Republican.

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