28 Friday, February 14, 1986

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

A TERRIFIC WAY TO START YOUR DAY...

croissants fresh from our oven --
chocolate, almond, cinnamon and seven
delicious fruit flavors

The Vineyards
Wine Cellar

CLOSE-UP

111- 11PEAIDS

ALWAYS 20% TO 00% BELOW WAIL

24901 Northwesbm Hwy.
Soaddield

On The Bench

Continued from preceding page

a cheese, deli & gourmet shop
23418 Northwestern Hwy.

Bet. Middlebelt& Orchard Lake Rd., Farm. Hills

PHONE: 855-WINE

A TRADITION SINCE 1936
CAMP

in Algonquin Park, Ontario

Giving children a unique recreational experience in a secluded wilderness setting
TAMAKWA has openings for camper registrations for the 1986 camping season:
4 or 8 weeks, boys and girls, ages 7-15
Windsurfing
Swimming
Drama
Sailing
Canoe Tripping
Computers
Waterskiing
Land Sports
Hiking
Canoeing
Creative Arts
Camp Crafts
Snorkling
Photography
Music
Half-Court Tennis on our new Professional Omni Courts

WRITE OR CALL FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
1080 N. Woodward, Birmingham, Michigan 48011
(313) 644-5922

JUNIOR TAMAKWAN PROGRAM AVAILABLE
15% discount

AGES 7, 8

6.

9 (2 - 4 - 8 week sessions)

Also now accepting staff applications

A CAMPING TRADITION SINCE 1936

New Studio Now Open In Harvard Row Mall

SPOT

50%-70% OFF

.

ALL NAMES BRANDS

•Vertical Blinds
• Leveler Blinds
•Pleated Shades
•Wood Blinds

21728 W. Eleven Mile Rd.
Harvard Row Mall
Southfield, Ml 48076

.

Daily 10:00-5, Thurs. till 8
Saturday 11:00-3:00

3524622

The Honorable Avern Cohn: "I wanted to be a lawyer from as far
back as I can remember."

was the kind of person I could
talk to, a sounding board, and a
very important one," says his
cousin, Congressman Sander M.
Levin, whose State Senate and
gubernatorial campaigns Cohn
assisted.
His judgeship now precludes
him from taking any part in
party politics or fundraising.
But mindful of DeTocqueville's
observation, "There is hardly a
political question in the United-
States which does not sooner or
later turn into a judicial one,"
he finds adequate compensation
in the different challenges it of-
fers.
He is extremely happy in his
present job. As his friend Dick
Sloan says "They needn't really
pay Avern to be a judge. He
would pay them to do it." He
does not, Cohn says emphati.
cally, miss practicing law "be-
cause, in this job, I don't have to
send bills. I'm not caught up in
having to achieve results. It's
hard work, but it's not stress-
ful."
There are, he has discovered,
"certain virtues in having the
security of a position for life. A
judge with a lifetime appoint
ment speaks with substantially
more freedom ,than a judge who
must face election," he says.
"The most important person to
please is myself. But I have to
be satisfied that what I'm doing
is correct, and I think some-
times I'm a tough taskmaster."
Pleasure in his appointment
not withstanding, his early days
on the bench required a concen-
trated period of adjustment, as
• he moved from protagonist to
dispassionate judge. "He had to
sit down with himself and tell
himself, over and over again,
"I'm not partisan anymore,' "
says Jack Miller. "It required a
discipline and conscious effort
on his part. And he has done it
superbly."
"Sometimes he did it almost
to the point of overkill. He
would disqualify himself from
taking cases to avoid any infer-
ence of partiality or bias," af-
firms Suanne Trimmer one of
the first of the law clerks with
whom Cohn works SO, closely:
that he says of them, "They

know me better than I know
myself."
Trimmer remembers not only
Cohn's energy and drive, but his
patience and understanding.
"He wants litigants and jurors
to understand that he does not
expect them to have an expert
knowledge of the law; to help
them and to leave them with a
good impression 'of its work-
ings." She recalls how one case
was settled before the end of
trial. Cohn took the time to go
into the jury room and explain
exactly what had happened and
why, and then took the jurors on
a tour of the court and his
chambers..
"I learned more in my two
years with the judge than I have
ever learned. It was the best
training I could have had," says
Paula Levitan, another former
law clerk, impressed, like her
fellow clerks, by Cohn's personal
handling and thorough research-
ing of his cases, qualities which
particularly inspire young
lawyers and which confirm
Joyce Cohn's assertion that her
husband is "a pedagogue at
heart. In another life," she says,
"I think he'd like to be a great
law professor."
Some of the lawyers' who ap-
pear before him in court might
wish that he had exercised that
option this time around. His
natural manner is direct and
blunt, sometimes to the point of
brusqueness. In court, when
combined with his eagerness to
get and keep to the point, it can
become so peremptory as to ap-
pear arrogant and overbearing.
Cohn is the first to admit that
he sets high standards for him-
self, for those he works with,
and for the attorneys who ap-
pear before the bench.
"I don't suffer fools gladly," he
agrees. "I may tend to be im-
patient when I think lawyers
are dissembling or not being
forthright, or if they're being
excessively contentious by my
standards. I don't like to see-de-
cisions made on what I call
non-objective criteria. When I
think we're sliding towards that,
Ihecome short."
He is neither boastful nor
falsely modest about his own
abilities as •a judge. "I'm well

,

