New Court Seat
Draws A Big Crowd

ALAN HITSKY ASSOCIATE EDITOR

W

hen the state Legisla-
ture finally approved an
additional circuit court
judgeship for Oakland
County, it didn't give potential
candidates much time to file for
the seat.
They had about 36 hours.
A 17th seat on one of the state's
busiest judicial circuits had long
been endorsed by the county's
Board of Commissioners, and its
approval in the Legislature was
a foregone conclusion. Once a log-
jam over an unrelated issue —
part-time probate court judges —
was broken, the governor signed
the legislation May 26 and can-
didates had until 5 p.m. May 27
to file.
Thirteen Oakland County res-
idents did, and will face off Aug.
2 in the primary election. The top
two vote-getters will vie for the
$102,986 job in the general elec-
tion Nov. 8.
Some familiar names are
among the candidates, and that
has Alice Gilbert worried.
A familiar name herself after
15 years on the Oakland Circuit
Court and a raucous Republican
primary race for U.S. Congress
two years ago, Ms. Gilbert wants
to regain her judgeship. She wor-
ries about candidates Thomas
Brennan and
John J. O'Brien.
"Tom Bren-
nan is not the
real (Michigan
Supreme Court
Justice) Tom
Brennan," said Ms. Gilbert. "And
O'Brien had to resign his probate
judgeship" after a felony convic-
tion for falsifying a credit appli-
cation. He is not Judge John N.
O'Brien, who died last year after
a long career on the Oakland Cir-
cuit Court.
The candidates were asked to
submit a brief listing of their
qualifications and a one-sentence
statement why voters should pick
them over the other candidates.
Those who responded include the
following:
Thomas Brennan of Troy is
a 48-year-old trial attorney with
offices in Detroit. He is past pres-
ident of the National Lawyers
Guild and the Michigan Trial
Lawyers Association. He says he
is respected in the legal commu-
nity "for my integrity, compas-
sion, intelligence, legal skills and
industriousness."
Michael Clawson of Birm-
ingham is a junior partner in a
Birmingham law firm and a
graduate of Albion College and
the University of Toledo. He was

PO

a circuit court clerk in Cassopo-
lis in 1983-84.
Constance Cumbey of Lake
Orion has law offices in Bloom-
field Hills. She has been involved
in right-to-life cases as well as
representing a Detroit neighbor-
hood in its fight against having
the predominantly black Malcolm
X Academy in its area. She has
been host of a Christian-oriented
talk show on WMUZ since 1992.
She has written and lectured ex-
tensively against the "New Age"
movement as being anti-Jewish
and anti-Christian. She served
as a secretary to Jack Faxon
when he was in the state House
and Senate.
Ms. Cumbey has practiced law
since 1975, "with a heavy em-
phasis on litigation." She says she
does not believe in 'the finest jus-
tice that money can buy," but in
`justice that cannot be bought."
Sylvia Delin has a general
law practice in Southfield, with
emphasis on family law. She is a
graduate of Loyola University
Law School. She says there is a
simple tenet of law to which she
adheres: "The facts, the issues
and the law, exclusive of person-
ality, wealth, judicial friendships
and biases."
Robert Easterly is a gradu-
ate of Universi-
ty of Detroit
Law School
and has a prac-
tice in Troy. He
wants to incor-
porate the best
traits of judges he has observed,
including Barry HoWard ("style
and fair-handed, down-to-earth
approach"), Ed Sosnick ("hu-
manistic touch and wisdom") and
Rudy Nichols ("dignified style").
Alice Gilbert was a Bloom-
field Township justice (1961-68),
48th District judge (1968-76) and
Oakland County Circuit Court
judge (1976-92).
She says her tenure on the
court gives her unmatched expe-
rience, and she also points to her
"long history of volunteer experi-
ence" as bringing "a sense of per-
spective to the bench."
Paul Hynes is a partner in a
firm with offices in Troy, Detroit,
Grand Rapids and Flint. He is a
trial lawyer specializing in per-
sonal injury and property-dam-
age litigation. He has handled
appeals before the Michigan
Court of Appeals and the
Supreme Court.
He says he has "demonstrated
the mental discipline and matu-
rity necessary to serve the people

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