DETROIT, Feb. 22, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — Gail Haefner Straith is honored to be named the 2012 Lawyer of the Year for Mergers Acquisitions Law in Detroit by Best Lawyers.  Throughout her 26-year career, Ms. Straith has enjoyed guiding business owners and management teams through the process of buying or selling a business.  Ms. Straith has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 2003.   Ms. Straith is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Cornell Law School.  She is the founder of Straith Law, a firm based in Birmingham, Michigan.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120222/DE56221 )

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The lawyers being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in these surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism and integrity.

Straith Law provides legal services to businesses, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, formation and growth of business entities, registration and protection of trademarks, and negotiation and drafting of business contracts.  For more information, please visit www.straithlaw.com.  Prior to returning to her hometown of Birmingham, Michigan, Ms. Straith enjoyed a career of more than 20 years with Paul Frank + Collins in Burlington, Vermont.  Ms. Straith is an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth – Detroit Chapter.  Straith Law is a proud sponsor of the ACG Cup, a case study competition for MBA students.

Contact: Gail H. Straith Tel. 248-220-1965E-mail: gstraith@straithlaw.com280 N. Old Woodward Ave., Suite 104Birmingham, MI 48009

SOURCE Straith Law

View full sizeJeff Schrier | The Saginaw NewsJeffery Anthony

SAGINAW – A veteran in Michigan law enforcement has retired after 32 years of serving in a variety of roles, both in uniform and undercover, all over the state.

Friday was Detective 1st Lt. Jeffrey Anthony’s last day as commander of the Michigan State Police Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (BAYANET), where he has worked for the past year.

From Grayling, Anthony, 50, started out at 18 years old working as a deputy at the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office. He started in the marine patrol division and later worked on road patrol, promoted to corporal and was a shift commander on the road patrol, corrections and as a detective before joining the Michigan State Police Bay City Post in 1987.

“I was just looking for something new,” Anthony said about why he joined the MSP as an undercover trooper. “I wanted to specifically target people who were making a living off of selling drugs.“

He wanted to go after “the big players,” he said, adding that he “absolutely loved it” after working for some time in covert operations. He was later drawn to other covert teams – HUNT in Alpena for two years and MET in Grand Rapids for another two and a half years — partly because he would be “unknown and effective” in those areas, he said.

After six years in covert operations, he returned to the MSP Bridgeport as a desk sergeant before being promoted to the post commander in Alpena.

In 2005, he took a promotion to take command of the West Branch and Gladwin posts, eventually taking over east Tawas post.

In 2011 he became section commander of BAYANET, a covert operations force based in Bay City. BAYANET conducts covert operations in Bay, Saginaw, Midland, Clare, Isabella and Gladwin counties, specializing in narcotics enforcement.

Anthony spent most of his last day on the job Friday saying goodbye to colleagues and tying up loose ends before his departure. He said he has made many lifelong friends while working as an officer, many of whom will attend a retirement party scheduled later this week.

“Many who were sergeants and patrolmen are now police chiefs and sheriffs,” he said, noting it was the many connections in law enforcement in the Great Lakes Bay region that drew him back to Bay City.

“I knew so many people and I knew the quality of law enforcement here,” he said. “It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael Thomas is one official who has worked with Anthony throughout both of their careers.

“Jeff was one of the finest police officers and commanders that I have had the opportunity to work with,” Thomas said. “He was dedicated, dependable, highly motivated, intelligent and courageous. His service will be missed.”

Anthony said he has many good memories of the past 32 years, noting some of the best ones happened in the local area.

As a young trooper, he remembers a lengthy investigation that started after a street-level arrest in Saginaw, leading to the seizure of 3,000 pounds of marijuana found inside a tractor-trailer pulled over on the highway.

“That was a rewarding case because there was such good teamwork,” he said, that led to multiple arrests and sent “some serious drug traffickers” to prison. He noted that many other crimes occur because the guilty person needs money for drugs, or are otherwise related to the drug trade.

Another rewarding case was in Saginaw County in the early 1990s, when he was involved in an investigation that took down an illegal dog fighting operation, sending more than 100 people to jail.

“I’m an animal lover, especially dogs, so I was particularly offended,” he said, noting people were coming from as far away as Georgia to participate or watch the dog fights at a private residence in the county. “That was incredibly rewarding.”

Anthony said he has learned to separate the good people who have just made a mistake from the truly evil people who are in business to prey on the weaknesses of others and are a detriment to the quality of life in a community.

“The majority of people you deal with are people who have made mistakes but they’re good people,” he said. Some people he sent to prison have remained in contact with him and met with him later in their lives, he said. “I’ve considered them acquaintances and friends.”

As he exits law enforcement with no intention of returning to the profession, Anthony said the state is at a turning point with four cities on the list of the 10 most violent in the U.S.

“That’s personally embarrassing and offensive to me,” he said. “We should not be there.”

He said he supports Gov. Snyder’s plan to put more cops on the street to provide a safety net for citizens and act as a deterrent to criminals.

Until the state loses the status of having several high-crime cities, it will be hard to attract businesses and new families to those areas, he said. Violent crime may be trending downward in recent years in Saginaw, but it’s still far too prevalent, he said.

The most drastic change over the years is how technology is used in law enforcement, Anthony said, recalling when he used to type reports on carbon paper. Now computer technology is integrated into every area of law enforcement and surveillance cameras are becoming more common.

He said a positive change he has noticed over the years is that more citizens are interested and involved in helping officers prevent and stop crime. He said parents can do their part to reduce crime by being good role models and provide direction for their kids.

A self-described wildlife nut and fly-fisherman, Anthony looks forward to traveling, hiking, fishing and relaxing with his wife. He wants to volunteer to work with animals in his free time.

When asked if he looks forward to get back to a “normal life” after spending many years in covert operations, Anthony said it has been pretty easy to maintain a normal lifestyle throughout his career. Tight situations happen, though rarely, he said.

“Most of us don’t run in the same circles as the people we’re working to put in jail,” he said. 

The quality relationships he made with officers from many agencies will stick with him after retirement, he said, and he’ll always remember the few friends he has lost. 

Officer fatalities are rare, he said, but they have a huge impact on families and communities when they do happen.

“Keep those officers in mind that didn’t finish their careers,” he said, noting he often thinks back to the day when two MSP officers were gunned down in Bay City.

“The sticky situations are few and far bet but when they happen they’re incredibly fast and incredibly serious,” he said. “It takes a little luck but it really comes down to training, professionalism and taking care of each other on the street.”

Contact Brad Devereaux at bdeverea@mlive.com or 989-372-2442 or follow him on Twitter. 

AP File PhotoIn this photo taken Friday, April 29, 2011, Joe Harris, state appointed emergency manager in Benton Harbor, Mich., unlocks the door of the city manager’s office in Benton Harbor. Dozens of Metro Detroit’s political, religious and community leaders gathered Tuesday night in Highland Park, where they debated and discussed the implications and impact of Michigan’s emergency manager law.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has defended Public Act 4 as a valuable tool to help municipalities and school districts identify potential financial emergencies and resolve them before they become a crisis.

But critics, including many of those at Tuesday night’s forum organized by veteran Rep. John Conyers, say the law undermines democracy by allowing an unelected official to dissolve elected bodies and modify collective bargaining agreements.

Below, you’ll find seven highlights from the forum, including expert testimony, compelling questions and a defense from a sitting emergency manager.

Unconstitutional? Professor Kenneth Klee of the UCLA School of Law testified Tuesday night that Public Act 4 appears to fail a three-part test of constitutionality used by the Supreme Court. Specifically, Klee said the law violates the contract clause by allowing substantial impairment of collective bargaining, is too strong to serve a legitimate public purpose and does not reasonable or necessary means to achieve its goal. “I think the wholesale rejection of a collective bargaining agreement is neither reasonable or necessary,” Klee said on the phone from New York City.

Better than bankruptcy? God bless Joe Harris for even showing up. The Benton Harbor emergency manager braved a hostile crowd that openly booed him as he defended his work and the law that facilitated it. His main argument? A strong emergency manager is certainly better than municipal bankruptcy, which would allow a federal judge to decide a city’s fate rather than an appointed official. Harris, who previously worked as the Chief Financial Officer and Auditor General in Detroit, said he was able to reverse a general fund deficit in Benton Harbor without throwing out union contracts. “It does work. It can work, and there are some cities where it really is absolutely essential that the state intercedes,” he said.

Disenfranchise minority voters? While the trigger for Michigan’s emergency manager law is neutral, Wayne State University law professor Jocelyn Benson pointed out that the law has had a disproportionate impact on black and latino residents in the state. EMs now run several cities with large black populations, including Benton Harbor, Pontiac, Ecorse, Flint and potentially Detroit. “Having EMs in these cities means that unelected officials govern the majority of the state’s black population,” Benson said, suggesting that is sure to disenfranchise voters of color and may violate the Voting Rights Act.

Elect EMs? The cities mentioned above clearly are struggling, but Benson suggested EMs should be approved by local voters. “Managers should run for the job of running the place,” she said to applause. “They should have to convince more people than just the governor and his appointees that they are right for the job. They should be required to convince the people they are right to fix the problems of the city. And voters should have the ability to remove a manager who has abused their power. Let’s face it, accountability is key in a democracy.”

Disenfranchise poor? Attorney John Philo, whose Sugar Law Center is behind a lawsuit challenging Public Act 4, suggested that the law does not only disenfranchise voters of color, it discourages voters of limited financial means from participating in the political process. “Consolidation of political power at any level to one individual risks losing the consent of the governed,” Philo said. “At times of economic crisis, more democracy is needed, not less.”

Attack root problems? U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke suggested that Michigan’s emergency manager law punishes cities who were significantly impacted by the foreclosure crisis as a result of Congress’ failure to regulate lending practices. “You’ve got to look at what was the cause of the financial crisis in the first place,” the Detroit Democrat said. “…If there’s any law we need to enact, it has nothing to do with collective bargaining agreements, we have to change these mortgage laws to keep people in their homes and our neighborhoods.”

Accountability for ineffectiveness? While Joe Harris said he was making progress in Benton Harbor, Metro Detroit residents have seen a string of unproductive emergency managers work in their communities under the former and current state law. In Highland Park, former longtime Emergency Manager Art Blackwell was convicted on corruption charges. Pontiac has seen its deficit grow under three emergency managers. Detroit Public Schools continue to struggle despite state control for the better part of the past decade. U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, who represents Pontiac, explained how the city’s emergency manager diverted HUD money to the county, a move he said could have cost the city hundreds of thousands in assistance and its federal entitlement status until he stepped in. “An elected officials would never do that because the people would throw him or her out at the next election,” Peters said. “There is no accountability.”

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Lottery and other gambling winnings would factor into eligibility for welfare assistance under legislation approved Tuesday by the Republican-led Michigan House.

The main bill in the package, approved 67-39, also would put into state law a requirement for asset tests to help determine eligibility for food and cash assistance programs in the state.

Some asset tests already are used in Michigan through state department policy.

The measures now advance to the Republican-led Senate.

Under the proposed measures, state lottery officials would be required to notify the state’s Department of Human Services about winners of $1,000 or more.

That provision won overwhelming bipartisan support in the House.

But some Democrats are worried that putting asset test requirements into state law would make decisions about assistance eligibility too inflexible.

“It could ultimately affect thousands of children,” said Rep. Maureen Stapleton, D-Detroit.

Stapleton also questioned how the state could monitor casino and other gambling winnings not covered by the state lottery.

The legislation comes after a Bay City man last spring acknowledged he continued to use food stamps despite winning a $2 million lottery prize in 2010.

State officials said at the time that lump sum payments weren’t counted when judging eligibility for food aid.

Rep. David Agema, R-Grandville, said the legislation is designed to make sure that people who are truly poor receive benefits while blocking eligibility for people who don’t need the help.

A state Senate committee passed a bill Tuesday that would prevent graduate student research assistants from unionizing, just hours after the University of Michigan Board of Regents voted to oppose the bill.

The bill, SB 971, was introduced last week by Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe. It now goes before the full Senate.

Earlier Tuesday, the U-M regents held an emergency meeting and in a party-line 6-2 vote, passed a motion to recognize the more than 2,000 GSRAs as employees and not students. Recognizing them as employees would allow them to form a union.

The regents’ vote reaffirmed a motion passed in May. The continued support by the Democratic regents is in contrast to the position held by President Mary Sue Coleman, Provost Phil Hanlon and the majority of the university’s deans.

A group of GSRAs, led by members of the Graduate Employees Union, are trying to overturn a 1981 ruling by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission that says GSRAs are students.

MERC is currently holding an administrative hearing on the matter.

The proposed bill says anyone serving as a graduate student research assistant or in an equivalent position is not a public employee entitled to representation or collective-bargaining rights. It is the latest attempt by Republicans to stop the unionization efforts. U-M Regent Laurence Deitch, a Democrat, said Richardville’s bill should not have been introduced because it attempts to shortcut the MERC process currently under way.

Deitch also called the bill an “improper incursion” by the Legislature into the internal workings of the university, which is granted autonomy by the state constitution.

Republican Regent Andrea Fischer Newman said that wasn’t the case. She said the university operates under the Public Employees Act to bargain with other unions, so this bill, which amends that act, is fine.

The meeting lasted about 30 minutes. It started with squabbling among regents about who called it and why it was an emergency.

It is unclear who called the meeting. Members of the news media received an e-mail about 11 p.m. Monday announcing the meeting, which started at 8 a.m.

Michigan law requires an 18-hour notice of emergency meetings. However, regents said they had legal opinions from their attorney that under their bylaws, they could call the meeting under that time frame.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com

At a Highland Park church tonight, U.S. Rep John Conyers led a roster of Detroit-area leaders from the Democratic Party — including U.S. Reps. Hansen Clarke and Gary Peters — in speaking against injustices they blamed on Michigan’s Emergency Financial Manager Act.

The forum at Soul Harvest Ministries church, with about three dozen people in the audience, convened as the City of Detroit veers close to insolvency and its leaders say they are scrambling to avoid having a manager appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder.

Michigan has had an Emergency Financial Manager Act since 1988, but this year it was changed by the Legislature with Snyder’s backing to give managers wider authority, including the power to void union contracts.

Peters pronounced the state law “flatly a bad idea.” He said Pontiac’s financial condition has not improved much while the city had three emergency financial managers in the last two years. Clarke, along with Wayne State University law professor Jocelyn Benton, said an emergency financial manager strips residents of their right to vote for those who govern them.

“I want to provide a forum for an exchange of ideas,” Conyers said before the meeting, and once it began he thanked the first speaker — Benton Harbor’s emergency financial manager Joseph Harris — for “having the courage to be here” to defend the state law on emergency managers.

Harris shrugged off the audience’s laughter and boos, insisting that as manager of Benton Harbor, “We’ve been able to bring a $6-million budget down from $7.5 million and improve services at the same time.”

He added: “If we can right the ship without bankruptcy, everybody is better off.”

By Cindy Denby

Over the last few months I have been working on legislation to update Michigan’s food laws. I am pleased to announce that this week the House approved my legislation. House Bill 5130 adds safety provisions to Michigan’s food law and brings it up to date with federal standards. These changes are crucial to ensuring food safety is top notch in our state. HB 5130 adopts the federally recommended three-tiered food inspection reporting process that was put in place a few years ago. The bill ensures that all employees are properly trained in food safety rules related to their duties. 

The bill also updates safety provisions for egg and shellfish, prohibits children from ordering undercooked meat and creates additional safety standards for undercooked foods. Lastly, the legislation also includes a safeguard against Bridge Card vendor abuse. By ensuring that retailers who accept Bridge Cards are following Michigan food laws, we can help reduce the amount of abuse in the assistance system. The legislation has now heads to the Senate for consideration.

Agriculture is a leading industry in our state and I recently came across a great opportunity that everyone in the agriculture industry should take advantage of. The agriculture department is now seeking grant proposals for a federal program offering matching funds for the food and agriculture industry. The program funds a wide range of projects that address barriers, challenges, or opportunities at any stage of the marketing chain including direct, wholesale, and retail. Proposals can involve any size agricultural entity but should potentially benefit multiple producers or agri-businesses.

Eligible categories include livestock, livestock products, food and feed crops, fish, horticulture, viticulture, apiary, and forest products as well as processed or manufactured products derived from such commodities. In the past few years, this program has funded proposals projects in all types of agricultural projects. Proposals must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 12. For more information and guidelines for proposals visit www.ams.usda.gov.

If you have any questions or need assistance with any state issues, please contact me toll free at 866-828-4863 or via e-mail at cindydenby@house.mi.gov. 

Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past five years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.com

Happy Chinese New Year! We were extremely busy the past few months, including most of our US based team working from our Hong Kong offices during November and December.

As a follow up from our recent post, which listed our 62 US associate and counsel placements in Asia last year (vast majority in HK / China), please note that thus far in January ’12, we have already made seven US associate and counsel placements in Asia. This is an especially impressive number, considering the biglaw lateral hiring market in Asia is down right now (see state of the market brief overview below). These new placements are of new hires in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, who were interviewing with their new firm for a month or more and they are spread out among different practice areas, including project finance, litigation, fund formation, MA and cap markets. We are close on four additional new associate placements, in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, that we expect to close soon. We do not discuss partner placements in these articles, but the pace of partner recruitment in Asia (a large part of our business) has continued.

Hedge Fund In-House Openings in Hong Kong

We are seeing a small run of new in-house openings in Hong Kong at hedge funds. We are currently filling three different in-house positions at three different hedge funds in Hong Kong, two of these searches we are handling on an exclusive basis. All three will most likely be filled by a US associate, with about 4 to 6 years of experience. Mandarin not required. Candidates from NYC and London will be considered, but at one of these funds the new hire will likely come from Hong Kong / China or Singapore (with HK being the strong preference).

Please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com if you are interested in these hedge fund openings. As you probably would expect, the competition for these spots will be fierce and the funds will be very selective when choosing which candidates to interview.

Basic Overview of the Lateral Hiring Market in Asia

We are fortunate to meet regularly in-person with senior US corporate and cap markets partners in HK / China, especially when Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney are visiting our Hong Kong office. Evan and Robert are friends with many key US partners in HK / China and the region and have at least close business relations with most key US partners in HK / China and Singapore. It is, in large part, through such in-person meetings during their many trips to HK (usually 6 such trips a year for Evan and 4-5 for Robert) and also other Asia markets, that we get a great read on the market and what US partners are thinking about the near-term and long-term prospects for their deal flow. We are very fortunate that such senior partners go out of their way to make time to meet Robert and Evan when they are in town. Further, we have Alexis Lamb permanently on the ground in HK having such meetings and Asia based partners also meet in the US with Evan and Robert when they are visiting there. Yuliya Vinokurova, our Russia-based recruiter, also works out of our Hong Kong office from time to time.

During Evan and Robert’s last three recent trips to HK, occurring from August to December ’11, the outlook of most of the US corporate partners they regularly meet with in HK improved substantially. While lateral US corporate associate hiring has not picked up yet in HK / China, the outlook for future deal flow has improved over the situation only a few months ago.

The general feeling in the market from most US corporate associates that we are speaking to these days is that hiring is very slow in Asia and will be for a long while, but the reality is not nearly as dire as this common view. While US associate lateral hiring has indeed slowed down significantly in the Asia markets, the slow-down has mainly been in US cap markets, but not necessarily in other practice areas. Cap markets hiring, especially at the top US firms, has always been the key driver for US associate hiring in Asia. Thus, when hiring in US cap markets is down, the entire lateral hiring market for US associates in Asia is significantly down.

US Cap Markets hiring in HK / China has not stopped entirely though. For example, in the past three weeks, we have made two US cap markets associate placements in HK, at a top US firm and a Magic Circle firm. We predict that US cap markets hiring in HK / China will not pick up that much until spring though and we don’t expect a repeat of the early ’11 US cap markets hiring boom in HK / China for years to come.

Keep in mind that in the first half of ’11, we were in the tail end of a two year IPO boom in HK / China and for most of that boom period, many top US firms’ HK / China offices were either on hiring freeze or only allowed limited hiring by their global firm management. By the end of ’10, most US practices in HK / China were finally given the full green light to hire as many associates as the partners’ on the ground felt they needed, but by that time most US cap markets practices in HK / China were woefully understaffed. Thus, the unprecedented hiring boom commenced.

As you know, late summer ’11 onwards brought on a slow down in IPO activity in HK / China. The slow down was caused mainly by volatility in the global markets, due in large part to the Europe crisis. Many clients of top US cap markets practices in Asia decided to put scheduled IPOs on hold. At the height of the Europe crisis and the volatility in the markets last fall, there was a realistic fear that many IPOs could be put on hold for a year or more. Despite the gloomy outlook at the time, it was a much more healthy market than in late ’08, when pencils were basically put down at cap markets practices in Asia. Late last year, cap markets practices in HK / China were still working on deals scheduled for closing in 4th quarter, but the expectation was that most of those deals would ultimately be put on hold, perhaps long-term. Things picked up in the markets late last year and some law firms’ clients pushed through their IPO 4th quarter closings after all. Most importantly, the feeling in the market is now that IPOs put on hold late last year and 1st quarter this year could come back in first half ’12, instead of in late ’12 or ’13.

Of course, there are many variables at play in the global markets that will determine things (our brief overview here is overly simplistic due to this being a blog post, rather than a dissertation), and there are surely economic challenges that China must overcome in ’12, but the outlook has improved substantially in the past 3 months. The Europe crisis has been put on hold, at least for a while, and the threat of a significant slow down in China’s economy has not materialized. Economists are now predicting China’s sizzling growth will slow some in ’12,and will still be at boom levels of around 8.5%. The predictions were far more dire several months ago by some economists, who were predicting a “hard landing” for China’s economy in ‘12.

China’s growth rate in ’11 was 9.2%, down from the 10.4% in ’10. The outlook for the first three months of ’12 is expected to be around 8.3%, but then pick up afterwards for the remainder of ’12. China’s growth in the 4th quarter ’11 slowed to 8.9%, a much smaller decline than what was expected.

We believe that starting after the extended holiday season of late December through an earlier than usual Chinese New Year presently upon us, a few more US cap markets practices in Asia will consider hiring again. It will likely be no earlier than spring though before we see a real increase in cap markets lateral associate hiring though.

We expect to continue to make placements in other practice areas though during 1st and 2nd quarters, especially as many US law firms in Asia continue to diversify and add new practices. While cap markets placements have been down, we have had higher than usual numbers of placements in Asia in fund formation, project finance and in new US litigation practices (mostly FCPA work). Our partner friends in fund
formation are flat-out busy for the most part. MA placement numbers have been down a bit, but in better shape than cap markets.

IPO activity still is the driver for a lot of the US associate hiring though in Asia and when cap markets work slows, it can be difficult for partners busy in other practices in Asia to get clearance to make the hires they need. Firm management back in US or UK can be heavily influenced by the overall numbers of an Asia office, numbers driven by cap markets deal flow at many of those offices, when deciding whether to give the green light on hires in general.

Also, keep in mind that during slow hiring periods like this one, there is an abundance of very high quality cap markets and corporate US associate candidates on the market in Asia. When a hiring partner is unsure he should pull the trigger on new hires just yet and he has seven great resumes on his desk, it is much easier to hold off. Hiring decisions are rushed, on the other hand, when Asian background candidates from top 10 firms become scarce and that can happen very quickly in an obviously improving market. It could happen in spring or summer this year, if the markets continue to improve.

Courtesy PhotoBow The Cat, struck by an arrow.

Few criminal acts incite readers’ sense of outrage like violence against animals.

Take Bow the cat, shot with an arrow in May, or the woman sentenced a year ago to two years in prison after convincing her son to shoot a dairy cow as part of a bizarre witness intimidation plot.

Not long ago, these depraved acts would have been, at most, property crimes.

But attitudes toward the suffering and well-being of pets and other animals have changed, and the laws are catching up.

On Saturday, Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids hosted several hours of presentations from representatives of the Michigan Humane Society, Wayne County’s Animal Protection Unit, a University of Michigan attorney and Holland veterinarian Jim Bader.

“Not too long ago,felony cruelty standards existed in only a handful of states. Now 47 states have them,” said Canton attorney Bee Friedlander. She is a founding member of the Animal Law Section of the Michigan Bar Association and Michigan Attorneys for Animals – Friedlander is managing director of the Animals and Society institute.

In 22 states, there are provisions that allow pets – or companion animals – to be included among those protected from abuse, harassment and contact with the subject of its owner’s personal protection order.

Michigan is not one of those states.

While there is an emotionally charged reaction to animal abuse, Friedlander says the driving force for lawmakers is the growing body of evidence that connects violence against animals to violence against humans — from serial murder in the case of Jeffrey Dahmer, explosive murderous rage as in the Columbine High School shootings or the cases of domestic violence that are all-too-common in Michigan courts.

“For juveniles, the psychological journals list animal abuse as one of the major indicators of future violence,” Friedlander said.

Courtesy PhotoBee Friedlander

She said there are efforts underway to get the state Legislature to pass laws that would require reporting standards for professionals who become aware of animal abuse by children, including veterinarians, child protective services, animal shelters or child welfare agency workers.

“There has been an effort to have animal abuse registries,” Friedlander said.

The animal abuse registry would be patterned after the current Michigan Sex Offender Registry and would be used to keep track of those convicted of animal-related crimes. , But there are bills in the state House judiciary committee that could create a registry.

She said there is also a national effort underway to convince shelters for domestic abuse victims they should take in well-trained companion animals.

Friedlander said often spouse abusers will take their wrath out on a pet if they can get at the animals.

She said the difficulty is getting legislatures to treat animal welfare as a priority that affects their constituents as well.

E-mail Barton Deiters: bdeiters@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/GRPBarton

New York:  His credentials are impeccable. The son of former Michigan Governor George W Romney, Mitt has a law degree and an MBA from Harvard.

In 1984, he founded private equity firm Bain Capital, which went on to become one of the most successful firms of its kind in the world and which now manages roughly $65 billion in assets.

As president of the organising committee, Mr Romney is credited with turning the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, which were plagued with corruption scandals and organizational delays, into a grand success. And he has served as Governor of Massachusetts, a Democratic bastion and home of the Kennedys, where he enjoyed high approval ratings throughout his term.

But this is no regular election year. At a time when the Occupy Wall Street movement has highlighted the issue of income inequality in America, Romney’s career in private equity – which has earned him an estimated $250 million – is at best, a mixed blessing.

His wealth has made him vulnerable to attacks from opponents for employing many of the techniques used to avoidance paying taxes routinely used by America’s super rich, including the use of bank accounts in offshore tax havens. But it isn’t just his money that could be a problem.

Mr Romney has long been derided for his serial flip-flopping on key issues.

As Governor of Massachusetts, Mr Romney signed into law a bill that required every individual carry health insurance or pay a fine. He now vehemently opposes his own idea, when applied at the federal level by the Obama administration.

According to Michael Doyle, Harold Brown professor of US foreign and security policy at Columbia University, “This leads to suspicion amongst conservatives in the Republican Party. They regard him as an opportunist, a chameleon, someone who will say anything to get elected and therefore they doubt his conservative credentials.”

And then there is the elephant in the room. Mitt Romney is a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints, colloquially known as the “Mormons”. Mormons have made significant contributions to American life and achieved high positions in business, government, and academia. Yet, their church’s unorthodox beliefs regarding Christianity, its encouragement of polygamy until the early twentieth century, and the generally secretive nature of many of its religious practices have made many Americans somewhat suspicious of Mormons.

A prominent businessman and a religious family man might seem like the ideal Republican Party candidate. Yet, when the business is private equity, the religion in Mormonism, and the year is 2012, strange things can happen. There is almost a sense of indignation about Mitt Romney, as though he simply can’t understand why people would even hesitate before picking him over candidates who have openly violated their marital vows and who have few accomplishments outside of politics to their credit. Over the next few weeks, he will have to convince republican America what he clearly believes to be the obvious.

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