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Reda Taleb’s Life’s Work: Turning Pain into Purpose — and Giving It Back to Dearborn

Reda Taleb’s Life’s Work: Turning Pain into Purpose — and Giving It Back to Dearborn

When Reda Taleb (McLean Class, 2015) talks about “giving back,” she isn’t just reciting a slogan — she’s living by example. The daughter of immigrants from Bint Jbeil, Lebanon, Taleb’s parents, along with her six older siblings, laid roots in Dearborn’s south end, an area known for its pollution-emitting factory smoke stacks and community of Arab Americans seeking the “American Dream.”

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  • Alumni Feature: Senator Nicholas P. Scutari, 115th President of the New Jersey Senate
    Alumni Feature: Senator Nicholas P. Scutari, 115th President of the New Jersey Senate

    Alumni Feature: Senator Nicholas P. Scutari, 115th President of the New Jersey Senate

    At the end of his first year elected the 115th President of the New Jersey State Senate, Senator Nicholas Scutari is leading the upper chamber for the 220th Legislative Session. Scutari was first elected to the State Senate in 2003 to represent the 22nd District, which includes the Middlesex County municipalities of Dunellen and Middlesex, the Somerset County municipalities of Green Brook and North Plainfield, and the Union County municipalities of Clark, Fanwood, Linden, Plainfield, Rahway, Scotch Plains, and Winfield. A lifelong Linden resident, Senator Scutari began his career in public service in 1994 when he was elected to the Linden Board of Education. Senator Scutari was elected to the Union County Freeholder Board in 1996. He served as Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman in 1998 and as Union County Freeholder Chairman in 1999. He is the youngest person ever to serve as Freeholder Chairman in Union County. As Senator to the 22nd Legislative District, Senator Scutari has spearheaded several initiatives that benefit both the citizens within the 22nd district and the State of New Jersey as a whole. He is a strong advocate for insurance reform and has sponsored legislation to create a more consumer-friendly environment. Another priority for him is having a fair, competent, and qualified Judiciary in New Jersey. Senator Scutari was the longest serving Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in New Jersey history. He continues to be committed to the thorough vetting and scrutiny of judicial nominees, cabinet nominations, and other gubernatorial appointments. He also recognizes the importance of caring for the ill and infirmed in the State. To that end, was the primary sponsor of the ‘New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act,’ which allows New Jersey citizens suffering from chronic and debilitating illnesses, for whom currently available treatments and medications have proven ineffective, to receive medicinal marijuana to treat and help alleviate their symptoms. Senator Scutari has been a long-standing opponent of draconian drug policies and this landmark piece of legislation served as a first step in getting cannabis outside of the underground. In 2021, Senator Scutari spearheaded legislation that would create the legal and regulatory framework for the cannabis industry in the state of New Jersey. This landmark legislation helped to create thousands of jobs in a new industry sector while righting countless legal injustices that people have faced generationally. Also, a strong advocate for quality education, Senator Scutari has supported a number of pieces of legislation that would provide funding and expand programs to ensure that New Jersey citizens receive the high-quality education they deserve. Senator Scutari is a graduate of Linden High School where he was captain of the Varsity Wrestling Team. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Kean College in less than three years at the age of only 20. He received his Masters Degree in less that one year at Rutgers’s University at the age of 21. He earned his Law Degree from Cooley Law School and was awarded the John D. Voelker Award as the school’s Outstanding Law Review Associate. A practicing attorney with an office located in Linden, Senator Scutari is a Certified Civil Trial Attorney certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Finally, Senator Scutari is also an Eagle Scout since 1984.

  • Cooley Alma Mater Connection: Roger and Marilyn Grove
    Cooley Alma Mater Connection: Roger and Marilyn Grove

    Cooley Alma Mater Connection: Roger and Marilyn Grove

    Roger and Marilyn Grove had been donors and supporters of Cooley Law School. Roger was also a good friend of Judge Brennan’s. Both avid sports fans and athletes, they often met up for a match of tennis or racquetball or pickle ball, or a friendly duel in almost any sport. Roger was also a musician. He was a tenor and first baritone horn for the MSU Concert Band.

  • Cooley Alma Mater: It’s my ‘One Shining Moment.’
    Cooley Alma Mater: It’s my ‘One Shining Moment.’

    Cooley Alma Mater: It’s my ‘One Shining Moment.’

    The do-it-yourself tradition at Thomas M. Cooley Law School survived its growth and success.

  • Breitfeld named MiLW’s 2022 ‘Lawyer of the Year’
    Breitfeld named MiLW’s 2022 ‘Lawyer of the Year’

    Breitfeld named MiLW’s 2022 ‘Lawyer of the Year’

    Cooley Law School Assistant Dean and Professor Erika Breitfeld was selected by her peers as Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s Lawyer of the Year for 2022. Breitfeld said she picked up on a common theme as she heard about her fellow honorees’ achievements.

  • Cooley Law School Professors analyze 2022 Michigan Primary Election Results
    Cooley Law School Professors analyze 2022 Michigan Primary Election Results

    Cooley Law School Professors analyze 2022 Michigan Primary Election Results

    As Michigan voters cast their ballots in the Primary Election, Cooley Law School professors shared their legal analysis with media about the three state proposals and candidates in highly contested statewide races.

  • Adjunct-Award Recipient Receives New Honor
    Adjunct-Award Recipient Receives New Honor

    Adjunct-Award Recipient Receives New Honor

    “Distinguished both at the lectern and on the bench” Cooley Law School established the Frederick J. Griffith III Adjunct Faculty Award in 1997. It is named for the late Rick Griffith, who was a Lansing lawyer and long-time adjunct professor at Cooley. Cooley is enriched by the dedicated, experienced, and talented members of our adjunct faculty They blend teaching with active careers in a great variety of law practice settings.

  • Plain Language to the Rescue
    Plain Language to the Rescue

    Plain Language to the Rescue

    EGRESS? You are in a crowded restaurant. The fire alarm goes off and diners rush for the doors. One door is marked EGRESS and one is marked EXIT. Which one leads to safety? Answer: both. But head for the Egress. It could have life-or-death consequences. Here’s why. Most of the diners likely do not know the word egress. The Plain English Lexicon says of egress that only 2/3 of Americans who completed grade 16 (four years of college) are likely to understand its meaning. It’s a college-grad word. Yet according to the Literacy Project Foundation, the average American reads at a junior-high grade level. This level of literacy might well result in a backup of diners trying to get through the Exit door and clear sailing at the Egress door.

  • Lansing a best small college town
    Lansing a best small college town

    Lansing a best small college town

    A national ranking of 200 small college towns by Preply.com selected Lansing, home of Cooley Law School, as the fifth best in Michigan. The ranking was based on economic and social environment factors including having a college or university, a vibrant community, and affordability. Lansing is first and foremost a small college town because it has two small colleges: Cooley Law School and Lansing Community College. What makes Lansing a great small college town—and a great place to live and visit—is that it has a small college-town feel. It has the sense of being in an artistic community, with students pursuing higher education, trying to discover themselves and what they will do with the rest of their lives. Every small college town is different, even when they’re located right next to each other. That doesn’t make one better than the other. Better yet, you don’t have to choose. Michigan State University in East Lansing is a boon to the Greater Lansing Area, but so is General Motors' historic investment in Lansing. Lansing is also the state capital, with a lot of history in museums—art, history, and science—as well as its buildings, parks, streets, and a walk-through sculpture garden. The Cooley Law School campus is an artifact and attraction, with historic structures that were renovated (the classic exterior) and updated (the modern interior). It also has a dedicated greenspace that helped it achieve an environmentally responsible designation from the Society for Environmentally Responsible Facilities in June 2013. Preply rated the small college towns on 13 different indicators in three categories that affect college students including: Wallet Friendliness: The cost of apartment rental, a meal in an inexpensive restaurant, a beer, and a fitness club membership. Social Environment: the per capita rate of cafes, parks, nightlife venues and diversity as measured by foreign-born residents, as well as crime. Economic Opportunities: the average salary, the employment and unemployment rates, and the cost of buying an apartment. The social environment includes: Live music and theater, including little-known and local talent. Art galleries that feature work by local artists, sometimes the owner of the shop. Other unique shops full of character with quirky names (Elderly Instruments: “New, Used & Vintage Musical Instruments,” plus electronics and other accessories). Non-college classes where anyone can learn ballet or belly dance, acting, or art. You don’t even need to take a class; there are art parties where everybody creates a painting or screen print on the spot. Come see for yourself! Check out the Cooley Law School campus and discover Lansing’s other hidden treasures.

  • Archives Dig History
    Archives Dig History

    Archives Dig History

    With the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the law school, it seems fitting to look back at where we have come from through the eyes of the Library. The Law Library has a substantial Cooley Law School Archives collection relating to materials collected that are historical in nature containing various publications created and distributed by the school. The collection is large with nearly 1,000 items. While there is little new material being added to this collection due to the role the internet plays in creating a communications presence, you might be surprised to know that it does continue to grow. Links have been added when possible to online additions and there are some messages that are best conveyed in a print format. That is where this collection becomes invaluable.