A comprehensive book that guides young defense lawyers through their earlier years of practice was recently published by the DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar (DRI) and features a chapter co-authored by IADC member Mary Massaron and Olivia M. Paglia, both attorneys at Plunkett Cooney.
Targeted to associates and law clerks who are beginning their practice, the book, titled: “A Young Lawyer’s Guide to Defense Practice,” provides practical guidance and insights into virtually every area of trial practice and procedure. The Guide also addresses such important considerations as ethics and life in a law firm. Massaron and Paglia co-authored the chapter on persuasive writing.
“This was a tremendous opportunity for us to be involved in a resource that can help law clerks and new associates get their careers off to a successful start,” said Massaron, who serves as Appellate Law Practice Group Leader at Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s largest and most accomplished law firms. “The book is an insider’s guide that will give attorneys the foundation onto which they can solidly build their practice.”
The 27-chapter book provides tips on law firm life, ethics and conflicts, defending a claim, expert witnesses, discovery, evidence at trial, and various litigation topics, including motion practice, voir dire, opening statements and closing arguments, arguing motions and appeals, and writing an appellate brief.
A member of the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, Massaron served as President of the DRI in 2012 to 2013. She is a past chair of the Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of Michigan, DRI’s Appellate Advocacy Committee, and the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Council of Appellate Lawyers, a division of the Appellate Judges Conference. A member of the prestigious American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, Massaron co-chairs the Michigan Appellate Bench Bar Conference Foundation, an organization of Michigan appellate judges and lawyers. She is also a former chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs, a five-member committee that oversees preparation of ABA briefs for filing in the U.S. Supreme Court.
An active member of the DRI, the organization has named an award after Massaron, who has built a reputation as a mentor to new lawyers. The “Mary Massaron Award for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession” is conferred on someone each year at the DRI’s Women in the Law Seminar who has made significant efforts to advance women in the legal profession.