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| Butch Hollowell, "Legal Genius" (trademark pending) |
I knew Butch Hollowell would raise his head from his safe harbor of Miller Law after he jumped ship from the City of Detroit.
It just never dawned on me that it would morph into the holy alliance of a desperate coalition.
This is going to be messy, but hey, what do I know?
I wonder if this is pro bono or an act of self-preservation...or both?
I must say, I am quite surprised that Reggie Turner was not approached for this endeavor.
The following is taken from his bio from the Miller Law Firm site:
| Boy, does Butch suck! |
Melvin Butch Hollowell serves as Managing Partner of The Miller Law Firm Detroit where he oversees the firm’s practice at its new downtown Detroit locatio Hollowell specializes in complex commercial litigation and class action matters, municipal law, election law, corporate transactions and civil rights. It seems Mike Duggan was kind to Butch, just like he was kind to Johnathan Kinloch.
Hollowell is recognized by his peers in Michigan and at the national level as being at the top of the profession. This is left wide open for input from those who actually know him when he was working for the John Kerry Presidential campaign. He was elected as a “Fellow” of the Michigan State Bar Foundation, a recognition reserved for the top five percent of Michigan lawyers. He was selected by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as a “Leader in the Law,” one of the most select and prestigious recognitions in the state’s legal profession. Hollowell is a recipient of the Wolverine Bar Association’s “President’s Award,” the highest honor that can be bestowed by the organization. Hollowell received the AV Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell, the “Highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards, through a strenuous Peer Review Rating process which evaluates lawyers in the United States and Canada.” He is a Life Member of the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Hollowell has served on the National N.A.A.C.P. Legal Committee by appointment of the Association’s Chair. He is a recipient of the “Exemplary Service” award, presented by his colleagues in the City of Detroit’s Office of the Corporation Counsel. At the end of his four-year tenure as the City of Detroit’s Corporation Counsel, the Detroit City Council presented Hollowell with its highest recognition, the “Testimonial Resolution.”
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| Meme Credit: Adaj Parr, 4-26-2016 Facebook Group: "Why are you a member of the Detroit NAACP?" http://archive.is/HTYGe |
In private practice, Hollowell was retained by The Miller Law Firm to handle a significant federal class action matter: Davidson v. Henkel of America, Inc., (2:12-cv-14103-LPZ-DRG) involving the loss of retirement pay sustained by the class through defendant’s failure to take advantage of available favorable tax treatment for applicable company retirees in its deferred compensation plan. Hollowell prevailed in the matter winning a 100% recovery for the class.
Immediately prior to his association with The Miller Law Firm, Hollowell completed a four-year term as Corporation Counsel of the City of Detroit, the City’s chief legal officer. He was appointed to the position by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, unanimously confirmed by the Detroit City Council, and sworn-in to office in January 2014. During this transformative period in the life of the City, he assumed the role of Director of the City’s 70-attorney Law Department and was lead counsel to the Mayor, City Council, City Clerk, Police and Fire Departments, and all City departments, boards, commissions and agencies. In this role he also served as the City’s chief criminal prosecutor.
Among his accomplishments as Corporation Counsel were:
- Reducing litigation payouts by nearly 50%, from a historic average of $30 million per year to $16 million in 2016 The proper term is called settlement. Litigation payouts I personally consider to be code for "attorney fees".
- Led the case that ended 11 years of Department of Justice oversight of the Detroit Police Department, saving the City $86,000 per month and establishing the DPD as a constitutional policing agency A constitutional policing agency is supposed to collaborate with the DOJ to protect the rights of the people, but I guess that interpretation was modified to further the city governmental interest when it came to the Detroit Land bank Authority.
- Managed the City’s legal process through the 2014 Chapter 9 bankruptcy proceedings and allowed everyone to file as a creditor, including the Detroit Land Bank Authority
- Collected $20 million from bankruptcy consultants for overbilling This is called kickback litigation: putting on a show to make it look like you are actually doing what you are supposed to be doing, but, instead, allowed everyone to pilfer the properties and national treasures of the City.
- Created the Commercial Blight Unit to hold property owners accountable for compliance with City standards. This unit collected over $601, 650 in judgments from non-compliant property owners, and never lost a case The Unit never lost a case because he just let Mike Duggan put his name on Detroit Land Bank Authority quiet title actions behind the backs of the property owners and allowed them to use TARP to do it.
- Created the Income Tax Unit to ensure citizens and businesses in the City pay their fair share for City services. This unit has collected over $5.3 million and never lost a case He never lost a case because the data were used for electioneering. He never lost a case because Larry Garcia is doing what Butch never did. It is called litigation.
- Created Project Clean Slate, a pioneering program in which 100 volunteer lawyers and 100 volunteer law students provide free legal representation in non-violent criminal expungements in exchange for the applicant agreeing to sign up for the City’s job readiness program. The participating lawyers and law students in this project never lost a case I heard rumors on the streets that he never lost a case because he never litigated a case. Settlements are not zero sum outcomes. I also wonder if these were the same "volunteer law students" the Detroit Land Bank Authority had up in Columbo's courtroom running these bogus quiet title cases?
- Worked with the Duggan Administration and the City Council to write and implement the City’s first medical marihuana ordinances which took effect March 1, 2016; and he oversaw regulation and compliance with the ordinances, alongside the Police Department and the Buildings Safety Engineering and Environmental Department, and defended the ordinances in court. The Law Department lost none of these cases Considering the fact that said ordinances were poorly constructed, I would really not be taking credit for the lack of obviation with other legislative jurisdictions.
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| The Detroit Land Bank Authority is not part of the City of Detroit, but Butch cloaked its operations, anyway. |
When he announced that he was stepping down from his position at City Hall to accept the position as Managing Partner, The Miller Law Firm Detroit, Mayor Duggan thanked Hollowell for his service and praised his accomplishments: “Under Butch Hollowell’s leadership, not only has the city saved millions of dollars in lawsuit settlements that can be used for critical city services, his vigorous efforts to address the issues of commercial blight, illegal graffiti and illegal dumping have greatly improved the quality of life in Detroit’s neighborhoods. It’s no surprise The Miller Law Firm recognized Butch’s outstanding abilities as a lawyer and administrator and recruited him to their team.”
City Council President Brenda Jones added, “I appreciate Butch Hollowell’s service to the Detroit City Council. He represented us in key legislation, cut the flow of lawsuit payouts in half and worked to ensure the best interests of the city were protected. Under Butch’s leadership, excellent legal advice was provided to City Council and we wish him well in this new chapter of his life.”
During his tenure at the City, he served as a board member of the Downtown Development Authority as a Mayoral appointee, where he also chaired the DDA’s 4.1(c) sub-committee overseeing the award of contacts exceeding $500,000 and spearheaded a super secret procurement task force when it came to TARP contracts. He served as a Commissioner of the Detroit Election Commission where he participated in questionable election practices during the 2016 primary and general elections and as a Trustee of the City’s Police and Fire Pension Board.
Hollowell was a Shareholder at Butzel Long, P.C. and at Allen Brothers PLLC, where he represented the City of Hamtramck without resolution or contract, and not even notifying the court, to cover up election fraud, getting paid under the table, practicing commercial litigation, business transactions, and municipal and election law. He was also General Counsel of the Detroit Branch N.A.A.C.P., where he litigated voting rights, redistricting, and gerrymandering of the 13th & 14 Congressional Districts, equal access to education matters in the federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court (Schuette v. Cantrell, 572 U.S. __; 134 S. Ct. 1623 (2014); Docket No. 12–682).
Hollowell served as Insurance Consumer Advocate for the State of Michigan by appointment of the Governor. Hollowell was appointed to Vice President Al Gore’s litigation team in Miami (pro hac vice), under Kendall Coffey, during the 2000 Presidential Recount. He was the first African American Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party when first began his attempts to take John Conyers, Jr. out of office, and also served on the Democratic National Committee where he oversaw questionable campaign finance activities in the party. He was elected to the Rules Committee of the 2016 Democratic National Convention which has led to a full scale international conjugal collaborative investigation in campaign and election fraud. Hollowell was Treasurer for Jennifer Granholm’s successful campaigns for Governor of Michigan and Michigan Attorney General where there is also another federal investigation into these past campaign practices.
Hollowell is a Member of the United States Supreme Court Bar, he is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and the courts of the State of Michigan. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the American Bar Association.
Hollowell received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1984 where he was President of the Black Law Students Association. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Albion College in 1981 where he was elected commencement speaker by his fellow classmates. He is a graduate of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, Class of 1977.
Hollowell is active in the community, having served on the boards of the Detroit Branch N.A.A.C.P., Cass Community Social Services, the Wolverine Bar Association, Marygrove College, Albion College, Wayne State University Medical School, Detroit Music Hall, the Nature Conservancy – Michigan Chapter, and the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy. In 2018 Mr. Hollowell was appointed General Chairman of the Detroit Branch N.A.A.C.P. Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner, the largest sit-down slush fund dinner in the world, and the single largest fundraiser for civil rights slush funds in the United States.
Hollowell was born at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. He speaks Spanish, is an avid tennis player, has traveled widely, and plays acoustic guitar in a band called “the Meltones” with his son Melvin III. He has two children, Melvin III and Desiree, and three grandchildren, Jack, Allie, and Jacob. He lives in downtown Detroit.
This is just getting started, Butch. I still remember what you said about us in your response to my first Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission filing.
Perhaps, just perhaps, Perkins Coie had a previous commitment and could not assist in this matter.
You suck, Butch. You suck, badly.
This is just getting started, Butch. I still remember what you said about us in your response to my first Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission filing.
Perhaps, just perhaps, Perkins Coie had a previous commitment and could not assist in this matter.
You suck, Butch. You suck, badly.
John Conyers, III, a candidate for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, filed a lawsuit today in the Wayne County Circuit Court asking the chief judge to order the county clerk to place John Conyers, III on the primary and general ballot for Michigan 13th Congressional District.
“Voters have a right to a fair choice,” said Conyers. “Attempts to suppress the voice of voters or any other machinations designed to narrow voters’ choices won’t work. After comparing the qualified state voter registration file to our petition signors, we are confident that the court will have little choice other than to uphold the sacred right to vote and to place my name on the ballots.”
An attorney for the campaign, Melvin Butch Hollowell of the Miller Law Firm said “It’s incredibly important for the court to validate the voice of voters who validly signed petitions in order that John Conyers, III be on the ballot in August and November.”
I smell fear.
I smell fear.
Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission Request For Investigation Of City Of Detroit Corporate Counsel Melvi... by Beverly Tran on Scribd
The moral of the story, once again: "Do not be mean to my Sweetie."
Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©
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