Guts, Grit, and Ultimately Glory: WSU Law’s Evening Program

While there are certainly differences between Wayne Law’s day and evening students, they’re also identical in very important ways. They arrive with strong undergraduate credentials, impressive LSATs, and an appreciation for the Law School’s reputation, bar passage statistics, and stature as an urban institution offering outstanding career opportunities. But making an evening law program work efficiently and effectively takes more than committed students. It requires faculty committed to teaching and mentoring at night – both full-time faculty and adjuncts who bring current law practice insights as well as theory to their classes – scheduling flexibility, financial options, and scholarship assistance. And, for want of better terms, it takes guts and grit.

Deciding to attend Wayne Law seven years after his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and an already promising career in risk management, current second year student Dan Boss knew a JD would help him become a better insurance professional. Nevertheless, it was a huge change financially and physically. Financially, Boss knew he needed to continue earning a full-time salary, so full-time legal study wasn’t a possibility. Thanks to a remote work option after COVID, Dan was able to physically relocate to Southeast Michigan. “Having the ability to continue gaining work experience, income, and benefits – and still be a law student – is ideal,” he notes. “One of the benefits of the evening program is the small class sizes and the increased attention from teachers for whom teaching is a priority. Courses like Civil Procedure allow me to tie what I’m learning back to my profession, and it’s rewarding to be in class with people from similar backgrounds and ages.”

Hannah Hollin, also a second fourth-year evening student, is another textbook illustration of guts and grit. Married, a paralegal in the Army Reserves, recent mother of twin daughters, and working part-time as a as a law clerk at Conlin, McKenney & Philbrick, P.C., it’s hard to imagine how Hollin has time for law school. But as a lifelong high-achiever – a summa cum laude graduate of Southeastern University who scored in the 94th percentile on her LSAT – Hannah doesn’t lack for either brains or a capacity for hard work. That underscores why she appreciates Wayne Law’s efforts in accommodating evening students: “[t]he profs here understand that most students have other commitments during the day. In fact, I wouldn’t be going to law school at all were it not for Wayne.”

There are few better examples of guts and grit than those individuals who work their way up from the ground floor – like second year student Michael Hattar. The son of Jordanian immigrants, Hattar worked in the family’s convenience store from age 12 until he earned his accounting finance degree from UM Dearborn (3.9 GPA). From there, he joined Ernst and Young, where he’s a tax manager specializing in sales and use taxes, and started a side-career as a real estate broker and investor. Like many other Wayne Law students and alumni, Michael realized his CPA would be even more valuable with a JD. Since maintaining his successful EY career and continuing his real estate activities were priorities, Wayne Law’s evening program was the perfect choice in terms of class hours, location, and its practical focus. “It’s a program that perfectly suits me,” Michael says. “I’m getting a great deal of relevant, real-world experience thanks to the faculty, many of whom are active practitioners. That makes for real value at Wayne, especially as I see myself ultimately running my own CPA firm and brokerage.”

It’s not just about students, either. Evening program instructors typically bring not just hard work and dedication, but a wealth of real-world experience to their teaching. A notable example is former Appellate Court Judge Elizabeth Gleicher. Recently retired, Gleicher has taught at Wayne for more than 20 years, developed its judicial externship program, and most recently taught an appellate advocacy class. A Wayne Law grad herself, she practiced medical malpractice and reproductive rights law with her own firm before being called to the bench in 2007. Teaching at Wayne Law is especially satisfying for Judge Gleicher as “Many of my students are first-gen, some from immigrant families, and it’s rewarding to be part of the process for producing these new lawyers. They share a commitment to making change in our community and I’ve seen that strengthen over the years. That, too, is very rewarding for me.”

Wayne Law’s evening program JDs are represented in virtually every segment of the legal profession and in every type of organization – law firms, corporations, non-profits, government, the judiciary, and as entrepreneurs, sole practitioners, and faculty members. Their successful careers underscore the ultimate glory resulting from hard work; that’s the guts and grit element. But their success also underscores the reputational distinction of Wayne Law and the school’s record of success in placing new JDs in high-impact careers.

Among the school’s many high-achieving corporate alumni is Vince Foster (JD ’82), Founder and Chairman of the Board of Main Street Capital Corporation, who’s also a CPA and major benefactor of Wayne Law. “I’m very passionate about the evening program,” he explains in a recent video interview. “I’d earned my CPA but needed to work and didn’t have the funds to attend a traditional 3-year program. The evening program gave me everything I needed and really taught me how to manage my time efficiently.”

Gregory Narsh (’92), an attorney and Pepper Center Fellow at Troutman Pepper in Detroit, is equally appreciative of the evening program:

“In early 1988, I made the decision to pursue a law degree. As a full-time engineer with a family, I knew my studies would have to be in the evening. Already a 2-time alum of Wayne State, my first (and only) thought was my alma mater. I completed the evening program in four years and, since 1992, have been in private practice at three of the country’s largest law firms. Scheduling courses around my day job was never an issue and my professors were always accessible for questions or to resolve any issues. Wayne’s evening law program, which featured the identical professors as the day program, prepared me for every challenge I’ve faced and proved to be not only a life-changing experience, but an enjoyable one as well. I attribute that to the quality, skills, experience, and personalities of my professors.”

After Wayne Budd received his BA in economics from Boston College, he came to Detroit to work in Ford’s Industrial Relations Department at Ford Motor Company and attend Wayne Law’s evening program, from which he received his JD degree in 1967.

Budd then returned to Boston where he served as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Boston from 1968 to 1969 and developed his private law practice. Elected president of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, he went on to become the first African American to head the Massachusetts Bar as President in 1979, the youngest (at age 38) president of any state bar association. Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 as Associate Attorney General of the United States, Budd oversaw the Civil Rights, Environmental, Tax, Civil and Anti-Trust Divisions at the Department of Justice, as well as the Bureau of Prisons. From 1989 to 1992, he worked as United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and was appointed by President Bill Clinton a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission in 1994.

Prior to rejoining the Goodwin Proctor law firm in 2004, Budd served as Group President-New England at Bell Atlantic Corporation (now Verizon Communications) and Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel at John Hancock Financial Services. As a signal example of guts, grit, and glory, Wayne Budd’s career, which began at Wayne Law, has been distinguished and illustrious. Even today, he remains deeply appreciative:

“I received a first-rate legal education at Wayne Law. However, an unanticipated ancillary benefit of attending the evening program at Wayne was that among my day job, attending classes, studying and helping to raise a family, little did I realize that I was actually training to successfully “ juggle “ several balls in the air at one time; this “ training” has proven to be of immense assistance to me throughout my career in the legal profession.”

Evening program alumni seem especially cognizant of how Wayne Law’s evening program helped them achieve their ambitions, and that’s perhaps why many regularly make gifts to the school – gifts that ease the financial burdens of current and future evening students, endow a faculty chair or otherwise help attract and retain extraordinary faculty, or support a critical student experience like externships, clinics, or internships.

Return to Vince Foster as a case in point. With a recent investment of $1.5 million dollars over the next five years, Vince’s generosity is helping to enhance Wayne Law’s evening program, build on its strengths from the past 98 years, and fortify it further for the next 100. Among other things, Vince’s gift will support top-flight faculty who teach in the evening program—faculty like Charles “Chip” Brower, Distinguished Service Professor and the first Foster Family Research Scholar— as they host special events and activities to help maximize the program’s opportunities and benefits for evening students. It also will fund two adjunct faculty members, typically practicing lawyers or jurists, to expand elective evening courses, as well as provide dedicated funds to bolster the social, academic, and recruiting work for the program.

Wayne Law’s evening program stands as a defining example of the school’s commitment to accessibility, excellence, and impact. By opening the doors of legal education to working professionals, caregivers, and community leaders who might otherwise be unable to pursue a JD, the program ensures that rather than circumstance and access, talent, determination, and vision determine who becomes a lawyer. Its rigorous curriculum, taught by the same distinguished faculty as the day program, combined with the flexibility and support systems unique to the evening track, has shaped generations of graduates whose influence reaches every corner of the profession. In this way, the evening program doesn’t simply expand opportunity; it reinforces Wayne Law’s prominence as an institution where diverse perspectives converge, legal careers are launched, and the future of justice is shaped.