MSU-DCL announces new coordinator for the Business and Tax Law Center

Marketing & Communications
400 Law College Building
East Lansing, MI 48824-1300
Contact:
Barbara Anselmo
517/432-6848
Jacqueline Harrington
517/432-6849

For Release September 9, 2003

Michigan State University-DCL College of Law (MSU-DCL) has named Tami Passeno as the coordinator of the MSU-DCL Legal Centers at Grand Valley State University (GVSU).

Passeno, a former MSU-DCL office manager, brings three years of recruiting experience and seven years of management to the position. A graduate of the GVSU human resource management program, Passeno will coordinate and support the addition of new certification programs in Grand Rapids as well as work with MSU-DCL’s clinical programs director and associate dean to identify externship and clinical opportunities for students. She also will continue to promote the Business and Tax Law Center and its commitment to offering the same high quality of instruction and service offered individually by MSU-DCL and GVSU.

The Business and Tax Law Center is a subunit of the Legal Institute of West Michigan, a collaboration of MSU-DCL, GVSU, Michigan State University (MSU) and the Grand Rapids Bar Association. Created in December 2002, the Institute was formed to offer law-related courses for the benefit of the West Michigan public and bar.

The center offers law students, legal practitioners, business graduate students and corporate professionals the opportunity to take specialized courses in either business law or tax law and allows non-JD students to earn a certificate in either business law or tax law.

“ The collaboration of MSU-DCL, MSU, GVSU and the Grand Rapids Bar combines the strengths of each institution providing the residents of western Michigan broader access to legal assistance and education,” said Passeno.

Michigan State University-DCL College of Law, formerly known as Detroit College of Law, was founded in 1891 and was the first law school in Detroit. To extend its commitments to educational excellence, the Detroit College of Law affiliated with Michigan State University in 1995 and moved to MSU’s East Lansing campus in 1997.

The move to MSU enabled the law college to build a $28 million facility and provide law students the benefits of a Big Ten university while maintaining its private law school status. Today, MSU-DCL remains the nation’s oldest continuously operating independent law school.

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