Chief Judge Sean F. Cox Will Offer Commencement at MSU College of Law

April 26, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Judge Sean F. Cox, who has served as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan since February, 2022, will be the guest speaker at the Michigan State University College of Law Commencement.

The event will be held May 12, 2023 at 11 a.m. in the Jack Breslin Student Events Center.

Judge Cox was nominated by President George W. Bush in September 2004 and began his career as U.S. District Judge on June 12, 2006.

A native of Detroit, Judge Cox earned his bachelor of general studies from the University of Michigan and his Juris Doctor from what was then the Detroit College of Law in 1983.

He went on to become an associate at the prominent Detroit law firm of Kitch, Suhrheinrich, Saubier & Drutchas. Indeed, he was hired by Richard Suhrheinrich, who also has a long, prestigious connection with the Detroit College of Law and now MSU College of Law.

In 1990, he joined Cummings, McClorey, Davis and Acho in Livonia where he became a partner and specialized in medical malpractice, products liability and other cases. In 1996, Michigan Governor John Engler appointed Judge Cox to a vacancy on the Wayne County Circuit Court where he won elections in 1996, 1998 and 2004.

In his time on the bench, he has been involved in several high-profile cases including one that started in 1977 when the federal government sued Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to stop its sewage treatment plant from polluting the Detroit River.

Eventually, Judge Cox was asked to mediate DWSD issues after Detroit declared bankruptcy in 2013 and helped establish the Great Lakes Water Authority, which now oversees water and sewage treatment for Detroit and Southeast Michigan.

Judge Cox is former president of the Livonia Bar Association and served on the State Bar of Michigan Judicial Qualifications Committee from 1992-96.

He served as chair of the disciplinary panels for the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission and wrote opinions on disciplinary issues. He has also served as a visiting professor of evidence at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School and is a member of the Board of Trustees for Detroit Catholic Central High School.