Bill Richards has had an impressive legal career that has included serving as a U.S. Attorney, deputy attorney general for Michigan, and now as a 46th District Court judge. However, his early passion was for music, playing trumpet for four years in the prestigious University of Michigan Marching Band led by William D. Revelli. Revelli's strict attention to detail and pursuit of perfection in every note left a lasting impression on Richards and influenced his approach to law. Richards credits his time in the U-M band with teaching him that every step matters in achieving success.

1. BY TOM KIRVAN
Legal News
Throughout his legal career, Bill Richards has hit more than
a few high notes.
En route to his current post as a 46th District Court judge in
Southfield, Richards has served two stints in the U.S. Attor-
ney’s Office, rubbing elbows with such legal luminaries as Jim
Robinson, Leonard Gilman, Ralph Guy, Saul Green, and a
young Harvard Law School grad who was about to embark on
a career in the rough-and-tumble world of state politics.
He later would join his former colleague, Jennifer
Granholm, as her right hand man, serving as deputy attorney
general for four years when the future Michigan governor suc-
ceeded the legendary Frank Kelley as the state’s chief law offi-
cer and legal advisor.
From there, the Detroit native was appointed senior policy
advisor for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quali-
ty, an important state post that would serve as a legal stepping
stone to his appointment in February 2007 to the 46th District
Court bench in Oakland County.
Yet, like most attorneys with an impressive legal resume,
Richards is smart enough to know his limitations, inside and
outside the courtroom. It was a lesson he learned at an early
age on the junior high school gridiron as a running back.
An undersized running back, at that.
“God gave me a body not particularly suited for certain
sports,” Richards smiled in recalling his abbreviated football
career. “I was a 107-pound running back in junior high and I
can still remember taking a handoff and breaking through the
line of scrimmage only to be hit by what must have been a
truck. That really was the beginning of the end of my days as a
football player. I realized that I should try other sports more in
line with my physical abilities.”
The somewhat rude awakening gave him enough of a nudge
to expand his extracurricular interests into
the world of music, where he would join
the marching band at Birmingham Groves
High School, eventually becoming so pro-
ficient at trumpet that he would play all
four years for the University of Michigan
band guided by legendary director
William D. Revelli.
It was Revelli, director of the U-M
Marching Band from 1935-71, who
imparted some lifelong wisdom on the
mind of a young trumpeter from the Detroit
suburbs.
“His attention to detail was amazing,”
Richards said of his music mentor from the
U-M. “He was Lombardi-esque in his pursuit
of perfection,” he added, referring to Hall of
Fame football coach Vince Lombardi, whose
thirst for winning helped lead the Green Bay
Packers to two straight Super Bowl titles.
“I can remember one rehearsal under Revelli in
which we spent a half-hour on just one note. He made
us play it over and over and over again until we finally
got it right. About five minutes into it, we thought he was
nuts to spend so much time on one note. By the end of the
rehearsal, we began to understand the overall message that he
was trying to drive home-that every note is important, that
every step is important on the road to success. That message
stuck with us.”
In life and in law for Richards.
A 1969 Michigan grad, Richards was encouraged by his
father, Jim, to pursue a career in the law.
“My father encouraged both my brother (Tom) and I to
become lawyers,” Richards said. “He thought it would offer
us some independence and would afford more opportunities
than a career in the corporate world.”
His father worked for Michigan Bell over the span of 42
years, selling Yellow Pages ads on his way up to becoming an
assistant vice president of the giant phone company that was
part of AT&T. His mother, Eleanor, who died of lung cancer at
age 45, also was a graduate of Michigan, meeting her future
husband there on a blind date.
INSIDE
DAILY
BRIEFING
Official Newspaper: City of Detroit • Wayne Circuit Court • U.S. District Court • U.S. Bankruptcy Court
LANSING (AP) — Women’s groups in
Michigan are bringing attention to the fact
that Michigan women on average make only
69.8 cents for every dollar earned by a man.
The Michigan Women’s Commission says
that puts the state 47th nationally, making it
one of the worst states for pay equity.
The groups are calling on state lawmakers
to increase equal pay enforcement and
strengthen protection against wage discrimi-
nation.
Bills were introduced last year to tackle
pay inequities. Although the legislation hasn’t
passed the Senate, some bills have passed the
House, including two that were approved
Tuesday.
The most recent House bills would prohibit
an employer from failing or refusing to pro-
vide equal compensation for work of compa-
rable value because of sex, race or other fac-
tors.
Tuesday was national “Equal Pay Day.” It
marks how far into the year a woman must
work to earn as much as a man earned the
previous year.
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit development
board has awarded a contract for demolition
of Tiger Stadium.
The Detroit Economic Development Corp.
awarded the demolition contract Tuesday to
MCM Management Corp. of Bloomfield Hills
and The Farrow Group of Detroit.
The companies will do the work without
charge and make money by selling the scrap,
which could bring in $1 million or more.
The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press
say the nonprofit Old Tiger Stadium Conser-
vancy faces a June 1 deadline to raise at least
$369,000 to save part of the ballpark as a
museum and community center.
The stadium has been empty since the
Detroit Tigers moved to Comerica Park in
2000.
News you cannot get anywhere else 75 CentsVol. CXIII No. 83
Assumed Names .....................38
Calendar.....................................3
City Request for Bids................5
Classified Ads ...........................4
Court of Appeals Opinions......43
Legal Notices.............................5
Mortgages..................................4
Thursday
April 24, 2008
■ Dollar Slumps
Euro breaks through $1.60 as
U.S. dollar slumps to record low.
Page Two
■ Griffin Shipwreck
Court orders federal jurisdiction
over Lake Michigan shipwreck.
Page Three
■ Job Surge
Thousands of new jobs
coming to Kalamazoo area.
Back Page
The International Trademark Association
(INTA) is proud to support the World Intellec-
tual Property Organization (WIPO) as it cele-
brates World Intellectual Property Day 2008.
This year on Saturday, April 26, WIPO,
INTA and organizations and governments
from around the globe will come together to
highlight why intellectual property and its
corresponding protections are critical to our
society and the global economy.
“World IP Day is an important opportunity
for our society to recognize the value of cre-
ativity and innovation, and it allows us to
reflect on the best ways to protect the rights of
trademark owners and copyright and patent
holders,” said INTA Executive Director Alan
Drewsen.
World IP Day is meant to raise awareness
of how trademarks, copyrights, patents and
designs affect and stimulate daily life; to
increase the understanding of how protecting
IP rights helps promote creativity and innova-
tion; and to encourage respect for the IP rights
of others.
Each year, WIPO and its partners celebrate
World IP Day with activities and events that
demonstrate how protections foster music,
arts and entertainment, as well as all of the
products and technological innovations that
define our culture and economy.
For additional information about World IP
Day 2008, please visit http://www.wipo.int/ip-
outreach/en/ipday/2008/.
BY DAVID EGGERT
Associated Press Writer
LANSING (AP) — The state Senate on
Tuesday approved tax breaks to help small-
and medium-sized companies that critics say
are being hammered by Michigan’s new busi-
ness tax, but Democrats warned state govern-
ment can’t afford a $254 million loss in rev-
enue.
The legislation passed 23-15, with Repub-
licans voting yes and all but two Democrats
opposing it. Democrats were rebuffed when
they tried to tie the tax breaks to their bill
extending unemployment benefits for 13
weeks.
Under the GOP measure, an estimated
10,000 to 15,000 additional businesses could
start paying a 1.8 percent tax as an alterna-
tive to the Michigan Business Tax. Business-
es whose owners or officers make more than
$180,000 in wages and other benefits now
can’t qualify for the alternative tax. Legisla-
tion sponsored by Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-
Novi, would raise the threshold to $250,000.
A Wolverine at
heart, Oakland
County 46th
District Court
Judge Bill
Richards
fondly
recalls his
days as a
trumpeter
in the Uni-
versity of
Michigan
Marching
Band. Each
fall, he
returns to
the Big
House for a
“Blast from
the Past,” per-
forming with
other members
of the U-M Alumni
Band during Home-
coming festivities at
107,000-seat Michigan
Stadium.
Photo byTom Kirvan
www.legalnews.com
“It is justice, not charity that is wanting
in the world.”
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT
The Detroit Economic Club (DEC) was
pleased to host Julie Myers, assistant secre-
tary of homeland security for U.S. Immigra-
tion and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on
Monday, April 7, at the Dearborn Inn Mar-
riott.
Myers discussed the federal government’s
efforts to protect the American people by
enforcing the nation’s immigration and cus-
toms laws. As head of the Department of
Homeland Security’s largest investigative
component, Myers highlighted the increase
of ICE efforts to expand worksite compli-
ance by business owners and managers. This
includes combating “domestic outsourcing,”
the spreading practice of filling jobs in
America with workers in the United States
illegally.
“We’re all familiar with the concern that
many raise about the outsourcing of jobs to
workers in foreign lands, who work cheaper
than American workers for a whole variety
of reasons. This is one of the consequences
of today’s global economy, and many argue
that it has its plusses and its minuses,” Myers
noted.
“Using illegal aliens as part of a domestic
off-shoring scheme, on the other hand, is
without any positive benefit to American
businesses and workers. Companies that
build their workforce using illegal workers
here in the United States – they take jobs
away from legal workers, they unfairly gain
market shares over legitimate businesses,
they often disregard worker safety and envi-
ronmental laws, and they shift the tax burden
onto those who follow the law.”
Myers also discussed the agency’s priority
to ensure consumer product safety and safe-
guard American intellectual property rights.
“It’s estimated that counterfeiting and
piracy costs the United States economy as
much as $250 billion a year, and as many as
750,000 American jobs. That’s the equivalent
of the total number of people it takes to sell
out Comerica Park 18 times,” she pointed
out.
“To counteract the threat from substan-
dard, tainted, and counterfeit products, we
are working in close partnership with the
Food and Drug Administration, Customs and
Border Protection, the Consumer Product
Safety Commission, and the United States
Postal Commission in a venture we call
‘Operation Guardian.’ Using our collective
resources, we are much better able to inter-
dict and investigate such materials before
they reach consumers. And in fact, working
closely with our DHS colleagues at United
States Customs and Border Protection, we
made nearly 14,000 seizures in fiscal year
2007.
“Through ‘Operation Guardian,’ we
expect to make significant improvement in
stopping the traffic in substandard, tainted,
and counterfeit goods. And that, in turn,
should help put an important dent in orga-
nized crime, which has been moving more
and more into this line of criminal activity,”
Myers added.
Days as U-M bandsman left lasting
impression on local district judge
Membership
drive hosted by
NALS of Detroit
NALS OF DETROIT hosted its 2008 Mem-
bership Drive on Friday, March 28, at
Mexican Village in Detroit. Enjoying the
evening were (seated, left to right) Shari
Holtz with On the Record Reporting;
Marget Reilly with Miller Canfield; Renee
Bowers with Warner, Norcross, & Judd;
Sharon Julian with On the Record
Reporting; Lynne Bussinger with Barris,
Sott, Denn, & Driker; Vernelle Jean
Collins with Miller Canfield; Mary Torto-
mose of Barris, Sott, Denn, & Driker; and
Noemi Alvarez with Foley & Lardner;
along with (standing, left to right) Valerie
Butler with Warner, Norcross, & Judd;
Linda Cox; Kim Paull with Barris, Sott,
Denn, & Driker; Linda Rosten with
Chrysler Financial; and Anita Blanco
with Miller Canfield.
Photo by John Meiu
Enforcement of immigration laws explored at DEC lunch
Assistant Secretary of Homeland
Security Julie Myers recently
addressed the Detroit Economic Club.
Photo by Jeff Kowalsky
Senate approves
business
tax breaks
(See BUSINESS TAX, Page Two)
(See NOTE-WORTHY, Page Two)
World IP Day to raise
awareness of creative
contributions
City awards demolition
contract for Tiger Stadium
Groups call for equal
pay; Michigan ranks
47th nationally
DLN front page Apr24-4 4/23/08 2:16 PM Page 1