Bradley A. Smith
Bradley A. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Law at Capital University Law and Graduate Center in Columbus, Ohio, and an attorney with the firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease in Columbus, Ohio, practicing in the areas of labor, employment, immigration, and elections law. Mr. Smith has briefed cases before the United States Supreme Court, the Ohio Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He speaks regularly to business groups on legal issues.
In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Smith is a Senior Policy Analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. He is the author of two Mackinac Center policy studies, "The Michigan Accident Fund: A Need for Privatization," and "Tort Law and the Products Liability Insurance Crisis." Mr. Smith's articles have also appeared in the Harvard Journal on Legislation, the Wall Street Journal, the Detroit News, and numerous other daily newspapers.
From 1981 to 1983, Mr. Smith served as United States Vice Consul in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He has also worked as General Manager of the Small Business Association of Michigan and as a private consultant. A native of downriver Detroit, he is a cum laude graduate of Kalamazoo College and Harvard Law School.
Allan Falk
Allan Falk is a 1972 graduate of Yale Law School, who was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan the same year and has been practicing law since that time. Mr. Falk previously graduated from Michigan State University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and other honorary societies, was named a Woodrow Wilson fellow, and participated in Delta Phi Epsilon foreign service honorary. He has also attended courses at Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) State University and is an honors graduate of the U.S. Army Air Defense School.
In 1977, Mr. Falk was the first lawyer in the country after the Abood decision to formally challenge the use of mandatory bar dues by a unified bar organization. His pleadings and briefs were later borrowed by challengers, and used successfully, in New Mexico, Montana, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, California, and Wisconsin. The motivation for this initial objection to mandatory State Bar of Michigan dues was Mr. Falk's successful lobbying, as a member of Common Cause of Michigan, for open meetings and other political reform legislation. The State Bar opposed these reforms, and used his dues in its attempt to thwart him.
Mr. Falk, however, believes that some activities of the State Bar are worthwhile, although most could be better accomplished by a voluntary organization. He has served for more than six years on the Professional and Judicial Ethics Committee and the Appellate Court Administration Committee of the State Bar of Michigan. He is also a North American bridge champion, author of three books on the subject, and a member of the International Bridge Press Association.