David M. Lawson

David Lawson

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (senior status)

Tenure

2021 - Present

Years in position

3

Prior offices

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Education

Personal

Students bring class action v. Academy of Court Reporting (2009)

See also: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Tashelia Bobbitt, et al., v. Academy of Court Reporting, Inc., et al., 2:07-cv-10742-DML-VMM)

Judge Lawson presided in a lawsuit filed against the Academy of Court Reporting by former students. The students at the college's suburban Detroit campus sued because they had been promised associate degrees despite the fact that an entity such as the Academy was actually prohibited by Michigan law from conferring that type of degree. The trade school eventually agreed to a settlement under which $7.8 million (with $2.5 million going to attorney's fees) would be disbursed amongst at least 1,281 students, in addition to tuition discounts and other stipulations.^[3]

Michigan oil drillers project halted by environmentalists, donor (2008)

See also: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Anglers of the AU Sable, et al. v. Unites States Forest Service, et al., 1:05-cv-10152-DML-CEB)

Lawson presided over a case involving oil drilling in the northern part of Michigan. The case debated the legality of a permit the US Forest Service gave to Savoy Energy LP of Traverse City, Michigan to drill an exploratory well near the Au Sable River's south branch. The site of the proposed wellhead would have been located in the Huron-Manistee National Forest, about three-tenths of a mile from the Mason Tract, a 4,679-acre wilderness area prized by anglers and other outdoor recreationists.^[4]

Forest supervisor Leanne Marten said when approving Savoy's application that the project would not significantly harm the environment, and that the company would be required to keep noise to a minimum.^[4] However, Judge Lawson found that the Forest Service didn't consider how degrading the area could harm tourism and said the agency did a "woefully inadequate" job of evaluating how the drilling might affect the Kirtland's warbler, an endangered songbird that nests in the area.^[4]

Two environmental groups, the Sierra Club and Anglers of the Au Sable, sued the government to halt the drilling. Joining the suit was Tim Mason, whose grandfather, auto executive George Mason, donated the original 1,200 acres to the state upon his death in 1954 and asked that it be maintained as wilderness.^[4]

The plan by Savoy Energy was to clear about 3.5 acres of forest for a well site on federal land, then drill beneath the Mason Tract at an angle.^[4] If enough gas or oil was found, the company intended to install a pipeline and build a production facility about a mile east of the well as it was considered by Savoy Energy a source to increase domestic supply of oil and natural gas. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved the project shortly after the Forest Service granted the permit, but it was then put on hold after Lawson issued an order in December 2005 blocking the company from clearing any land to start their project.^[4]

Subsequent to Judge Lawson's order, the government decided not to appeal the ruling blocking the drilling. In October 2012, the nine-year dispute ended when Savoy Energy wrote the Federal Bureau of Land Management and withdrew its permit request.^[5][6]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Federal Judicial Center, "Lawson, David M.," accessed August 6, 2021
2. ↑ Judge David Lawson EDMI Court Biography
3. ↑ The Traverse City Record-Eagle, "School settles federal lawsuit for $7.8M," October 7, 2009 (dead link)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5} Fox News, "Federal Judge Blocks Oil Drilling in Michigan Forest," July 14, 2008
5. ↑ The Traverse City Record-Eagle, "Mason Tract drilling ban upheld," December 19, 2008
6. ↑ Capital News Service, "Plan to drill near Au Sable river scrapped," October 5, 2012