Apr 20, 2022
“It just takes some guts to stick your neck out there and say I’m gonna serve.” Barbara McQuade
Denise talks to lawyer and Detroiter Barbara McQuade, who is most proud of being appointed U.S. Attorney by President Barack Obama, the first woman to serve in her position. When faced with tough decisions in her career and in her life, Barbara believes in being honest and delivering the hard news herself, being careful to say things the way she herself would like to hear them.
Everyone has had to face adversity. Barbara draws from a deep well of past experiences to give her the confidence to face new challenges, knowing she’s been successful before. Detroit, a resilient city, resonates with her tenacity. Her advice? “Don’t eliminate yourself,” let someone else tell you no, but don’t take yourself out of the race.
Her resolution for the new year is to promote hope. Most recently she’s co-hosting a podcast, #SistersInLaw, with other legal analysts from MSNBC where she enjoys teaching listeners how the law works, fighting corruption and sharing her wisdom on the current events in politics, law, and culture.
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Lifelong Detroiter Barbara Lynn McQuade is a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School and a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and co-host of the #SistersInLaw podcast. Barbara served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan from 2010 to 2017. As part of President Donald Trump's 2017 dismissal of U.S. attorneys, she stepped down in March 2017. Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, she practiced law at the firm of Butzel Long in Detroit and served as a law clerk to Hon. Bernard A. Friedman on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and University of Michigan Law School. Barbara and her husband Dan have four children.
Denise Ilitch, an owner of Ilitch Family Companies and President of Ilitch Enterprises, has been a part of Detroit’s business and philanthropic community for over 40 years. As a mother, lawyer, entrepreneur, devoted community servant and tireless advocate for women and children, she learned early, from her father, that everyone is worthy of contributing to the world. Her passion for affordable, accessible, quality education stems from her own experience as a first-generation student, earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, where she currently serves on the Board of Regents.
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