Donald D. Campbell
Donald D. Campbell
248-351-5451
Summary
Don concentrates his practice in Attorney Grievance Defense, representation in Judicial Tenure matters and Legal Malpractice Defense. In addition to his law practice, he has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law teaching courses in Ethics and Criminal Law, since 2002. He also taught a seminar in Corporate Law and Ethics. Don served 10 years as an Associate Counsel, Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission and four years as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Oakland County, Michigan before joining the firm in 2003.
Practice Areas
Professional Liability
Ethics Advice
Judicial Tenure Matters
International Law
European Union Legal Ethics
Credentials
Education
- Wayne State University (J.D. 1989)
- Loyola University of Chicago (B.A. cum laude, 1986)
- University of Detroit High School
Admissions
- State Bar of Michigan
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
Professional Activities
- Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (Former President)
- State Bar of Michigan
- 21st Century Practice Committee
- State Bar of Michigan’s Ethics Committee (Served two terms)
- Oakland County Bar Association
- Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (Past-liaison, serving two terms)
Accomplishments
- Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” (Metro Detroit)
- Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law (2014)
- Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants (2023)
- Best Lawyers of America®
- Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law (2010-2023)
- Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants (2023)
- Super Lawyers™
- Professional Liability – Defendants (2015-2022)
- DBusiness® Top Lawyer
- Professional Malpractice Law (2014, 2017, 2023)
- Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law (2015)
- Legal Malpractice Law (2013-2015, 2020, 2023)
- Served as an expert to the State Bar of Michigan’s Representative Assembly in 2005 during its deliberations and debate concerning Michigan’s Proposed New Rules of Professional Conduct
Prominent Outcomes
Briefed and argued GA v Cooper, 482 Mich. 1079; 757 N.W.2d 867; 2008 Mich. LEXIS 2505, after argument, the Court entered a unanimous decision dismissing the grievance in its entirety. In the process, the Court endorsed nonrefundable retainer agreements under certain conditions.
Publications & Speaking Engagements
On October 3, 2018, Don participated on a panel in a State Bar of Michigan Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Lunch & Learn teleconference on mediator ethics.
On October 28, 2018, Don participated in a meeting of the Specialization Committee of the ABA’s Center for Professional Responsibility.
On November 2, 2018, Don co-presented an ethics case law update at Holland & Knight’s Law Firm Summit held in Portland, OR. It is entitled “What Should be Keeping the GC up at Night?”
Don was the conference coordinator of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers and Law Society of England and Wales joint conference on international ethics issues in Washington DC on November 9, 2018.
Moderated panel session at the APRL’s 2016 International Professional Responsibility Conference held in Paris, France, entitled Bar Regulation (Discipline and Admissions) in the EU (and Elsewhere)
Moderated panel on ethical pitfalls at the 2015 Bridging the Detroit River Conference, a joint meeting between the Canadian Defense Lawyers (CDL) and Michigan Defense Trial Counsel (MDTC) in Windsor, Ontario. The session was entitled: Ethical pitfalls in civil litigation: Tips from the judicial trenches
Presented at the 2014 International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) in Chicago, Illinois on issues of in-firm attorney/client privilege and duties triggered upon receiving stolen documents
Presented at Hinshaw’s 2014 Legal Malpractice and Risk Management Forum in Chicago, Illinois on the topic of data security for law firms
Moderated panel on attorney professionalism standards at the APRL’s 2013 Annual Conference in San Francisco, California in a session entitled: Law Schools & the New (Old) Professionalism: Task for the ABA & Role for APRL
Moderated panel on attorney advertising at the APRL’s 2013 Mid-Year Conference in Dallas, Texas in a session entitled: “Outlaw” or “Artlaw”: Advertising in the Digital Age
Moderated panel at the ABA’s 2012 Annual National Conference on Professional Responsibility in Boston, Massachusetts in a session entitled: ABA Model Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement
Presented the 2011 National Survey of Lawyer Liability and Discipline Decisions to the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers in Toronto, Canada
Presented at the ABA’s 37th Annual National Conference on Professional Responsibility in Memphis, Tennessee in session entitled: Show Me the Money: Retainers and Fee Advances Revisited
Moderated joint program between National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC) and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL) in Atlanta, Georgia. The session was entitled: The ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions: A View after 25 years
Presented at the 2010 APRL Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, in session entitled: The Importance of Being Earned: Non-refundable Retainer Agreements
Co-Presenter at the joint program between the NOBC and APRL in Orlando, Florida; the topic was Investigating, Prosecuting, and Defending Disciplinary Cases in an Electronic World
Presented at the State Bar of Michigan’s Young Lawyers Section’s program entitled Practical Application of Professional Responsibility in Your Practice
Speaker, Eastern Michigan University School of Business 2nd Annual Ethos Conference, talk entitled Dark Secrets and Ugly Truths: When Attorney Ethos and Client Confidentiality Collide
Moderated the ABA Business Law Section’s Firm Counsel Project round-table held in Detroit (2008)
Facilitated Panel Discussion entitled Ethics for the Ages: Graceful Graying or Senior Tsunami at the American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility 33rd Annual Conference in Chicago
Presenter, Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers’ Mid-Year Meeting in presentation entitled You Can’t Always Say What You Want: Limits on Lawyer Speech, Post-Fieger in Miami, Florida
Speaker, Michigan’s Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s 3rd Annual Solo & Small Firm Institute presentation entitled Spotting Trouble Client’s and Dealing with the Risks They Pose in Dearborn, Michigan
Speaker, Michigan’s Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s 1st Annual Solo & Small Firm Institute presentation entitled Holding on to Hard Earned Assets: The Three R’s, Retainers, Risk Management and Responding to Grievances in Dearborn, Michigan
Featured in Motion® Magazine’s spring 2009 article, Reputation Matters: When a Lawyer Needs a Lawyer
Co-Author, Report of NOBC and APRL Joint Committee on Aging Lawyers
Author, As the Senior Tsunami Approaches, The Profession Offers Two Formal Ethics Opinions, The Complete Lawyer, Vol. 3 No. 4
Author, 10 Tips from the Trenches, Michigan Lawyer’s Weekly
News & Insights
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is pleased to announce that 27 lawyers have been included in the 2023 editions of The Best Lawyers in America, including four receiving “Lawyer of the Year” distinction. Eleven of the 27 lawyers have been included in the Ones to Watch edition, which recognizes attorneys who are early in their careers…
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is proud to announce that David C. Anderson, Donald D. Campbell, Brian D. Einhorn, and Deborah A. Lujan, have been named 2023 Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” in the Detroit Area in their respective practice areas. Only a single lawyer in each practice area within a designated metropolitan area is…
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is pleased to announce that 22 of our firm’s lawyers have been included in the 2022 editions of Super Lawyers. Four of the 22 recognized lawyers have been included in the Rising Stars edition, which recognizes attorneys who are early in their careers for their outstanding professional excellence in private practice….
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is pleased to announce that twelve attorneys have been named to the 2022 “Top Lawyers” list by DBusiness magazine: David C. Anderson Legal Malpractice Law Professional Malpractice Law Joshua I. Arnkoff Legal Malpractice Law Theresa M. Asoklis Legal Malpractice Law Professional Malpractice Law Donald D. Campbell Legal Malpractice Law Professional Malpractice…
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is pleased to announce that 28 lawyers have been included in the 2022 editions of The Best Lawyers in America, including four receiving “Lawyer of the Year” distinction. Eleven of the 28 lawyers have been included in the Ones to Watch edition, which recognizes attorneys who are early in their careers…
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is pleased to announce that sixteen attorneys have been named to the 2021 “Top Lawyers” list by DBusiness magazine: David C. Anderson Legal Malpractice Law Professional Malpractice Law Product Liability Joshua I. Arnkoff Legal Malpractice Law Professional Malpractice Law Theresa M. Asoklis Legal Malpractice Law Professional Malpractice Law Donald D. Campbell…
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is proud to announce that 13 of its attorneys have been named Michigan Leading Lawyers, including one attorney receiving the distinction of 2020 Top 10 Leading Women Business Lawyers. Leading Lawyers recognitions are peer-recommended through survey and approved by an advisory board. The organization limits the total number of Leading Lawyers…
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is pleased to announce that 19 lawyers have been included in the 2021 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America, including 5 receiving “Lawyer of the Year” distinction. Four additional lawyers have also been included in the “Ones to Watch” edition, which recognizes associates and other lawyers who are earlier in…
Ordinarily, a Michigan attorney who is disciplined in another state or federal jurisdiction will face discipline in Michigan, too. Michigan attorneys also have a duty to report discipline in other state or federal jurisdictions. But what happens when the other jurisdiction imposing discipline is a tribal court—a judicial body of one of America’s sovereign tribes?…
We are proud to announce that 22 attorneys have been named to either the 2021 Super Lawyers list, or the 2021 Super Lawyers Rising Stars list. Congratulations! Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition…
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is proud to announce that 15 of its attorneys have been named to the 2020 Michigan Super Lawyers list, and an additional 8 attorneys were named to the 2020 Michigan Rising Stars list. Additionally, Melissa Graves was named to the Top 50: 2020 Women Michigan Super Lawyers list. Super Lawyers, a…
At the APRL’s 7th International Professional Responsibility Conference held in Paris, France, Donald Campbell spoke on a panel session entitled “Bar Regulation (Discipline and Admissions) in the EU (and Elsewhere).” Don is currently the President Elect of APRL.
Attorney Donald D. Campbell has been selected by State Bar of Michigan President Lori Buiteweg to serve on an Ad Hoc Committee on Alternative Billing Structures. The committee will be considering alternative fee arrangements and ways to clarify obligations required by MRPC 1.5, including proposed amendments to the rule and the comments, a possible definitional section, and other constructive ways to provide further ethics guidance to SBM members regarding fee arrangements. Don was counsel for Patricia Cooper in the Michigan Supreme Court case that authorized non-refundable retainers, GA v Cooper, 482 Mich 1079 (2008).
Attorney Donald D. Campbell has been invited by the Washtenaw Bar Association to be the featured guest at their local event on Thursday, November 12 at Conor O’Neil’s in Ann Arbor. He will be available to discuss various topics that range from ethical pitfalls, Judicial tenure matters, grievance defense and more. The event is open to…
Donald D. Campbell will be serving on a panel addressing the 41st ABA National Conference on Professional Responsibility on a topic entitled “Off the Beaten Path in Lawyer Discipline Prosecution and Defense.” The conference will be held in Denver, Colorado, on May 28th and 29th of this year.
Donald D. Campbell has been appointed to serve on the State Bar of Michigan’s 21st Century Practice Committee. The committee will focus on developing and maintaining professional excellence in a dynamic marketplace. Mr. Campbell also serves as a liaison on the Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility for the American Bar Association, and the…
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC Attorney Donald D. Campbell will be a featured panelist at the upcoming National Organization of Bar Council (NOBC) Mid-Year Meeting, held in Houston, TX from February 4 through February 7. The topic of discussion will focus on the application of the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Discipline, and address the decision-making…
Collins Einhorn Farrell PC is pleased to announce that 11 attorneys have been named to the 2015 edition of Best Lawyers in America©. For over three decades, Best Lawyers® has been considered the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers has since partnered with U.S. News®, the leading rankings publication in the U.S., to rank…
Collins Einhorn attorney Donald Campbell is quoted in Are ‘Value-Based Fees’ Ethical?’ in the June 17, 2013 issue of Michigan Lawyers Weekly. The article discusses Don’s take on “value-based” billing: It is good for clients and lawyers to be able to freely contract for the performance of legal services in return for a fee that…
Collins Einhorn attorney Donald Campbell is featured in the June 2013 issue of Law Practice Today. His interview with Carol Ann Martinelli ranges from his inspiration to practice law to ways in which technology has affected legal ethics. He discuss the serious impact that the Internet has had on adherence to rules of professional conduct…
Donald Campbell was appointed to the ABA’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Professionalism at the ABA’s Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL in August. His term runs through 2013.
Donald Campbell will address the Michigan Creditors Bar Association at their upcoming membership meeting on September 19, 2012. The topic of his presentation is “Demystifying TAON and the Attorney Grievance Process.”
Donald Campbell has been re-appointed to the State Bar Professional Ethics Committee by Bruce Courtade, the President-Elect of the State Bar of Michigan. His current term runs through 2013.
Donald Campbell has been invited to address the ABA’s 37th National Conference on Professional Responsibility which will be held in Memphis, TN in June. His topic will be Retainers and Fee Advances. Don will survey and critique the widely varied state ethics regulation in the area of nonrefundable/earned upon receipt retainers and prepaid fees. He…
CEFU attorney, Don Campbell will moderate a Panel discussion at the 1st ever joint meeting of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, the National Organization of Bar Counsel and the National Council of Lawyer Disciplinary Boards to be held in Atlanta, Georgia on February 11, 2011. The Panel will discuss the ABA Standards for Imposing…
Donald Campbell recently presented a talk before the paralegal program at ITT on paralegal ethics and the State Bar of Michigan’s Informal Ethics Opinion RI-349 issued July 26, 2010. The new opinion supersedes RI -128 and opines that when an assistant is adequately trained and properly supervised by the lawyer communications with a client regarding…
Donald Campbell participated in a program with Doug Richmond, Senior VP at Aon Insurance, addressing the propriety of non-refundable retainers. The issue was whether the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision in GA v Cooper and the recent rules changes in Illinois represent a trend in allowing non-refundable retainers. Donald Campbell represented Patricia Cooper in her successful…
CEFU attorney Donald Campbell has been re-appointed by the President of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers to serve a third one-year term as liaison the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.
At its 2010 annual meeting in San Francisco, the ABA House of Delegates voted unanimously to adopt “Report 113” which is an overhaul of the Application Section of the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. These revisions were co-authored by CEFU attorney Donald Campbell, who sits as a liaison to the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics…
CEFU attorney, Donald Campbell was interviewed by TV20 News on June 30, 2009 regarding City of Detroit Councilwoman Monica Conyer’s ability to run for another term on City Council given her current legal status.
Donald Campbell addressed the College of Business at Eastern Michigan University on March 12, 2008, “Ethos Week.” Ethos is a Greek word meaning “character.” Ethos Week is designed to challenge students to think beyond ethics, and focus on creating a professional environment for students, faculty and staff. Don’s topic was “Corporate Law: Ethics vs Ethos.”
At the American Bar Association’s 2007 National Conference on Professional Responsibility held in Chicago, Don Campbell moderated a program entitled: “Ethics for the Ages: Graceful Graying or Senior Tsunami.” Don led a panel of lawyers and health care specialists in a discussion the aging of the legal profession and its impact on the lawyer regulatory…
Donald Campbell will be chairing a panel discussion on Lawyer Disability and Professional Responsibility entitled “Ethics for the Ages: Graceful Graying of Senior Tsunami” at the American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Donald Campbell will be addressing the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers Mid-Year Meeting in Miami, Florida on February 10, 2007. He will be discussing “Attorney Free Speech Rights after Grievance Administrator v Fieger.”
Donald D. Campbell co-presented a seminar on the Proposed Amendments to the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct at the Oakland County Bar Association’s State of the Law Day.
In September 2005 Donald D. Campbell was appointed co-chair of the Committee on Aging and the Profession a joint project between the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers and the National Organization of Bar Counsel. The Committee creating ways to humanely and efficiently address the problems that will clearly arise as the profession ages and to…
Donald D. Campbell was selected to serve as an expert witness to the State Bar of Michigan’s Representative Assembly’s during the debate on the Proposed Amendments to the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct and Proposed Michigan Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions.