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REACHING THE TOP
UDM Law graduates excel in their fields
Summer 2006

Dennis Dabney ’00

Dennis Dabney is the director of Human Relations at DTE Energy’s corporate headquarters. In his position, he oversees the administration of compensation, benefit and retention strategies for Michigan’s largest utility company, with more than 11,000 employees and $7 billion in annual sales. His job description includes negotiating contracts with unions and conducting dispute resolution for non-union employees. He manages multi-million dollar labor and employment contracts that involve thousands of employees. He’s been with DTE for two-and-a-half years.

Dabney’s decision to attend law school came during the middle of his career. He had always wanted to be an attorney, and after an early career in plant management—Dabney also holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration—his boss encouraged him to go to law school.

According to Dabney, “He told me that it’s whatever you do in the future that counts. You should always be looking to diversify your career possibilities. Law school was definitely a way to do that.”

Law school also fit in with his human resources career track. “A lot of human resources work is directly related to current and proposed laws. Things like overtime, performance assessments, labor agreements, all of them require you to be versed in the law,” Dabney explains.

UDM was a natural choice for Dabney. “For one, it was close to where I worked,” says Dabney with a laugh. “But more importantly, UDM has a family kind of vibe. It’s a place that’s not afraid to care about you, and not cold and impersonal like other law schools sometimes have a reputation of being.”

Several professors stand out as among Dabney’s favorites. He remembers Professor Patrick Keenan’s First Amendment class well. “He used to dress the part for various cases we were studying,” remarks Dabney.

Professors Leon Lysaght and Jacqueline Hand were particularly memorable for their focus on students’ families. “Both wanted us to focus on the law, but also make time for our families. Professor Hand even encouraged us to bring our children to class so that they could see what their parents were doing when we were away from home most nights.

“They recognized that there needed to be a balance between work, school and family. And that meant a lot to me as an evening student.”

Although it was challenging, Dabney was able to maintain his balance by living, in his words, “a very regimented life.” His wife Bronzie insisted that he be home for dinner—every night, no exceptions. Fridays were for the kids and his family, Saturdays were spent in class and then on a date with his wife, and Sundays were spent briefing cases.

“I was fortunate that my house was directly in between my job and the law school campus,” says Dabney. Following his graduation, Dabney was committed to giving back to the community. He is on the board of the Black United Fund, which helps to provide “seed money” to organizations that are starting up but need a bit of extra financial assistance. He has also found time to talk to Detroit high school students through the Detroit Executive Service Corps Roundtable Program. He is also involved with the law school, serving on the Alumni Association Board of Directors.

“It’s great to give back to the law school,” says Dabney, “given how they treated me like family when I was there.”