Conrad L. Mallett Jr. (born October 12, 1953) is a Michigan jurist and businessman who currently serves as corporation counsel for the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. Prior to being approved by

Detroit City Council The Detroit City Council is the legislative body of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The full-time council is required to meet every business day for at least 10 months of the year, with at least eight of these meetings occurring at a locatio ...

as corporation counsel, Mallett was

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

of the city under Mayor

Mike Duggan Michael Edward Duggan (born July 15, 1958) is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician serving as the 75th mayor of Detroit, Michigan since 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, Duggan previously served as the Wayne County Prosecutor ...

. He previously was a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1990 to 1999 and served as chief justice in 1997 and 1998.

Career

Mallett served as a Justice on the

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the st ...

from December 21, 1990, to January 2, 1999, acting as chief justice in 1997 and 1998. Mallett was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

to serve as chief justice on the Michigan Supreme Court. Mallett also sat on the Board of Directors of

Lear Corporation Lear Corporation is an American company that manufactures automotive seating and automotive electrical systems. In 2019, it ranked #147 and in 2018, it ranked #148 on the Fortune 500 list. Early stages Lear Corporation was launched as American ...

, For twenty years, Mallett was a top

Detroit Medical Center The Detroit Medical Center (DMC) is a for-profit alliance of hospitals that encompasses over 2,000 licensed beds, 3,000 affiliated physicians and over 12,000 employees. Located in Midtown Detroit, the DMC is affiliated with medical schools from ...

(DMC) administrator. served as president of DMC's

Sinai-Grace Hospital DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital is the largest of the eight hospitals that comprise the Detroit Medical Center. Located in northwest Detroit, Sinai-Grace provides health care services in over 40 specialties and has 334 inpatient beds, is a full-service h ...

from 2003 to 2011, and acted as interim CEO of DMC

Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital, in Commerce Township, Michigan, is one of the eight hospitals/institutes composing the Detroit Medical Center. Huron-Valley-Sinai contains the Harris Birthing Center, a regional specialty center, the Charach Cancer ...

in 2017. He also previously served as a partner at the Detroit law firm

Miller Canfield Miller Canfield, P.L.C., doing business as Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone (founded in 1852), is an American law firm based in Detroit, Michigan. In 2014, the firm was ranked 165th largest in the United States in terms of attorney headcount b ...

. Mallet was appointed deputy mayor of Detroit in May 2020. He assumed the office on May 25, 2020. He was involved with leading the city's response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. Mallett was named corporation counsel for the City of Detroit in 2022. After he had been first nominated, members of the

expressed concerns about Mallett and his nomination was initially withdrawn. After a search produced no alternate candidate for the position, he was renominated. After several months of divided debate about his nomination, his appointment was confirmed on April 26, 2022.

Suppression of police officer discipline records

Following Mallett's appointment as Detroit's corporation counsel, the city began redacting police officers' disciplinary records requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Previously, the city had disclosed officer discipline files in full. As corporation counsel, Mallett heads the city's law department, which processes FOIA requests. Ross Jones, an investigative reporter with WXYZ, reported that the city denies FOIA requests for officer discipline records by citing the Bullard-Plawecki Employee Right to Know Act, saying that the act prohibits the release of discipline records older than four years. However, attorneys questioned the city's policy, noting that the Right-to-Know Act itself states that it "shall not be construed to diminish a right of access to records" provided under FOIA. Mallett defended the city's policy in an interview with WXYZ. The policy was criticized by longtime Detroit police commissioner Willie Bell, activist Tristan Taylor, and multiple employment law attorneys. WXYZ has appealed the city's decision to redact records that its newsroom had requested.

References

External links

Bloomberg profile of Conrad L. Mallett Jr.Conrad Mallett Jr. (1953 - )
Encyclopedia.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mallett, Conrad L., Jr. Living people 1953 births African-American judges Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court Lawyers from Detroit 20th-century American judges 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people Politicians from Detroit