Paying his good fortune forward

Mike Manning

Now retired from an illustrious career as a trial layer, Mike Manning believes he has an obligation to give back, so that others can succeed too.

When Mike Manning, jd '77, h '07, considers his philanthropic interests, he focuses on three areas: underprivileged children, his church, and a way to say thank you for those who have helped him in his life.

This is why Manning and his wife, Doreen, chose to make a planned gift in addition to a cash contribution to the new Washburn University School of Law building campaign. The fundraising for the project was recently completed and the law school is set to break ground in late spring.

"I wanted to satisfy a need to say thank you to the institutions that made a difference in my life, and Washburn Law is really at the top of that list," Manning said.

Helping others has always been a part of Manning's story. While he was a successful commercial litigation lawyer who served as the lead prosecutor on the Charles Keating Savings and Loan case, he considers his most successful cases against people in power imposing civil rights abuses. One case in particular was for a woman who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the executive director of the Arizona Bar Association. She was employed by the Arizona State Bar and had been the victim of pervasive sexual harassment by the executive director of the bar, who Manning described as the second most powerful person in the legal community in Arizona. Other lawyers turned her away because they didn't want to get on the wrong side of the state bar. He took her case and negotiated a settlement that resulted in not only a hearty sum of damages for the victim, but also the removal of the executive director thereby preventing the future victimization of other women.

"When I decided to take the case, I found out that four or five other bar presidents knew of this guy's assaults on employees, so this wasn't a situation where the bar didn't know," said Manning. "They knew he was a predator and had done nothing about it, and it enraged me. I'm very proud of it because it was egregious."

He also lent his skills as a trial lawyer to seeking justice for victims of some of the most egregious civil rights violations that our country has seen in the post-Civil Rights Era. He took on the notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County Arizona. Arpaio was inflicting inhumane and violent treatment on the people who were jailed in the county; his brutality killed numerous men and women in his custody. Manning brought numerous civil rights claims against Sheriff Arpaio, and in 2000 he obtained an $8.25 million settlement against the sheriff and Maricopa County. It was one of the largest wrongful death and civil rights settlements in Arizona history. Several years later, he obtained a $9 million verdict against Arpaio and Maricopa County for the brutal death of another mentally handicapped inmate. Manning successfully litigated 15 additional civil rights cases against Arpaio.

For his work in civil rights, Manning has been recognized by the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy.

Throughout his successful career, Manning built a reputation for himself as a lawyer who was regularly selected by the federal government as its lead private attorney on large cases such as litigation against New York mob-affiliated bank deposit broker, Mario Renda, and as lead counsel in the largest racketeering case in U.S. history at the time against Charles Keating in the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan case.

"Mike's representation of the federal government not only brought the men behind the fraud to justice, but his representation opened the eyes of the federal government to the need for more government regulation and oversight, and changed the financial services industry for the better," said Carla Pratt, dean, Washburn University School of Law.

Following the Lincoln Savings and Loan case, Manning was retained to pursue Arizona's then Governor, Fife Symington, for fraud in connection with a real estate loan. Seeking to reduce the amount of paper in the trial, he successfully tried that case as a "paperless trial" introducing evidence as electronic documents and maintaining all trial pleadings and files in an electronic format. Because this was virtually unheard of at the time, Manning is considered one of the pioneers leading the way to using technology in and outside the courtroom to create efficiency in litigation and reduce costs to clients.

In honor of his exemplary career, the advocacy suite which contains the trial courtroom in the new law school building will be named the Michael C. Manning Advocacy Suite and Michael C. Manning Courtroom. In her announcement of the naming, Pratt said, "Many regard Manning as the most accomplished trial lawyer in Washburn Law School's nearly 120-year history."

"I didn't get to compete in moot court while in law school because of my law journal responsibilities," he said. "I had classes in the Robinson Courtroom though, and it meant so much to me. By the time it was my second year, it was my professional theatre I wanted to run my career out of. I would go in there sometimes and just sit and think about my career and what I wanted it to be."

Now that he has retired, his focus turned to helping plan for the next generation of lawyers whether they are focused on commercial litigation or civil rights. When planning for his legacy in the legal field and at Washburn Law, he met with his financial planner when he was inspired by the idea of making a monumental gift toward the construction of a new building.

"I think anyone who has had success in his or her life has an obligation to give," Manning said. "I would tell anyone who is reluctant that it is a very satisfying feeling to give back to places that have helped you along the way."

Your future gift, like the Mannings', supports future generations and their potential. Contact Erin Aldridge at PlannedGiving@wualumni.org or 785.670.4483 to learn about your giving options.