Grand Bargain
The Inside Story of Detroit’s Dramatic Journey from Bankruptcy to Rebirth
The city of Detroit’s decades-long downward spiral crash-landed in bankruptcy court on July 18, 2013. Recession, decaying infrastructure, crime, and competition from foreign automakers had hollowed out the city’s economic core. Indeed, Detroit was in such bad shape that Michigan’s governor had to appoint an emergency manager to take over the city, replacing its elected leaders. But even that was not enough to turn it around. By the summer of 2013, Detroit was flat broke.
What would happen to a major American city that had no money and no realistic prospect for raising any? Detroit had only one truly sizable asset: a collection of masterpieces held by the city-owned Detroit Institute of Arts. And now the city’s creditors wanted to “monetize” that world-renowned collection by putting it on the auction block to cover the city’s debts. Pundits around the world were writing Detroit’s obituary—and liquidating the art threatened to become the exclamation point at the very end of it.
In Grand Bargain, Gerald E. Rosen—the chief mediator in the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history and architect of the “Grand Bargain” that saved the DIA’s priceless collection—tells the dramatic inside story of how Detroit was rescued from the brink of oblivion.
“This is not a book about a bankruptcy or a court case,” Rosen writes. “It is a human drama about a great city and the people who came together to rescue it. In a public square filled with pessimism, we found helping hands. In an era of cynicism, partisan dysfunctionality, self-interest, and civic irresponsibility, we found allies among people with good hearts, hardheaded common sense, and uncommon courage. We learned that even in a time of political polarization, with trust in each other, Americans can find common ground for the greater good. All of us together planted a flag on that common ground and walked away from our work with the hope that others might see it and follow its example.
“That is why I decided to write this book. I hope this story will resonate in every corner of our country where faith in democratic government and civil discourse is flickering.”
“Gerald Rosen will go down as a very important figure in Detroit’s history, and anyone who reads his book will understand why. His work as mediator in the city’s bankruptcy and as architect of the Grand Bargain is a story of daring leadership, wisdom, and diplomacy. He loves this city and always believed it could recover if it was given a fair shot. Ten years later, Detroit is undergoing a historic recovery and Judge Gerald Rosen is a major part of that success.”
—Mike Duggan, mayor of Detroit
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gerald E. Rosen
Judge Gerald E. Rosen (ret.) served as a federal judge on the Eastern District of Michigan court for almost twenty-seven years, including seven years as its chief judge.
Prior to taking the bench, Judge Rosen was a partner with Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone in Detroit. He began his professional career in the US Senate, serving as a legislative assistant to US Senator Robert P. Griffin of Michigan. He obtained his law degree at George Washington University Law School and his undergraduate degree at Kalamazoo College.
Judge Rosen taught evidence at a number of law schools as an adjunct professor for twenty-six years and is the coauthor of two widely read law books. He has lectured frequently both domestically and internationally on a wide variety of topics.
He is now with JAMS, the largest provider in the world of mediation, arbitration, and other alternative dispute resolution services, and has mediated some of the largest civil cases in the United States, including as the chief mediator for the Detroit bankruptcy, the largest and most complex municipal bankruptcy in our nation’s history.
Judge Rosen lives in Franklin, Michigan, with his wife, Laurie, and their Anatolian Pyrenees shepherd, Athena. He and Laurie have a son, Jake.
