Dawn Van Hoek Named SADO Director

The Appellate Defender Commission has named Dawn Van Hoek the director of the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) at its March 16 meeting.  Van Hoek, who has been SADO's deputy chief director and has served as acting director since the retirement of James Neuhard in January, has practiced criminal appellate law since her graduation from Wayne State Law School in 1976.  The Appellate Defender Commission noted among her accomplishments at SADO the creation of online resources for the criminal defense bar, management of statewide training projects and publications, and management of SADO’s Lansing office and government

In addition to serving on the boards of several state and national criminal justice entities, Van Hoek has led the Representative Assembly of the State Bar, the  Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, and the WLAM Foundation.  Her State Bar of Michigan activities include serving as reporter and chair of the Criminal Jury Instructions Committee, chair of the Domestic Violence Committee, co-chair of the Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Courts and Legal Profession, member of the Appellate Task Force and Open Justice Commission, and co-chair of the Bar’s Annual Bar Leadership Conference.  In 2005, she was selected by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as one of ten “Lawyers of the Year,”  and in the same year received the “Right to Counsel Award” from the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan.

 

 

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