SBM Blog

Volunteer to Serve on a State Bar Committee Today

Note: If you tried to volunteer and experienced technical issues, please try again! Complete the application before June 7 in any web browser except Internet Explorer. The application is not fully functional in Internet Explorer.

You are invited to apply to serve in one of the many volunteer opportunities offered by the State Bar of Michigan. We offer short-term, fast-moving opportunities to serve on innovative work groups and longer-term, more in-depth opportunities to serve on traditional standing committees. We have revised the volunteer application process to make it more streamlined, straightforward, and deliberate in order to help you quickly and easily find the right opportunity to help us continue to advance our core mission of promoting the professionalism of lawyers; advocating for an open, fair, and accessible justice system; and providing services to members that enable them to best serve clients.

Please include your resume or CV and links to your online professional bio and social media sites to help us find the perfect fit for you. Please note that in order to serve as a volunteer, the State Bar requires you to have an email address on record. If you have questions, email [email protected] or call (517) 346-6330 during regular business hours. If you are a current committee member and have any questions, contact your staff liaison. Find out more about SBM committees and work groups. View an invitation from SBM President-Elect Jennifer Grieco to serve as a volunteer.

State Bar of Michigan Announces 2018 Award Winners

The following individuals and organization will receive 2018 State Bar of Michigan awards at a banquet on Sept. 26 at the SBM NEXT Conference in Grand Rapids.

2018 State Bar of Michigan Award Recipients:

Roberts P. Hudson Award: Bruce A. Courtade and Julie I. Fershtman
Frank J. Kelley Distinguished Public Service Award: Hon. Marilyn J. Kelly and Robert P. Young Jr.
Champion of Justice Award: Miriam J. Aukerman and Robert J. Heimbuch
John W. Reed Lawyer Legacy Award: Professor Lawrence Dubin
John W. Cummiskey Pro Bono Award: Charles “David” Jones
Kimberly M. Cahill Bar Leadership Award: Women Lawyers Association of Michigan 

The following individuals will receive State Bar Representative Assembly awards at the Assembly’s Sept. 27 meeting in Grand Rapids.

2018 State Bar of Michigan Representative Assembly Award Recipients:

Michael Franck Award: Hon. Victoria A. Roberts
Unsung Hero Award: Michele P. Fuller

More information about each award recipient will be released prior to the SBM NEXT Conference, which will take place Sept. 26-28 in Detroit.

Want to participate in a Law Day activity? Find one in your community on our Law Day Calendar of Events

If you're interested in participating in a community event on or near Law Day this year, you can find an event in your local area on our Law Day Calendar of Events. 

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower designated May 1 as Law Day. This day is an opportunity to strengthen our great American heritage of liberty, justice, and equality under the law. The State Bar of Michigan joins various local bars, businesses, schools, and other organizations in conducting programs associated with improving the public's understanding of our justice system.

Don't see your local Law Day event listed on our calendar? Email details of your event to Anne Smith at [email protected] and she will add it to the calendar. 

SBM to Present "Tips and Tools" for a Successful Practice Seminar on May 1

The State Bar of Michigan will present “Tips and Tools for a Successful Practice” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 1, at the State Bar’s Michael Franck Building in downtown Lansing.

The semi-annual seminar features presentations on how to maintain mutually beneficial client relationships, draft effective fee agreements, manage lawyer trust accounts, analyze ethical issues, and use innovative techniques and technology for law office management. The seminar presents an excellent opportunity for solo practitioners and new lawyers to obtain ethical guidance and practical information from colleagues who have successfully implemented law office management techniques and utilized economically-priced technology to improve the efficiency of their law practices.

Registration costs $100 for lawyers who have been in practice for less than five years and $125 for those who have practiced law for five years or more. The registration fee includes seminar materials, a continental breakfast and buffet lunch. To view the agenda or make a reservation, visit http://www.michbar.org/tipstools. The registration deadline is Friday, April 27.

For more information contact Karen Spohn with the State Bar of Michigan Professional Standards Division at [email protected] or (517) 346-6309.

SBM to Host Fourth Annual Brunch for Bars April 8 in Detroit

The State Bar of Michigan’s fourth annual Brunch for Bars will take place at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 8, at the Fort Shelby Double Tree Hotel in Detroit.

This year’s brunch will feature a presentation about the W. K. Kellogg Foundation’s Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation project across the United States and in four Michigan communities: Battle Creek, Flint, Kalamazoo and Lansing. The TRHT project is a community-based process to plan for and bring about transformational and sustainable change and to address the historic and contemporary effects of racism. The State Bar of Michigan Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee is acting as a facilitator to help bar associations provide input to the project. The brunch marks the start of a process that will culminate at the Affinity Bar Summit on Sept. 15.

The brunch, sponsored by the SBM Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, will take place the morning after the Wolverine Bar Association’s 56^th Annual Barristers Ball and offers an opportunity for leaders of local and affinity bar associations to network, share information and discuss collaboration opportunities.

There is no cost to attend the event, but space is limited and registration is required. To register for brunch, fill out the form available at http://bit.ly/2GYjK2g. For more information, email Michelle Erskine at [email protected] or call 517-346-6316.

State Bar Now Accepting Applications for 2018 Circle of Excellence

2017 was the most successful year yet for the State Bar of Michigan Circle of Excellence! More than 60 firms and corporations, all committed to access to justice, appeared on the 2017 COE.

The State Bar of Michigan invites all law firms and corporations with two or more attorneys to apply for the 2018 Pro Bono Circle of Excellence recognizing each firm that fully complied with the State Bar’s Voluntary Pro Bono Standard in 2017. The application deadline is April 13.

The Voluntary Pro Bono Standard calls for attorneys to annually take three pro bono cases, devote at least 30 hours of pro bono service, or contribute $300 to a legal aid provider organization. Firms that can afford to do so are asked to make a minimum annual financial contribution of $500 per attorney and are recognized at the “Leadership Level” of the Circle of Excellence. Individual lawyers who meet the Pro Bono Standard are celebrated locally through Access to Justice programs and the State Bar of Michigan “A Lawyer Helps” program.

“The 2017 Circle of Excellence included more than 60 firms and corporations, making it the most successful year yet for the COE,” noted SBM President Don Rockwell. “I commend all of the firms and corporations that appeared on the 2017 COE. I look forward to building on the success of the COE and hope to see even more firms and corporations on the 2018 COE, which is slated to appear in the June 2018 Michigan Bar Journal.”

Complete the Circle of Excellence application.

The Circle of Excellence is published frequently in the Michigan Bar Journal, posted on the websites of the State Bar of Michigan and Michigan State Bar Foundation, and distributed at the State Bar NEXT Conference. For more information, contact Robert Mathis, [email protected] or (517) 346-6412.

For Women's History Month, Check out SBM Michigan Legal Milestone 11: Eva Belles' Vote

In April 1888, Eva R. Belles tried to vote in a Flint school board election.  Because she was a woman, the election inspectors refused to receive her ballot.  Firmly believing she was entitled to vote, she fought that decision up to the Michigan Supreme Court, and won an early victory for women's suffrage.

She retained George H. Durand, former Flint mayor and first president of the Genesee County Bar Association, as her attorney.  A provision of the Michigan Constitution gave power to the legislature to provide for a system of primary schools.  The legislature set school election voting qualifications in a statute specifying that "every person" meeting certain criteria, including age, property, and parenthood, could vote in all such elections not involving money or tax questions.  As mother to Jennie, a school-aged child, and a Flint property owner, Eva Belles met the criteria.

George Durand argued that the "every person" language of the statute, and not the gender restriction found in the Constitution, should control who could vote in school elections.  Michigan's Supreme Court agreed, and as a result, women like Eva Belles won the right to vote in certain school elections.

A battle had been won, but final victory for women's suffrage in Michigan would not be achieved until 1918, when the Michigan Constitution was amended to provide full voting rights for women.

Placed by the State Bar of Michigan and the Genesee County Bar Association, 1990.

2018 SBM Election Information

Are you interested in serving in a leadership role at the State Bar of Michigan or Judicial Tenure Commission? If so, check the March 2018 edition of the Michigan Bar Journal for the official State Bar election notice for the 2018 elections.

The following elections will be held in June 2018:

• A statewide election for a judicial member of the Judicial Tenure Commission
• Elections for the members of the Representative Assembly in 40 judicial circuits
• Elections for members of the Board of Commissioners in five commissioner districts
• Elections for members of the Young Lawyers Section Executive Council in three districts

If you're interested in running, submit a nominating petition between April 1 and April 30, 2018. Electronic ballots for the 2018 State Bar elections will be distributed by email beginning on Friday, May 25. SBM members who do not have an email address on file will receive a paper ballot. Online voting will end at 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, June 15, and paper ballots must be received postmarked no later than June 15.

Michigan Legal Milestone 6: Sojourner Truth

Isabella Hardenbergh was born into slavery in 1797 in Ulster County, New York. Upon gaining her freedom, believing she heard a voice from God, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth, this six-foot tall, gaunt woman with a resounding voice became one of America's most influential crusaders for justice.

At the 1858 Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, she spoke eloquently of women's rights: "I have heard much about the sexes being equal; I can carry as much as any man, and can eat as much, too, if I can get it. I am as strong as any man that is now…I have heard the Bible and have learned that Eve caused man to sin. Well, if woman upset the world, do give her a chance to set it right-side up again." Her moving words held the historic convention spellbound. Her orations are remembered today and greatly enrich our national heritage.

In 1856 Sojourner Truth moved here to Battle Creek. Throughout her long life, she continued to journey and speak widely for social and legal reforms, including women's suffrage desegregation, and the plight of former slaves. She died in 1883 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Battle Creek.

Of her influential life, she said simply: "The Lord had a plan for me."

Learn more about Sojourner Truth. 

Michigan Legal Milestone 1: Ossian Sweet Trial

In June 1925, prominent African American medical doctor Dr. Ossian Sweet and his family, who were arrested and charged with the murder of one member of a white mob who tried to shoot at the Sweet home in Detroit.

The NAACP enlisted the aid of famed attorney Clarence Darrow who came to Michigan to defend the Sweets.

Presiding Judge Frank Murphy instructed the jury that "a man's house is his castle" and that Dr. Sweet had the right to defend it, if he had good reason to fear for the lives of his family or their property. These rights, he noted, belong to black people as well as whites.

Acquitted, the Sweet family moved back into their home at 2905 Garland Avenue, Detroit, and an important legal precedent had been set.

More information about the Ossian Sweet Trial.