Attention Oakland County lawyers: This year five attorneys are running for two seats on the State Bar of Michigan Board of Commissioners. That means your vote matters more than ever in this race. You should have received an electronic ballot for the 2017 SBM elections via e-mail. If you don't have an e-mail address on file, you will receive a paper ballot. You have until 11:59 p.m. on June 15 to cast your votes (or get your ballot in the mail to be counted).

The Oakland County Board candidates are David Anderson, of Southfield, a shareholder at Collins Einhorn Farrell PC, with a practice dedicated primarily to defending Michigan lawyers and law firms against professional liability claims; Timothy Burns, of Clawson, a solo criminal defense attorney; James Low, of Southfield, managing partner of The Dollar Law Firm who concentrates his practice in representing medical providers in no-fault cases; Daniel Quick, of Troy, a trial lawyer with Dickinson Wright and national leader of the firm's commercial litigation practice; and Rasul Raheem, of Bloomfield Hills, an attorney at Plunkett Cooney in the Banking, Creditors' Rights, and Restructuring Group. 

To read full bios of all candidates, access the voting website via the member area of www.michbar.org, where you will need to sign in and click on the VOTE NOW button to be directed to the voting website.

If you have questions, contact Marge Bossenbery at mbossenbery@michbar.org or (517) 346-6327, or contact Election Services Co. at sbmelection@electionservicescorp.com.

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Attention young lawyers of every Michigan county excluding Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties: This year six attorneys are running for four seats on the Young Lawyers Section Executive Council in District 3. That means your vote matters more than ever in this race. You should have received an electronic ballot for the 2017 SBM elections via e-mail. If you don't have an e-mail address on file, you will receive a paper ballot. You have until 11:59 p.m. on June 15 to cast your votes (or get your ballot in the mail to be counted).

The Young Lawyers Section Executive Council Candidates are Bobby A. Finklin Jr., of Lansing, who serves as managing attorney at The Ficklin Law Firm and primarily practices social security disability appeals, criminal defense, small business and nonprofit startup law; Jonathan D. Goslow, of Ann Arbor, an attorney at Hudson Legal, LLC, with a practice focused on employment-based immigration; Kara R. Hart-Negrich, of Lansing, who serves as a staff attorney at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and the State Historic Preservation Office, where she practices everything from fair housing to cultural heritage law; Samantha J. Jonas, of Muskegon, an assistant prosecuting attorney for the Muskegon County Family Court Division; Amy S. Krieg, of East Lansing, assistant director of career development for Michigan State University College of Law; and Laura M. Kubit, of Caro, a civil legal aid attorney with Lakeshore Legal Aid, serving low-income and senior populations of Tuscola, Bay, Midland, Gladwin, Clare, Isabella, Gratiot and Saginaw counties. 

To read full bios of all candidates, access the voting website via the member area of www.michbar.org, where you will need to sign in and click on the VOTE NOW button to be directed to the voting website.

If you have questions, contact Marge Bossenbery at mbossenbery@michbar.org or (517) 346-6327, or contact Election Services Co. at sbmelection@electionservicescorp.com.

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Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed Kathleen Hemingway to the Kalamazoo County District Court.

Hemingway has served as assistant prosecuting attorney in Kalamazoo County since 2007, focusing on cases involving controlled substance and firearm offenses and violent crimes. She is the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team prosecutor, playing a key role in launching the priority offender program, focused on prosecuting the most violent offenders. Hemingway serves on the boards of the Portage Community Center and Volunteer Kalamazoo. She was recently elected vice president of the Kalamazoo County Bar Association and she recently received the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Chief's Award of Excellence and the Carrie L. Klein Leadership Award. 

Hemingway earned a bachelor’s degree from Hope College and a law degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.

She fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Robert Kropf. She must seek election in November 2018 to fill the remainder of the term.

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Members: time to do your civic duty and vote for representatives to lead the State Bar of Michigan in the coming years. Today you will receive an electronic ballot for the 2017 SBM elections via e-mail. If you don't have an e-mail address on file, you will receive a paper ballot. You have until 11:59 p.m. on June 15 to cast your votes (or get your ballot in the mail to be counted).

There are contested races for the Judicial Tenure Commission, the Board of Commissioners in Districts B, E, H, and I, and the Young Lawyers Section Executive Council in District 3. Unless your address on file is in one of the districts where there is a contested race, you will only receive a ballot for the Judicial Tenure Commission race.

All eligible members with an e-mail address on file with the State Bar may vote securely online. This can be done by one of two methods. The first way is to access a secure link directly to the voting site  in the e-mail from sbmelection@electionservicescorp.com with the subject line, "Vote now in the 2017 State Bar of Michigan election – e-ballot enclosed." The first way is to access the voting website via the member area of www.michbar.org, where you will need to sign in and click on the VOTE NOW button to be directed to the voting website.

If you have questions, contact Marge Bossenbery at mbossenbery@michbar.org or (517) 346-6327, or contact Election Services Co. at sbmelection@electionservicescorp.com.

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Leaders in the delivery of pro bono legal services from across Michigan gathered in Lansing for the ninth Annual Spring Pro Bono Workshop on May 23. The workshop featured a full day of educational sessions, strategic collaboration and networking opportunities. 

Those in attendance got an update on fundraising and legal aid messaging from a statewide and national perspective; learned how law firms, corporate in-house legal departments and legal aid programs can strategically collaborate; challenges facing legal aid programs; effective responses to rapidly changing issues; tech tips; and updates on online free legal resources. State Bar staff demonstrated mi.freelegalanswers.org, a new pro bono opportunity launched in Genesee County that will soon go statewide. 

The workshop was sponsored by the SBM Pro Bono Initiative, which is responsible for encouraging and coordinating the delivery of pro bono legal services in Michigan. It also plays a critical leadership role in promoting policies and mechanisms to support lawyers in their effort to fulfill their ethical responsibility to assist in providing civil legal services to the poor. 

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Scribes – the American Society of Legal Writers – has honored long-time Michigan Bar Journal Plain Language Column Editor Joseph Kimble by renaming its Distinguished Service Award the Joseph Kimble Distinguished Service Award. Kimble, a former executive director and 15-year board member of Scribes, was surprised by the announcement while in the audience of the Scribes 2017 Continuing Legal Education Conference at the Oklahoma City University School of Law. The Scribes Board of Directors unanimously voted to rename the award in Kimble’s honor.

Kimble is a distinguished professor emeritus at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, where he joined the faculty full-time in 1984. Kimble is senior editor of The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing and has published dozens of articles and two books about legal writing. He led the redrafting of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal Rules of Evidence. He is also past president of Clarity, an international association promoting plain language, a founding director of the Center for Plain Language, and a board member for the Legal Writing Institute.

He was named a “Plain English Champion” by the Plain English Campaign in England, received the first Plain Language Association International Award, received the Burton Award for Reform in Law twice – once for his work on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and once for his work on the Federal Rules of Evidence – received the American Law Schools Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research Award, and received the SBM John W. Reed Lawyer Legacy Award.

Scribes was founded in 1953 and is the oldest organization devoted to improving legal writing and honoring legal writers. The first recipient of the Joseph Kimble Distinguished Service Award was Kenneth Gartner, a New York-based commercial trial and appellate litigator.

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Legal Services of Northern Michigan, Conflict Resolution Services, Grand-Traverse-Leelanau-Antrim Bar Association and Women Lawyers Association will host an expungement clinic to clear old criminal convictions that cause barriers to employment and housing for people with felony and misdemeanor convictions. The expungement clinic will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 3, at Conflict Resolution Services offices, located at 521 S. Union Street in Traverse City. 

If you're an attorney in Northern Michigan, they need your help. Volunteer attorneys are needed from 9 a.m. to noon on June 3. Individuals will meet one-on-one with volunteer attorneys to complete forms. You will leave having participated in a very meaningful pro bono experience. 

Clients who need expungements must call in advance (now) to register and complete a screening process. 

For more information, to register for an expungement or to sign up to participate as a volunteer attorney, contact Heather Abraham at habraham@lsnm.org or 231-941-0771, Ext. 205. 

This clinic is supported by grant funding from Equal Justice Works, Rotary Charities of Traverse City and the Michigan State Bar Foundation. 

Legal Services of Northern Michigan is a nonprofit, public interest law firm committed to promoting equal access to justice by providing free civil legal services to people living at or below the federal poverty line who are 60 years old or older. LSNM serves Michigan's 36 northernmost counties. Conflict Resolution Services is a northern Michigan nonprofit that provides free and low-cost mediation services using volunteer mediators to resolve all types of conflicts. It serves Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Missaukee and Wexford counties. 

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The State Bar of Michigan Probate & Estate Planning Section will host a third annual happy hour for new or young lawyers, non-members and current members looking for ways to network with peers and get more involved with and learn more about the section from 4-6 p.m. on Friday, May 19, on the 17th floor of Grand Traverse Resort in Acme.

In conjunction with the Institute of Continuing Legal Education Probate & Estate Planning Institute in Acme and sponsored by Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge, the happy hour will feature complimentary hors d'oeuvres, an open bar and fun, relaxed conversation. 

Put on your casual clothes, take the elevator to the top and enjoy the views as you learn how section membership can help you improve your practice. 

For more information, contact Nick Reister at nreister@shrr.com or (616) 458-8286.

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The State Bar of Michigan will present a seminar, “Lawyer Trust Accounts: Management Principles and Recordkeeping Resources,” from 1:15-4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27 at the State Bar of Michigan Michael Franck Building, located at 306 Townsend Street in Lansing.  

This half-day ethics seminar will feature presentations on how to ethically manage lawyer trust accounts and effectively use forms, checklists and other recordkeeping resources. The seminar, open to lawyers and their staff members, is an excellent way to learn more about Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct 1.15 and 1.15A.

Participants will receive practical information as well as materials prepared by the presenters: SBM Professional Standards Division Director Danon Goodrum-Garland, SBM Assistant General Counsel Nkrumah Johnson-Wynn, Professional Standards Assistant Counsel Alecia Ruswinckel and Attorney Grievance Commission Senior Associate Counsel Rhonda Pozehl.

View the event agenda or register for the event. The registration fee is $50 for lawyers and $25 for non-lawyers. Payment and the completed registration form must be received by Friday, June 23. No walk-in registrations will be accepted. For more information contact Karen Spohn with the State Bar of Michigan Professional Standards Division at (517) 346-6309 or via e-mail at kspohn@michbar.org.

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Michigan attorneys: we at the State Bar of Michigan need your help, expertise and passion to implement our new strategic plan. Please consider signing up to volunteer to help advance the core mission of the State Bar to promote the professionalism of lawyers; advocate for an open, fair and accessible justice system; and provide services to lawyers that enable them to best serve clients.

You will see from this year's volunteer application that while we maintain our commitment to the traditional matters of the mandatory bar, we are also looking carefully to match your passion, talents and work style preferences to exciting new opportunities. We hope the application will also help us ensure that our efforts reflect as many viewpoints, talents, backgrounds and experiences as possible. The application offers an opportunity to upload a resume so remember that as you consider your choices.

An e-mail address on record with the Bar is a requirement of volunteer service. If you have questions about the application, you can e-mail sbmcommittees@michbar.org or call (517) 346-6300 during regular business hours. If you are a current committee member, your staff liaison is ready to assist you.

Please take a look at and complete the application before the end of May, as SBM President-Elect Don Rockwell will begin making appointments to committees and workgroups in June. He will also continue to make appointments as volunteer opportunities arise throughout the 2017-2018 bar year. The State Bar of Michigan's reputation as a leader in upholding the values of the profession, serving the public, and delivering value to our members has been built over decades, mostly via extraordinary volunteer work of thousands of members like you. We look forward to working with you.

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