Last month the State Bar's Grievance Committee, chaired by attorney Marcia E. Femrite, provided the Representative Assembly with invaluable assistance by researching and preparing a report on the issue of application of a subjective versus objective standard of review in disciplinary proceedings involving attorneys. The Assembly, at its January 22, 2000 meeting, debated the issue. This is an excellent example of the important role committees have in assisting the State Bar's Board of Commissioners and Representative Assembly with research and support in the debate of issues that come before these entities.

Members of the Grievance Committee began discussing and considering this issue in October 1999 and presented a special report to the Bar in December 1999. The Committee devoted their entire January 2000 meeting to a debate on whether an objective or subjective test should be utilized in regards to Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC) 8.2(a).

The Grievance Committee recommended adoption of a subjective standard of review—a position which the Assembly, after its own thorough debate of the issue, ultimately favored.

Grievance Committee members include Chairperson Marcia E. Femrite, Robert M. Meisner, Martha D. Moore, Gabriela N. Nolen, Barbara Rene Shekmer, Hon. Brian R. Sullivan, Michael J. Dunn, David N. Goltz, Lynn A. Helland, Kay E. Malaney, Maureen E. Thomas, A. Kay Stanfield Brown, Hugh Barrington Clarke, Jr., Lawrence Dubin, Hon. Meyer Warshawsky, Janet M. Brandon, Rhonda Spencer Pozehl and Joan P. Vestrand as well as Ex-officios Robert E. Edick, Allan D. Sobel and John F. Van Bolt, and Commissioner Liaison Thomas W. Cranmer.

It's the work of State Bar committees like the Grievance Committee that makes it possible for the Assembly to gain valuable insight and receive a thorough analysis of every aspect of an issue to be debated. Special thanks are in order to the Grievance Committee and other State Bar committees who have devoted much time and effort to researching and analyzing the issues that affect members of the State Bar.

The State Bar of Michigan is proud of the work of its numerous committees. These committees, 42 in all, range the gamut from Ethics to Legal Aid to Professionalism. All State Bar committees and their jurisdictions can be found in the Organizations directory printed with the December 1999 edition of the Michigan Bar Journal. Those interested in serving on a particular committee should send a letter by April 15, 2000, indicating the committee to which you seek appointment, your experience in that area, and any other pertinent qualifications to: