Bruce A. Courtade, Julie I. Fershtman and Thomas M. Rombach were installed as State Bar of Michigan Representative Assembly Officers for 2000-2001. The officers were elected during the Bar's 65th Annual Meeting in Detroit.

Former Assembly Vice Chairperson Bruce A. Courtade of Grand Rapids was elected chairperson; former Clerk Julie I. Fershtman of Bingham Farms is the Assembly's new vice chairperson; and Thomas M. Rombach of Macomb was elected to the position of Assembly clerk.

The Representative Assembly is the final policy-making body of the State Bar. The chairperson of the Assembly presides during Assembly sessions, sends notices requesting submissions for the calendar, and summarizes Assembly policy actions. The chairperson also appoints members of Assembly committees, which include Rules and Calendar, Hearings, Drafting, Assembly Review, Nominating, and Special Issue. The Assembly officers also hold seats on the Bar's Board of Commissioners.

Bruce A. Courtade is a shareholder with the Grand Rapids firm of Rhoades, McKee, Boer, Goodrich & Titta. Skilled in civil and commercial litigation, his practice emphasizes general litigation, construction law and state and federal laws governing antitrust and fair competition.

Courtade is a member of the State Bar's Antitrust, Franchising and Trade Regulation; Negligence Law; Labor and Employment Law; and Workers' Compensation Law Sections as well as a member of the Federal Bar Association of the Western District of Michigan and numerous sections of the American Bar Association. He is a past chair of the local Young Lawyers Section of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, he has served on numerous Grand Rapids Bar Association committees and on the board of directors for the Grand Rapids AIDS Resource Center.

Courtade serves on the State Bar of Michigan's Board of Commissioners and is a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. He received his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Michigan in 1984 and was president of U of M's 1988 Law School graduating class.

Julie I. Fershtman specializes in insurance defense, business litigation, employment, and equine law. After becoming a member of the State Bar in 1986, she went on to serve as chairperson of the Young Lawyers Section from 1995-96, and as a State Bar Commissioner from 1994-97. She is also a fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation and a past chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Professionalism Committee.

Fershtman is a 1983 graduate of Emory College and a 1986 graduate of Emory Law School. In 1996, she wrote a book dedicated to industry-oriented legal issues and her second law book was published in1999.

Thomas C. Rombach has been practicing law in Macomb County for over 12 years. As a sole practitioner, his practice emphasizes trial work. He is a past president of the Macomb County Bar Association (1997-1998) and has served on the association's executive board, board of directors, and as chair of the Young Lawyers Section.

Rombach is a former City/Prosecuting Attorney for Hazel Park (1992-1994) and has served as volunteer legal counsel for four presidential campaigns and two gubernatorial campaigns. He has served on the Justice System Advisory Committees and the Mediation Panels for both the Macomb County Circuit Court and the 41B District Court. He was also a member of a U.S. Senate-sponsored Citizens Merit Selection Committee for appointments to U.S. Military Academies.

Romabach has been active in community and political affairs for over 20 years and has been elected to the board of directors of nine nonprofit organizations. He received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and his J.D. from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School.