The State Bar of Michigan will honor four individuals with this year's Champion of Justice Awards for their extraordinary professional accomplishments and adherence to the highest principles and traditions of the legal profession. Godfrey J. Dillard, Hon. Martin M. Doctoroff, Elizabeth Gleicher and Daniel M. Morley are this year's recipients of the award.

These individuals will be honored during the Wednesday, September 12 luncheon of the Bar's 66th Annual Meeting in Lansing.

The D. Augustus Straker Bar Association nominated Godfrey J. Dillard for his "extraordinary individual accomplishment and devotion to the causes of civil and human rights." A private practitioner in Detroit, he specializes in litigation. His practice ranges from commercial matters to negligence, civil rights, employment, and international law. Dillard is Chairperson of the International Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan. Currently, he is the lead attorney for the Defendant Interveners in a lawsuit challenging the University of Michigan's use of race in its admissions policy in an undergraduate college.

A judge with the Michigan Court of Appeals, Martin M. Doctoroff was nominated for "his devotion to the improvement of the Administration of Justice." Judge Doctoroff, in connection with his work as an appellate judge and chief judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals, as well as President of the ABA Council of Chief Judges, worked with the State Bar of Michigan to reduce the backlog that the Michigan Court of Appeals had for over a decade. Thomas G. Kienbaum and Elizabeth Hardy nominated Judge Doctoroff.

Elizabeth Gleicher, through her practice of Health Insurance Benefit Litigation, has gained the right for women suffering from breast cancer to receive stem-cell transplants, and to have insurance carriers pay for the treatment. Gleicher worked for more than a decade on behalf of women with breast cancer who were denied insurance coverage. She is very active in the ACLU and has received the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan's Distinguished Member of the Year Award. Jules B. Olsman, and Lee Reimann of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan nominated Gleicher.

Escanaba attorney Daniel M. Morley is a partner in the firm of Butch, Quinn, Rosemurgy, Jardis, Bush, Burkhart and Parks, P. C. He was nominated for his work in successfully helping to end the unauthorized practice of law by a Texas attorney who filed more than 700 bankruptcy petitions in the Upper Peninsula without benefit of a license to practice law in the state of Michigan. JoJean A. Miller nominated Morley for this award.

Each year, the State Bar of Michigan presents not more than five Champion of Justice Awards. Recipients must be State Bar of Michigan members for at least ten years, have integrity and adhere to the highest principles and traditions of the legal profession, and must have extraordinary professional accomplishments that benefit the nation, state or local community in which they live.