Julie I. Fershtman, Thomas C. Rombach, and Daniel M. Levy have been installed as State Bar of Michigan Representative Assembly Officers for 2001-2002. They were elected during the Bar's 66th Annual Meeting in Lansing.

Former Assembly Vice Chairperson Julie I. Fershtman of Bingham Farms is the Assembly's new chairperson. Former Assembly Clerk Thomas C. Rombach of Macomb was elected to the position of vice chairperson and Daniel M. Levy of Detroit was elected to the position of Assembly Clerk.

The Representative Assembly is the final policy-making body of the State Bar of Michigan. 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 Issues. The Assembly officers also hold seats on the State Bar's Board of Commissioners.

Julie Fershtman specializes in insurance defense, insurance coverage, business litigation, employment, and equine law. A member of the State Bar of Michigan since 1986, she also serves on the Board of Commissioners, where she sits on the Executive Committee. She is past chair of the Bar's Young Lawyers Section. Fershtman developed a project that received the American Bar Association/Young Lawyers Division's top award in the country for outstanding service to the Bar.

Fershtman was appointed a charter member of the Oakland County Bar Association Professionalism Committee and was elected its chair in 1998. She is a fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation and the Oakland County Bar Foundation.

Fershtman has received numerous professional distinctions. In June 2000, she received the prestigious "Professionalism Award" from the Oakland County Bar Association which is the largest voluntary bar association in the state. She has been profiled in many leading newspapers, journals and other publications. She is the author of two industry-oriented law books, published in 1996 and 2000, and has lectured at conventions and continuing legal education conferences in 22 states. Fershtman is a 1983 graduate of Emory College and a 1986 graduate of Emory Law School.

Thomas 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.

Rombach 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.

Daniel M. Levy is an Assistant Attorney General for the state. A former Berrien County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and Special Assistant U. S. Attorney, he currently serves the AG as the Collections Division Section Head for Enforcement.

Levy has been a member of the State Bar's Representative Assembly for the past six years. He is the outgoing chair of the assembly's Rules and Calendar Committee, and also served on its Assembly Review Committee and the 1999 State Bar Pilot Program. He is the immediate past-chair of the Bar's Prisons and Corrections Section and is a member of the Criminal Law Section Council.

Levy also serves as cabinet member on the board of the Anti-Defamation League and as a representative on the steering committee of the Michigan Alliance Against Hate Crimes. He was named a "Year 2001 Diversity Champion" by the Birmingham-Bloomfield Task Force on Race Relations and Ethic Diversity." Levy received his J.D. from the Wayne State University School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Michigan.