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State Bar of Michigan Honors Three "Champions of Justice"
9/5/03 The State Bar of Michigan will honor three of its members with its annual Champion of Justice Awards. Stephen R. Drew of Grand Rapids, Robert E. Gilbert of Ann Arbor, and William M. Saxton of Detroit will each receive the award, which is given annually to practicing lawyers and judges who have shown integrity and adherence to the highest principles and traditions of the legal profession and have displayed extraordinary professional accomplishments that benefit the nation, state, or their local communities. All three recipients will receive their awards on September 12 at a luncheon held in the Lansing Center ballroom during the State Bar of Michigan 68th Annual Meeting. Stephen R. Drew, a senior partner in the firm of Drew, Cooper & Anding P.C., has spent much of his career working to advance minority issues and rights. He has been active on the boards of many organizations, including the Hugh Michael Beahan Foundation, the NAACP-Legal Redress Committee, and the A. Phillip Randolph Institute. He has devoted significant time to the issue of jury representation and community education about the legal system and civil rights. As president of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, Drew was involved in the creation of a committee that studied and made recommendations dealing with the issue of under-representation of minorities on Kent County Circuit Court juries. He holds bachelor and juris doctor degrees from the University of Michigan and concentrates his practice in workplace discrimination, police misconduct, nursing home negligence, and other civil rights and personal injury matters. He is also a certified facilitator. Robert E. Gilbert, principal of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, P.L.C., has been involved in numerous activities within the pro bono community. In 1990, Gilbert helped organize the Friends of Legal Aid Campaign, which has become one of the most successful local legal aid fundraising campaigns to date. In 1998, Gilbert joined the State Bar's Pro Bono Involvement Committee, and helped develop the Michigan Litigation Assistance Partnership Program, a pro bono project that matches high-impact cases and low-income clients with practitioners in large firms. In 2000, Gilbert became involved with the State Bar's Access to Justice Corporate Committee. As a lead solicitor, Gilbert was instrumental in gaining large law firm support of more than $1 million for the ATJ fund. Gilbert focuses his practice in finance and real estate law, concentrating on limited partnership syndications and tax-exempt financing of housing and hospital developments. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science and juris doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School. William M. Saxton, counsel, a director emeritus, and former chairman and CEO of Butzel Long P.C., has worked for nearly 50 years as a litigator, negotiator, and counselor. He has handled a number of landmark labor law cases and has been recognized previously by the State Bar of Michigan's Labor and Employment Law Section and the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association for his contributions to the legal profession and community. He has served many organizations, including the Detroit Industrial Relations Research Association, where he was president from 1984-1985, the State Bar of Michigan, where he was chairperson of the Young Lawyers Section from 1955-1956, and the Detroit Bar Association, where he was director from 1975-1979. He founded Butzel Long's labor and employment practice group and is known nationally as an expert in the field of labor and employment law. Saxton holds a bachelor's degree and a juris doctor degree from the University of Michigan.
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