State Bar 2004 Commissioner Election Results

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7/23/04

Ronald D. Keefe of Marquette, Bruce A. Courtade of Grand Rapids, William B. Murphy of Grand Rapids, Craig H. Lubben of Kalamazoo, Gregory L. Ulrich of Livonia, Brian D. Einhorn of Southfield, and Kurt E. Schnelz of Birmingham have been elected to the State Bar of Michigan Board of Commissioners. They will serve three-year terms expiring at the close of the Annual Meeting in 2007.

Keefe will represent District A, which includes Schoolcraft, Mackinac, Luce, Alger, Keweenaw, Baraga, Houghton, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Antrim, Manistee, Benzie, Iosco, Oscoda, Arenac, Alcona, Marquette, Alpena, Montmorency, Missaukee, Wexford, Ontonagon, Charlevoix, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Menominee, Iron, Dickinson, Kalkaska, Delta, Chippewa, Lake, Mason, Cheboygan, Presque Isle, and Emmet Counties. Courtade and Murphy will represent District C, which includes Muskegon, Kent, Ottawa, Isabella, Newaygo, Oceana, Mecosta, Osceola, and Gladwin Counties. Lubben will represent District F, which includes Hillsdale, Berrien, Kalamazoo, Branch, Van Buren, Calhoun, Cass, St. Joseph, and Allegan Counties. Ulrich will represent an expanded District H, which now includes Wayne, Monroe, and Lenawee counties. Einhorn and Schnelz will represent District I, Oakland County.

Ronald Keefe is a shareholder in Kendricks, Bordeau, Adamini, Chilman and Greenlee, P.C., in Marquette, where he has practiced law since 1976. Currently, he is the treasurer for the State Bar Board of Commissioners. He has been on the board since 1998 and has served on a number of committees and chairs the Finance and HR Committee. Mr. Keefe is a fellow of the State Bar and American Bar Foundations, a member of the State Bar Representative Assembly and a hearing panelist for the Attorney Discipline Board. He has been a lecturer and adjunct assistant professor at Northern Michigan University and has served on the executive committee of the Northern Michigan Trial Skills Workshop since its inception in 1989.

Bruce Courtade is a shareholder with Rhoades McKee in Grand Rapids, where he practices primarily commercial litigation and construction law. He has been active with the State Bar, chairing the Representative Assembly, and serving three years on the Board of Commissioners, including two years on the Executive Committee. He is a fellow of the State Bar Foundation. In 1991, Courtade organized a program where 350 attorneys donated legal services to the families of reservists called to duty in the Persian Gulf War. He received the John W. Cummiskey Award in recognition of outstanding pro bono service. In 1998 and in December 2002, the Grand Rapids Business Journal chose Courtade as one of the area's "Top 40 Under 40," a group deemed qualified to lead the next generation of West Michigan's business and industry.

Prior to becoming a judge, William Murphy practiced law in Grand Rapids with an emphasis on litigation. He has been a member of the State Bar of Michigan since 1970 and a Michigan Court of Appeals judge since 1988, serving the court as Pro Tem from 1992-1996. Judge Murphy currently serves as a State Bar commissioner and is a trustee of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. He has served terms as trustee of the Grand Rapids Bar Association and as commissioner of the Judicial Tenure Commission, and was elected to serve as chair from 2000-2003. He was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court as a member of the Open Justice Commission and a member of the Judicial Executive Committee and Strategic Planning Committee for the Michigan Justice Project. Judge Murphy is a lecturer for the Michigan Judicial Institute, various bar associations, and continuing legal education programs, and has been an adjunct professor at Michigan State University College of Law.

Craig Lubben was appointed to the State Bar of Michigan Board of Commissioners in September 2000. He has served on various State Bar committees and on the Representative Assembly from 1990 to 1992. He is a Fellow of the State Bar Foundation and a member of the Litigation and Labor and Employment Law Sections of the State Bar. Lubben graduated from Northwestern University School of Law in 1981 and has practiced in the Kalamazoo office of Miller, Johnson, Snell and Cummiskey, P.L.C. since 1986. He currently serves on the firm's Management Committee. He has served as a board member and past president of the Kalamazoo County Bar Association (1998-1999). Lubben is currently on the boards of the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Kalamazoo Symphony and Family and Children Services of Kalamazoo. He is the president of the Calvin College Alumni Association for 2004-2005. Lubben has also served on the Steering Committee and as a faculty member for the Hillman Advocacy Program, and on the board and as president of Family and Children Services of Kalamazoo from 1993 to 1996.

Gregory Ulrich begins his fifth term as State Bar commissioner. As chairperson and clerk of the Representative Assembly, he expanded its policymaking role in 1990, and has been a member for more than 21 years. In 1992, Ulrich was named the chairperson of the newly created Member Services Committee to guide the improvement of State Bar services. Ulrich is currently a member of the Finance and Personnel Committee, Judicial Ethics Committee; and a Computer Law Section Council member. He has served on many State Bar committees and in the ABA House of Delegates. He is a Life Fellow of the State Bar Foundation. A partner with Livonia based Cummings, McClorey, Davis and Acho, PLC, Ulrich's practice includes business litigation, real estate, technology, estates, Alternative Dispute Resolution and governmental matters.

Brian Einhorn is a founding member of Collins, Einhorn, Farrell and Ulanoff and concentrates his practice in the representation of lawyers and judges in civil and disciplinary proceedings. He also provides crisis management services to clients confronted with legal issues giving rise to media attention. He served on the Board of the Association of Defense Counsel from 1992 to 1999 and was president in 1997/1998. Einhorn also served on the Board of Directors of the Mediation Tribunal Association (1994-1999). He is a fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation and a member of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability, the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, the American Judicature Society, and the International Association of Defense Counsel. He is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association and is a member the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association Board of Directors.

Kurt Schnelz practices family law in Oakland County, is president and a principal shareholder in the firm of Schnelz Wells, P.C., and a member of the Oakland County Bar Association Board of Directors. He is also a former assistant Oakland County prosecutor. Schnelz is in his third term as a member of the Board of Commissioners and is a past-chairperson of the Representative Assembly. He also chairs a hearing panel for the Attorney Discipline Board, and has served on many committees. He is a former-chairperson of the Young Lawyers Section, and served on its Executive Council for nine years. He was an ABA delegate for five years; and is a former state membership chairperson for the ABA. He also received the ABA's Award of Achievement.