In keeping with annual tradition, the new president of the State Bar of Michigan, Nancy J. Diehl, will head north October 18 - October 22 to visit several Upper Peninsula communities. The tour will provide local Upper Peninsula Bar associations, the media, and the public an opportunity to meet the person leading the more than 36,000-member State Bar of Michigan during the next year.

Diehl will travel to the U.P. with a five-member State Bar team that will make stops in Sault Ste. Marie, Marquette, Iron Mountain, Ironwood, and Houghton.

During the tour, she will focus on the Bar's efforts to protect the public, support its members, and promote the administration of justice; and unmet civil legal needs in the Upper Peninsula.

"I'm looking forward to meeting the legal community and receiving feedback from Upper Peninsula lawyers about how the State Bar can best serve their needs," Diehl said.

A native Detroiter, Diehl has worked as a prosecutor for more than 20 years and currently heads the Felony Trial Division in the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, overseeing general trials, homicide, auto theft, major drugs and the Child and Family Abuse Bureau. She is a nationally sought-after speaker and trainer on domestic violence and child abuse investigation, prosecution, and related matters. She has served on the State Bar Board of Commissioners since 1996.

Diehl will be accompanied by State Bar Executive Director John T. Berry; Chairperson of the Representative Assembly Elizabeth A. Jamieson; State Bar Secretary Ronald D. Keefe, and State Bar Director of Programs and Services Lisa Allen-Kost.