5/15/06

Janie Cripe is now administrative assistant for the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program. She previously served as legal secretary in the Professional Standards Division focusing on unauthorized practice of law. Cripe joined the State Bar in 2003 as an administrative assistant in the executive office.

Candace Crowley, who has worked in the State Bar's Justice Initiatives Division for seven years, moves to the newly created position of development and external affairs manager in the Program and Services Division. The external affairs manager will strengthen communications between the Bar and its members, committees, and others. Prior to assuming her new duties, Crowley managed the State Bar's Equal Access Initiative and led the Access to Justice fundraising campaign. She was a practicing lawyer and executive director of a southeast Michigan civil legal services program before joining the State Bar.

Diane Ebersole joins the State Bar as advisor for the Practice Management Resource Group. In her new role, she will advise SBM members on practice management issues. Ebersole, a graduate of Michigan State University, has an extensive background in information technology having worked as an IT trainer at Thomas M. Cooley Law School and, most recently, as director of information systems at the AIMCO's regional office.

Jennifer Ylonen has been hired as administrative assistant for the Justice Initiatives Division. Originally from Orlando, Fla., she will soon start her third semester of studies at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing. Ylonen spent seven years as a 911 operator and dispatcher, and also worked as an administrative assistant for a criminal defense firm and an insurance defense firm.

###