The new president of the State Bar of Michigan, Ronald D. Keefe, will visit the Upper Peninsula legal community October 8-11. The tour, an annual tradition, gives U.P. bar associations, the media, and the public the chance to meet the person leading the State Bar of Michigan during the next year.

Mr. Keefe, who resides in Marquette, is the first State Bar president in nearly 50 years to hail from the U.P. Accompanied by a State Bar contingent, he will make stops in Sault Ste. Marie, Escanaba, Iron Mountain, Marquette, and Ironwood. During the tour, he will focus on the Bar's efforts to protect the public, support its members, and promote the administration of justice.

A lawyer for more than 30 years, Mr. Keefe started his career as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Marquette County. In 1976, he joined Kendricks, Bordeau, Adamini, Chilman and Greenlee P.C., where he currently is a shareholder focusing on civil litigation, mediation, and municipal law. He is also the Marquette city attorney.

Since 1998, Mr. Keefe has been a member of the State Bar Board of Commissioners and has chaired many committees including those dealing with member services, professional standards, justice initiatives, and finance. He has also been a liaison to numerous sections and committees of the Bar and was elected to the SBM Representative Assembly from 1995-98. Mr. Keefe recently served as the statewide chair of the State Bar's Access to Justice Campaign, which works to raise funds to improve access to justice in Michigan for low-income people with civil legal needs.

Accompanying Keefe on the trip are new State Bar Representative Assembly Chairperson Robert Gardella, SBM Commissioner Jim Erhart, State Bar Executive Director Janet Welch, and External Development Director Candace Crowley.

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