9/28/09

The new president of the State Bar of Michigan, Charles R. Toy, will lead a contingent of SBM leaders on a tour of the Upper Peninsula legal community Monday-Thursday, Oct. 5-8.

The annual tour gives U.P. bar associations, the media and the public an opportunity to meet the person leading the State Bar during its 75th year. The tour will include stops in Sault Ste. Marie, Escanaba, Menominee, Iron Mountain, Ironwood, Houghton/Hancock, Marquette, and Manistique.

Mr. Toy, who was sworn in as SBM president Sept. 17 in Dearborn, is associate dean of career and professional development at Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Prior to accepting his current position at Cooley in 2008, Mr. Toy practiced law for 24 years with the Lansing firm of Farhat and Story, and concentrated on environmental, property, and oil and gas law.

As the leader of the State Bar — an organization of over 40,000 members, Mr. Toy will continue to work to improve the administration of justice, promote the legal profession, and build public understanding of our legal system.

Mr. Toy will be accompanied on the tour by the newly elected State Bar Representative Assembly Chair, Elizabeth M. Johnson. She is a private practitioner in Plymouth, Michigan, where she concentrates on general civil and criminal law, with an emphasis in estate planning, real estate, and employment discrimination.

Other members of the SBM delegation are Mary Ellen Toy, SBM Commissioner Jim Erhart, and SBM Director of External Development Candace Crowley.

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