2/9/10

A delegation from Michigan presented “Collaboration to Restore Justice – the Michigan Experience” at the American Bar Association’s Sixth Annual Summit on Indigent Defense Improvement at the American Bar Association’s Midyear Meeting on Feb. 6, 2010.

Moderator Dennis W. Archer, a former president of the State Bar of Michigan and the American Bar Association, discussed the current crisis facing Michigan’s public defense system, and introduced key players in this collaboration, including the Hon. Marilyn J. Kelly, chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court; Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; James R. Neuhard, director of the State Apellate Defender Office; Elizabeth K. Lyon, director of governmental relations for the State Bar of Michigan; and Prof. Norman Lefstein, from the Indiana University School of Law. These panelists discussed the forward momentum to achieve public defense reform that has benefitted from the involvement of the bench, the bar, the Michigan Campaign for Justice, and other important stakeholders.

State Bar President Charles R. Toy thanked the panelists for their work in Michigan.

For a high resolution photo of President Charles R. Toy with the panelists, visit the SBM’s high resolution photo gallery.

Photo caption: Pictured from left to right: State Bar of Michigan President Charles R. Toy; former State Bar of Michigan and American Bar Association President Dennis W. Archer; Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn J. Kelly; Representative Mark Meadows, Michigan House Judiciary Committee Chair; State Bar of Michigan Director of Governmental Relations Elizabeth K. Lyon; Michigan State Appellate Defender Office Director James R. Neuhard; University of Indiana School of Law Professor Norman Lefstein

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