State Bar of Michigan Executive Director D. Larkin Chenault was sworn in by Chief Justice Elizabeth Weaver as a member of the State Bar on Friday, March 19, 1999. State Bar President J. Thomas Lenga moved Chenault's admission to the practice of law in Michigan at the ceremony held in the Michigan Supreme Court courtroom. Chenault was admitted to practice in Kentucky in 1978 and has been a member of the Ohio Bar Association since 1991.

"I was very pleased to welcome Larkin to the practice of law in Michigan," Lenga said. "I know he will continue to exemplify the high standards of professionalism and civility as a member of the State Bar that he has shown in his service to the Bar as Executive Director."

Chenault began his career with the State Bar of Michigan in November 1994. Since his arrival, the Bar has developed an Access to Justice Department, which is setting the standard in America for programs designed to provide legal services to those in need. The State Bar was awarded the ABA's distinguished Harrison Tweed Award for these efforts.

Under Chenault's leadership, the State Bar staff received the ABA Luminary Award for creation of an e-mail newsletter, which summarizes major news stories and provides a "hot link" to the source of the story. This service is distributed daily to every bar member with an e-mail address. Chenault's sound business and financial management skills has led the State Bar to maintain dues at the same level for the past six years, with the next increase now not scheduled until 2001-four years later than originally forecast.

Chenault provided leadership in the development of a televised campaign designed to improve the public's perception of lawyers; the renovation of the State Bar building; and the work of an Open Justice Commission, which has been established to eliminate race/ethnic and gender bias in the profession and to increase public confidence in the fairness of the legal process.

A graduate of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, Chenault attended Lexington Theological Seminary and also spent several years in church business administration before going on to obtain his law degree from the University of Louisville in 1978, where he served on the staff of the law journal.

In 1984, he assumed the position of Assistant Director of the Kentucky Bar Association where he designed and implemented Kentucky's mandatory continuing legal education program, served as state CLE director, and computerized the Bar's accounting, membership, meeting and CLE records.

Chenault went on in 1987 to become the Executive Director of the Cincinnati Bar, where he became recognized as one of the best bar executives in the country. His leadership skills are evident from several brief statistics: during his seven years of service there, the Cincinnati Bar quadrupled its CLE income; tripled its reserves; increased its budget by two and one-half times and increased membership by 27 percent while the staff grew by only one-half.

Larkin and his wife Martha, an ordained minister, have two daughters, Cordelia, 21 and Carolyn, 18.

State Bar President J. Thomas Lenga, Martha and D. Larkin Chenault, and Chief Justice Elizabeth Weaver. Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Elizabeth Weaver and Supreme Court clerk Corbin Davis look on as D. Larkin Chenault signs the lawyer's oath of office.