State Bar of Michigan announces 2025 Award Winners
The State Bar of Michigan Board of Commissioners is awarding special honors to 10 Michigan attorneys for their public service and outstanding contributions to the legal profession.
Valerie Newman, founder and director of on Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit, is the winner of this year’s Roberts P. Hudson award. Since its inception, the Conviction Integrity Unit has helped 42 wrongfully convicted individuals. Prior to founding the CIU she was an attorney for the State Appellate Defender’s Office for 23 years, appearing twice before the U.S. Supreme Court where she won a landmark victory in Lafler v Cooper. She has also taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan Law School for several years.
Elizabeth Pollard Hines is the winner of the Frank J. Kelley Distinguished Public Service Award. Hines served as judge for the 15th District Court in Ann Arbor for 28 years prior to her retirement in 2020. Before her time on the bench, she served as a prosecutor for 15 years, specializing in child protection cases and crimes against children. She serves as a chair of the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board and serves on the 21st Century Practice Task Force.
Kathaleen M. Smith is the winner of this year’s John W. Cummiskey Pro Bono Award. From 2016 to 2020, while working full-time as the sole attorney for the Underground Railroad domestic violence shelter in Saginaw, Smith served on the Saginaw County Bar Association Pro Bono Committee. Following her retirement in 2020, she volunteered for two Clean Slate Clinics, and in 2023 Smith played an instrumental role in developing Legal Services of Eastern Michigan’s DIY Divorce Clinic, where she assisted and represented several people. She continues to volunteer for Legal Services of Eastern Michigan.
Keeley D. Blanchard is a winner of the Champion of Justice Award. Blanchard serves as administrator of the Michigan Appellate Assigned Counsel System, overseeing a roster of approximately 150 assigned appellate attorneys. She has developed and provided training to public defenders and assigned counsel statewide. Currently, 25-30 faculty members currently staff the courses she developed. Ms. Blanchard successfully bid through the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission’s Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Trial Skills Simulation program in 2019 and has trained hundreds of attorneys.
Zenell B. Brown is a winner of the Champion of Justice Award. Brown serves as the Region 1 Administrator for the State Court Administrative Office and previously served as the Wayne County Circuit Court’s Executive Court Administrator. She spearheaded the creation of a comprehensive DEI framework within Michigan’s courts. At the Wayne County Circuit Court, she established court outreach and self-help programs to provide resources to unrepresented litigants.
Roshundra Graham-Simmons is a winner of the Champion of Justice award. Graham-Simmons is an assistant attorney general with the State of Michigan in the children and youth services division. Graham-Simmons oversees child welfare litigation involving abuse, neglect, parental rights termination, and multi-jurisdictional custody disputes. Graham-Simmons has trained and mentored attorneys and legal professionals. She serves on key legal committees such as the Wayne County Protocol Workgroup, the Kids Talk Protocol Workgroup, and the Unsecured Weapons Workgroup.
Marla Linderman Richelew is a winner of the Champion of Justice Award. Linderman Richelew serves as an assistant attorney general as an appellate specialist for civil rights and election law with the Michigan Department of Attorney General. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped lawyers learn how to safely operate. She has served as co-chair of the Federal Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee, president of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, member of the Representative Assembly, and on various other SBM sections, committees, and taskforces.
Tanisha M. Davis is the winner of this year’s Kimberly M. Cahill Bar Leadership Award. Davis, an attorney at Tanisha M. Davis, Attorney at Law PLLC, works closely with criminal justice reform and youth advocacy. A mentor of young attorneys and law students, she has also held various bar leadership roles with the Solo and Small Firm section, the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association, the Black Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, and the Family Law Council. She is founder and CEO of Kounsel Konnect, a mobile app that connects lawyers for substitute counsel.
Winners of the John W. Reed Michigan Lawyer Legacy Award and Liberty Bell Award will be announced in June following the Great Lakes Legal Conference.
The honorees will receive their awards during the Presidential Inauguration and Awards Luncheon on September 19, 2025, at the Troy Marriott. Tickets for the event will go on sale in July.
Posted May 21, 2025