The State Bar of Michigan announces 2025 Representative Assembly awards

The State Bar of Michigan Representative Assembly has announced the winners of the two awards they bestow annually to outstanding attorneys.

Janet K. Welch is the 2025 winner of the Michael Franck Award. The award honors attorneys who have made an outstanding contribution to the improvement of the profession. After graduating from University of Michigan Law in 1989, Welch clerked for Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert P. Griffin, later serving as an executive analyst and the general counsel at the Court. In 2000, she began her service at the State Bar of Michigan, first as general counsel and then executive director—the first woman to hold the role. She retired in 2022.

Kamau Sandiford is the winner of this year’s Unsung Hero Award. The award honors attorneys who have exhibited the highest standards of practice and commitment for the benefit of others. Sandiford is the Clean Slate program manager for Safe & Just Michigan, where he oversees expungement outreach initiatives throughout Michigan, helping people removing old criminal records that hinder access to better housing and employment opportunities. Before taking that role in 2021, he was expungement attorney at the Cooley Law School’s Access to Justice Clinic in Grand Rapids.

The awards will be presented at the Representative Assembly meeting Sept. 19, 2025, at the Troy Marriott following the annual State Bar of Michigan Presidential Inauguration and Awards Luncheon.

Posted: May 23, 2025