Michael Franck Award

The Michael Franck Award is given annually to an attorney who has made an outstanding contribution to the improvement of the profession.

Application Form: Apply online or complete the Word document

Unsung Hero Award

The Unsung Hero Award is given annually to an attorney who has exhibited the highest standards of practice and commitment for the benefit of others.

Application Form: Apply online or complete the Word document

Award Criteria

• The recipient must be a member in good standing with the State Bar of Michigan.
• The recipient's contribution may have been made during the past year or by virtue of cumulative effort or service.
• The Representative Assembly's Nomination & Awards Committee makes the selection.

Nominations

Nominations should be addressed to:

• Attention: Carrie Sharlow
  Representative Assembly Awards
  State Bar of Michigan
  306 Townsend St.
  Lansing, MI 48933-2012

Recipients

Michael Franck Award

2026    James L. Liggins, Jr.
2025    Janet K. Welch
2023    Sheldon G. Larky
2022    George W. Gregory
2021    Jennifer M. Grieco
2020    William Buhl
2019    Mary Chartier
2018    Hon. Victoria A. Roberts
2017    Mark L. Teicher
2016    Lynn P. Chard
2015    Vernon Kortering (posthumously)
2014    Julie I. Fershtman
2013    Martin P. Krohner (posthumously)
2012    Hon. James H. Fisher
2011    Clark C. Johnson
2010    Sheldon J. Stark, John Van Bolt
2009    Daniel F. Bonner
2008    Hon. Thomas Brennan
2007    William P. Hampton; Allyn D. Kantor
2006    Hon. William Leo Cahalan
2005    Linda K. Rexer
2004    E. Christopher Johnson Jr.; Dean Allen Robb
2003    Hon. Marilyn Kelly; Wallace D. Riley
2002    Margaret J. Nichols; Norman D. Tucker
2001    Dennis W. Archer
2000    Hon. Gene Schnelz
1999    George A. Googasian; Hon. Martin M. Doctoroff
1998    Edmund M. Brady Jr.

Unsung Hero Award

2026    Samuel H. Pietsch; Rita O. White
2025    Kamau W. A. Sandiford
2024    Elizabeth A. Hohauser
2023    Hon. Melissa L. Pope
2022    Angela M. Cole
2021    Delicia A. Coleman-Morson
2020    Clark Andrews
2019    Clarence M. Dass
2018    Michele P. Fuller
2017    F. Martin Tieber
2016    Tessa K. Hessmiller; Jerrold E. Schrotenboer
2015    Hon. Allie Greenleaf Maldonado
2014    Susan F. Reed
2013    James E. Brenner; Elizabeth A. Stafford
2012    Judy B. Calton; Jeffrey S. Kopp
2011    Karen Gullberg Cook; Mayra Lorenzana-Miles
2010    Kevin Moody (posthumously)
2009    Brian M. Barkey; Kelly K. Burris
2008    Susan Spagnuolo Dal
2007    Norris J. Thomas Jr.
2006    Jay Kaplan
2005    Leslie C. Curry
2004    Henry Lukowiak