Attorneys from throughout Michigan gathered Sept. 29, 2025, at the Detroit Marriott Troy to witness the swearing-in of the State Bar of Michigan’s 91st president, Lisa J. Hamameh, and to see the 10 individuals honored with the Bar’s highest honors.
Presented annually, the State Bar of Michigan’s awards recognize Michigan attorneys, and one non-attorney, for their distinguished service, commitment to justice, and dedication to upholding the rule of law.
Read on to learn more about the attorneys honored this year for their efforts toward increasing access to justice, pro bono work, community outreach, educating future lawyers, and more.
ROBERTS P. HUDSON AWARD
VALERIE NEWMAN
Valerie Newman, founder and director of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit, is being honored with the Roberts P. Hudson Award, the highest accolade bestowed by the State Bar of Michigan.
With more than three decades of service, Newman has been a beacon of excellence in the legal profession and a tireless advocate for justice. Newman served as an attorney for the State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) for 23 years, arguing hundreds of cases in Michigan and federal courts and handling innocence cases, including the high-profile cases of Thomas Highers and Davontae Sanford, who were freed after serving many years for crimes they did not commit. While with SADO, she also argued twice before the U.S. Supreme Court, where she won a landmark victory in Lafler v. Cooper, a case that advanced the constitutional rights of defendants nationwide.
In 2017, Newman was hired as director of the newly created Conviction Integrity Unit of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. There Newman continues to work to strengthen the criminal justice system by investigating claims of wrongful conviction and recommending relief where warranted. Since its inception, the CIU has received more than 2,300 requests for investigation, reviewed over 1,000 cases, and helped 43 wrongfully convicted individuals, most of whom were serving mandatory life sentences. Through her role at the CIU, Newman also works to raise awareness about wrongful convictions and systemic changes to prevent them.
Newman has also served on numerous committees and task forces with the State Bar of Michigan. One such position was co-chairing the Task Force on Eyewitness Identification Issues, where the group’s work resulted in law enforcement and prosecutors adopting significant reforms for conducting identifications and making charging decisions. She was appointed to the State Bar of Michigan Board of Commissioners by the Michigan Supreme Court, serving from 2020 – 2024.
Newman’s contributions extend far beyond the courtroom. She was an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan Law School for fifteen years and created the Conviction Integrity Clinic at the University of Detroit Mercy Law School, where she currently teaches as an adjunct. She has also been a regularly featured speaker at conferences, law schools, and community groups.
For Newman’s continued generosity, selflessness, and excellence in and beyond the courtroom, the State Bar of Michigan is proud to bestow her with the Roberts P. Hudson Award.
FRANK J. KELLEY DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD
ELIZABETH POLLARD HINES
Elizabeth Pollard Hines is the winner of this year’s Frank J. Kelley Distinguished Public Service Award. The award recognizes long-term, unwavering commitment to public service.
At every stage in her career, Hines has employed her gifts of empathy, intelligence, and determination to improve the conditions of the most vulnerable. As a mentor and leader, she has inspired many others to do the same.
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 served as chair of the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board and serves on the 21st Century Practice Task Force. In 2018, Hines was chosen by the National Center for State Courts to receive the William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence.
Hines helped create and launch the Street Outreach Court, a community project of the Washtenaw County criminal justice system, which offered those experiencing or at risk of homelessness opportunities to resolve civil and criminal infractions, working to address the root causes of their homelessness and criminal history.
To honor her lasting impact, the American Judges Association established an award in her name, the Judge Libby Hines Award, which annually recognizes one judge in the United States or Canada who has made a significant positive difference in the judicial response to domestic violence.
CHAMPION OF JUSTICE AWARD
KEELEY D. BLANCHARD
Keeley D. Blanchard, a highly regarded criminal defense attorney who has helped thousands of Michigan’s most vulnerable citizens, is a winner of this year’s Champion of Justice Award.
Blanchard serves as administrator of the Michigan Appellate Assigned Counsel System, a role in which she oversees a roster of approximately 150 assigned appellate attorneys, ensuring that they meet all standards for representation. Her selection was shaped not only by her experience but also by her deep commitment to public defense.
Blanchard has developed and provided training to public defenders and assigned counsel statewide. Successfully bidding through the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission’s Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, she developed the Trial Skills Simulation program in 2019 and has since trained hundreds of attorneys. Currently, 25-30 faculty members currently staff the courses she developed, which have client-centered values at their core, including voir dire, closing arguments, and sentencing.
Over the years she has spent transforming public defense education, she has continued to evolve to meet the needs of trainees and their clients. The success of the program and the grant funds awarded year after year for the continuation of the training is a direct result of Blanchard’s work.
From her nearly two decades of work as a trial lawyer to the development and instruction of training, offered for free to public defenders and assigned counsel statewide, Blanchard has made a substantial difference in driving excellence and equity in Michigan’s public defense system.
CHAMPION OF JUSTICE AWARD
ZENELL B. BROWN
As a result of her continuing impact at both the local and national level, Zenell B. Brown is being honored as a winner of the 2025 Champion of Justice Award.
Brown has made a profound and enduring impact through her leadership in judicial administration, inclusion, and access to justice initiatives. Her work has influenced best practices in court administration, ensuring that the legal system is fairer, more efficient, and more accessible to all individuals.
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 inclusive workforce and court user framework for Michigan’s courts. At the Wayne County Circuit Court, she promoted court outreach and engagement to provide resources to litigants and to develop community partnerships to create holistic and workable solutions for court users.
Throughout her legal career, Brown has worn many hats. She began as a paralegal and has served as the Court Administrator for one of the nation’s busiest trial courts. After 26 years, Brown retired, but only briefly. She came out of retirement just five months later to become a Regional Administrator with the Michigan State Court Administrative Office. She teaches court leadership, workforce excellence, and strategic vision and planning. This role has allowed her to work with district, circuit, probate, and municipal court judges and administrators across the Wayne County area on various administrative topics.
CHAMPION OF JUSTICE AWARD
ROSHUNDRA GRAHAM-SIMMONS
Roshundra Graham-Simmons has dedicated more than 21 years to public service and Michigan’s youth, earning her the honor of being a winner of this year’s Champion of Justice Award.
Throughout her career, Graham-Simmons has worked to ensure that Michigan’s child welfare litigation is handled with integrity, legal precision, and fairness, safeguarding children while upholding the rule of law.
As Litigation Section Head of the Children and Youth Services Division within the Michigan Department of Attorney General, she assists with the oversight of more than 3,000 child abuse and neglect cases annually. Her impartial approach in these sensitive cases demonstrates her continued commitment to fairness.
Her leadership in child welfare litigation has resulted in more rigorous legal strategies, policy improvements, and advocacy efforts that have led to better outcomes for Michigan’s most vulnerable children. Additionally, she has contributed to the development of statewide training programs for Assistant Attorneys General, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services staff, and child advocates to ensure that all justice stakeholders are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to handle abuse and neglect cases effectively.
Graham-Simmons is deeply engaged in legal and community service. She has previously served as a lawyer guardian ad litem, providing a voice for children in court proceedings. She has previously offered pro bono legal services through organizations such as the Washtenaw County Public Defender’s Office and has dedicated herself to child protective services work within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Graham-Simmons serves on key legal committees such as the Wayne County Protocol Workgroup, the Kids Talk Protocol Workgroup, and the Unsecured Weapons Workgroup.
CHAMPION OF JUSTICE AWARD
MARLA LINDERMAN RICHELEW
Marla Linderman Richelew has earned a reputation for sharing ideas and helping solve novel legal issues as they arise. She is a winner of 2025 Champion of Justice Award.
Linderman Richelew serves as the Assistant Attorney General Appellate Specialist in Civil Rights and Election Law. She exemplified this through her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she was quick to step up and assist other lawyers with how to operate and keep people safe and informed about COVID-19.
One colleague called her a “lawyer’s lawyer,” who helped firms reopen safely “while also protecting their most vulnerable clients.”
Linderman Richelew also partnered with now-Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth M. Welch to conduct seminars throughout Michigan to educate others about COVID-19 and unemployment laws. From Traverse City to Detroit, she has donated hundreds of hours of her time to help Michiganders, lawyers, and businesses.
She has written numerous articles and provided a Thomson Reuters internationally accredited seminar. Throughout her career, 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 State Bar of Michigan sections, committees, and task forces.
Linderman Richelew frequently speaks on issues relating to civil rights, business, civil procedure, and constitutional law. She is a former professor of law and a published author for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, and Westlaw.
KIMBERLY M. CAHILL BAR LEADERSHIP AWARD
TANISHA M. DAVIS
Tanisha M. Davis is the recipient of this year’s Kimberly M. Cahill Bar Leadership Award.
Davis is a trailblazer in Michigan’s legal community, recognized for her commitment to uplifting future lawyers, innovating legal practice, and expanding justice for underserved populations. As an attorney and advocate, she not only represents her clients but also serves the broader community through mentorship, outreach, and reform.
She leads her own firm, Tanisha M. Davis, Attorney at Law PLLC, where she focuses on family law, business law, and probate and estate planning. Davis has held leadership roles in the State Bar’s Solo and Small Firm Section, the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association, the Black Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, and the Family Law Council.
She has been a vocal leader in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion across the legal profession, including organizing the Minority Corporate Counsel Forum and a joint fireside chat to elevate DEI conversations. During her presidency of the Straker Bar Association, she helped revitalize fundraising efforts — most notably launching the organization’s first-ever Masquerade Ball, which brought new visibility and sustainability to Straker’s mission.
As founder & CEO of Kounsel Konnect, an early stage mobile app start up connecting attorneys for courtroom coverage, she promotes efficiency, collaboration, and professionalism in legal practice.
Through her nonprofit, Systems Unplugged Inc., Davis works to educate youth about the legal system and expand access to justice. She also contributes to expungement fairs, driver’s license restoration clinics, and legal services for survivors of domestic abuse through her community outreach efforts.
JOHN W. REED MICHIGAN LAWYER LEGACY AWARD
JOHN E. MOGK
John E. Mogk, distinguished service professor of law at Wayne State University Law School, is the winner of the John W. Reed Michigan Lawyer Legacy Award.
Through more than five decades of service, Mogk has dedicated time and effort to educate and motivate students and advocate for lawyers to assist and make a difference in their communities. His work includes research, teaching, and engagement in the field of urban law, policy on economic development, neighborhood rehabilitation, and intergovernmental cooperation. Mogk is one of the university’s longest-serving faculty members, having taught since 1968. Over the years, he has received numerous awards and has been recognized by students as an outstanding professor six different times.
Beyond the classroom, he has had various public service accomplishments and publications rooted in Detroit, including serving as chair for both the Jefferson-Chalmers Citizens’ District Council and Habitat for Humanity Detroit, and was vice chairman of the Michigan Construction Code Commission.
Former governor William Milliken appointed Mogk to the Detroit Public Schools Community District Board of Education, where he created the district’s breakfast program and, after a federal court found that Detroit school authorities had engaged in historical discrimination against Black children, was actively involved in designing a remedial desegregation plan.
Mogk’s leadership, including two decades as the head of the Michigan Energy and Resource Research Association, has led to hundreds of millions of dollars in funding in Detroit and throughout Michigan for everything from energy research to high-tech development. As chairman of the state’s Council on Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, he helped lay the foundation for expanded renewable energy in Michigan.
LIBERTY BELL AWARD
ROBERT GAISER
Robert Gaiser is the winner of the 2025 State Bar of Michigan Liberty Bell Award.
Since joining the Caro Police Department in July 2016, Gaiser has served with unwavering dedication, especially in his role over the past three years as School Resource Officer for Caro Community Schools. He has gone above and beyond in this role, not only enforcing safety protocols but also becoming a mentor, advocate, and a guiding presence for students and families.
Gaiser founded the Tuscola County School Safety Teaam, a coalition of school administrators, law enforcement, court staff, and community partners for which he continues to serve as its president. This safety team focuses on “handle with care” alerts, juvenile law reforms, street drug awareness, swatting threats, and AI challenges that involve criminal behavior. The group focuses on implementing safety responses. He has also implemented a diversion restorative practice program within the Caro district that offers first-time juvenile offenders a second chance by engaging them in mentoring and community service, instead of going through the court system. This program served over two dozen youths in 2024. Due to the program’s success, it is being modeled countywide under his leadership.
As an integral member of the Tuscola County Juvenile Justice Team, Gaiser was a leading voice in helping adapt to sweeping juvenile justice reforms in 2024. His fellow officers describe him as a natural leader, a straight shooter, and a person committed to doing the job for all the right reasons.
JOHN W. CUMMISKEY PRO BONO AWARD
KATHALEEN M. SMITH
Kathaleen M. Smith is the winner of this year’s John W. Cummiskey Pro Bono Award, which recognizes a Michigan lawyer who has made a significant pro bono contribution.
Smith began her 25-year legal career at Dow Corning Corporation in Midland, Michigan. She was a paralegal at Dow Corning and joined the Legal Department as an attorney after attending Western Michigan University’s Cooley Law School as a non-traditional student. After a corporate merger and downsizing, she began work at the Underground Railroad domestic violence shelter in Saginaw, which provides services for survivors of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
During her time at the Underground Railroad, she worked full-time as the sole attorney, assisting clients with divorce, custody, and domestic violence issues. This work sparked her passion for helping underserved populations navigate the legal system.
From 2016-2020, Smith served on the Saginaw County Bar Association Pro Bono Committee. Following her retirement in 2020, she volunteered for two Clean Slate Clinics, helping individuals expunge eligible criminal records, offering them a fresh start by removing barriers to employment, housing, and other opportunities. 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.
In retirement, she continues to volunteer for Legal Services of Eastern Michigan, where she combines her passion for helping underserved populations with a long-developed legal skillset. In recognition of decades of pro bono contribution, Smith is being honored with this award.