Lynn Helland (second from right), executive director of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, was honored recently by WMU-Cooley Law School. Among those on hand to congratulate Helland were (from left) Patrick Corbett, assistant U.S. attorney and WMU-Cooley Law School visiting professor; Joan Vestrand, WMU-Cooley Law School associate dean; and Alan Gershel, attorney grievance administrator.
Lynn Helland, executive director of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission was the featured speaker and Integrity Award recipient this month during the “Integrity in Our Community” speaker series at the WMU-Cooley Law School’s Auburn Hills campus.
The award is presented to legal professionals who demonstrate the highest integrity in their profession. The event was cohosted by the law school’s newest student organization, the Society for Personal and Professional Integrity.
Alan Gershel, past recipient of the Integrity Award, former U.S. attorney and current Michigan attorney grievance administrator, who worked with Helland on a number of cases while each were employed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, provided Helland’s introductory remarks.
“We often said that a measure of a prosecutor’s integrity is not what he or she does in public, in a courtroom, when people are watching, when it’s easy to make the right decision,” said Gershel.
“The more difficult times really occur when no one is looking, when the lights are not on, so to speak. Lynn was the gold standard. He led by example. He always did the right thing.”
Helland’s presentation was on the topic of personal integrity, and spoke about how individual integrity can influence the community at large.
“None of us think that our integrity is responsible for that overall level of national trust, but it is. Each contribution we make, for better or for worse, has an impact on the whole,” Helland said.
Helland identified and discussed two types of integrity: moral integrity and integrity of thought.
He spoke of the importance of remaining objective and honest. Helland also emphasized the challenges of having integrity, citing brain research that he said shows people are wired so that they handle information that undercuts their beliefs by disregarding or discounting that information.
“For the good of all our communities, I encourage all of us to embrace both moral integrity and thinking integrity. We all want to do that, you already said that, but I encourage you also to recognize how hard it is, and to embrace how hard it is and to try to work through how hard it is,” Helland said.
Before Helland was appointed to serve as executive director of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, he served as assistant U.S. attorney.
During his 34 years as a federal prosecutor, he was assigned to complex crimes involving public corruption, health care fraud, national security and civil rights.
Helland served as law clerk to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Cornelia Kennedy.
His community involvement includes serving as a board member for Save the Afghan Children, a charity that supports a girls’ orphanage and school in Kabul, Afghanistan; was a board member for Veahavta, a charity that supports a girls’ orphanage in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka; served as a board member and president, Parent’s Association, Oak Trails Montessori School; and has participated in humanitarian trips to Sri Lanka and Haiti.
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