By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
A former member of the State Board of Education, Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael Warren has been a prolific writer over the course of his 28-year legal career, writing extensively about education reform, technology initiatives, and the importance of American history and civics.
He also has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of all things Alice Gilbert, the legendary judge who Warren had the challenge of succeeding on the Oakland County Circuit Court bench.
Gilbert, who retired from the Circuit Court in 2002 after a particularly distinguished judicial career, was the proverbial “tough act to follow,” according to Warren, who with his then 10-year-old daughter Leah is the co-founder of Patriot Week,
Warren’s admiration for Gilbert began before he officially donned his judicial robes following his appointment to the bench by then Governor John Engler.
“With her surprise retirement, the bench got a secondary bonus surprise – my appointment was quite the ‘bolt from the blue,’” admitted Warren, who formerly was a partner with Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn in Detroit, where he worked on mergers, acquisitions, securities, and education matters.
“I was not a litigator, and many lawyers were highly skeptical of my acumen,” Warren said.
This, despite the fact that he was a University of Michigan Law School grad who at the time of his court appointment was serving as executive director of The New Common School Foundation.
In an effort to help Warren make a smooth transition to the bench, Gilbert offered a helping hand.
“She took me under her wing and gave me the lay of the courthouse and courtroom in a very generous, kind, and illuminating fashion,” said Warren. “I remain very much in her debt. I hired several of her staff members, including now Judge Kameshia Gant.”
Gilbert, whose death last week made a bleak year even sadder, also was a “trailblazer” in how she worked, said Warren, who helped shepherd the Oakland County Circuit Court into the electronic frontier, piloting its e-filing and paperless docket project in 2007.
“Near and dear to my heart, she was the first judge in Michigan to utilize and implement computer technology for court administration,” Warren said of Gilbert, teasing “I understand that they had hand cranks and cathodes” for the task.
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