In recognition of his service to the State Bar, James Heath received a special proclamation that was presented by Wayne County Executive Warren Evans (left) and Deputy County Executive Assad Turfe.
By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
The desire for public service runs deep in the veins of James Heath, who was sworn recently as the 88th president of the State Bar of Michigan, succeeding Center Line attorney Dana Warnez as the elected leader of the organization serving a membership of some 46,000 lawyers.
As Wayne County’s corporation counsel for the past three years, Heath has spent the bulk of his 21-year legal career in the public service realm, following the example set by his late parents whose influence continues to resonate with the Detroit native.
“My dad (James) spent nearly 40 years working for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department before retiring, while my mom (Cleo) was a special ed teacher and speech pathologist in Detroit Public Schools for 25 years,” said Heath, a 1993 alum of University of Detroit High School. “They were strong role models for me and instilled in me a real belief in the importance of public service work in our society.”
Heath, who earned his bachelor’s degree from James Madison College at Michigan State University, got his first taste of public service work while serving as an intern for then Detroit City Councilman Gil Hill, who gained fame years earlier when he portrayed Inspector Todd in the smash box office hit “Beverly Hills Cop” starring Eddie Murphy.
Several years later, fresh from earning his law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law, Heath would be reunited with Hill, the former president of Detroit City Council who died in 2016 at the age of 84.
“When he (Hill) ran for mayor in 2001, I jumped in with both feet to help with his campaign,” Heath said of the mayoral race eventually won by Kwame Kilpatrick. “It was an exciting and interesting experience to be involved
in that campaign, but once that was over, I was fortunate to land a job with a law firm that represented the Detroit Police Officers Association.”
Heath would spend several years in private practice before joining the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in its Public Integrity Unit.
“It was a very interesting job in which we were involved in prosecuting cases of police misconduct and public corruption,” said Heath, who several years later would be offered a job with the Michigan Attorney General Criminal and Health Care Fraud divisions in Lansing.
“I was charged with prosecuting cases of Medicare and Medicaid insurance fraud, helping protect some of the most vulnerable citizens in society,” said Heath. “I was commuting to Lansing every day at a time when I was a much younger man who was full of vigor.”
The daily grind of the long commute eased in 2010 when Heath took an assignment in the Attorney General’s Office in Detroit, handling embezzlement cases involving public officials. It would serve as a stepping stone to his then “dream job” in 2012 as the inspector general for the City of Detroit.
“It was a newly created position that came about after the city passed a new charter,” explained Heath, who was appointed to six-year term in office. “We were charged with investigating cases involving allegations of waste, abuse, fraud, and corruption in city government. I took a lot of pride in the work we did there on behalf of the citizens of Detroit to curb waste and to help root out corruption.”
As his term in office for the city expired in July 2018, Heath began a new public service role, this time with Wayne County as its chief of the Special Operations Division.
“I wrapped up my job with the city at 11 p.m. on Sunday and reported to work at 8 o’clock Monday morning for the county,” Heath said. “It probably would have been much smarter if I had given myself a bit of vacation time before beginning a new job.”
It would be a lesson he fully appreciated two months later when Heath was appointed by Wayne County Executive Warren Evans to serve as interim corporate counsel following the departure of Zenna Elhasan to become general counsel of the Kresge Foundation.
By the end of the year, the Wayne County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to remove the “interim” title and to appoint Heath as head of the Department of Corporation Counsel overseeing a staff of 40 lawyers.
“For the past three years, I’ve had the good fortune of working with a number of great people in our office that I learn from every day,” said Heath. “It’s a great place to work where no two days are alike, especially with the range of legal responsibilities we handle in the areas of litigation, election law, contracts, civil rights, and workers’ compensation claims just to name a few.”
Heath’s involvement with the State Bar began in earnest in 2009 at the urging of Rick Cunningham, a former colleague of his at the Attorney General’s Office.
“Rick really encouraged me to get involved with the State Bar, saying that I would find it rewarding on a professional and personal level,” said Heath of the former chair of the State Bar Representative Assembly. “In fact, when he left the Board of Commissioners, I ran for his seat and won, which really was the beginning of my increased involvement.”
Heath, who is the first public servant in recent memory to serve as State Bar president since Wayne County assistant prosecutor Nancy Diehl fulfilled the role in 2004-05, gives special thanks to County Executive Evans for allowing him to serve the State Bar while holding such a demanding role with the county.
Heath said that he also drew inspiration from former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, the 50th president of the State Bar in 1984-85.
“He has long been a hero of mine and was the first African-American to serve as president of the State Bar,” Heath related. “In a small way, this now gives me the chance to follow in his footsteps.”
As he begins his term as president, Heath said he plans to crisscross the state in the coming months, visiting various bar associations in an effort to assure members of the legal community that “we are committed to helping lawyers adjust to the new ways of practicing law” as a result of the pandemic.
“We also want to ensure that no one is left behind in regards to access to justice, which is a fundamental right for each citizen in the state,” said Heath. “Internally, we’ve also undergone significant changes in our leadership following the well-deserved retirement of our longtime executive director Janet Welch. I want everyone on our executive team, led by Director Peter Cunningham, to know that we are here to support their continuing efforts to make us the best we can be.”
Aside from his assorted legal responsibilities, Heath also is the proud father of two children, 20-year-old James III and 18-year-old Karon, both products of Roeper High School in Birmingham.
“They are my pride and joy,” Heath said of his son and daughter.
His namesake is a sophomore at Middlebury College in Vermont, and is studying computer science in hopes of working on Wall Street one day.
“He went to Middlebury without knowing a soul, but is really thriving there, even joining the club crew team this year,” said Heath.
His daughter plans to attend college next fall and has displayed a passion for “helping people” and for advancing “social justice issues,” Heath indicated.
“If she so decides, she has all that it takes to become a lawyer — and a very good one at that.”
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