By Melanie Deeds
Legal News
The pair at the top of the Macomb County Bar Association are determined to get judges and lawyers talking again — and they are insisting it’s a face-to-face conversation.
“This is something I wanted to occur for a while,” said MCBA President Lori Smith of the Bench Bar Conference scheduled for Friday, Feb. 24 at Macomb Community College in Clinton Township. “COVID changed things a lot in the practice of law.”
During her time leading the organization, Smith said she wanted “to reestablish everybody being connected with one another, the attorneys as well as members of the bench. Bringing this event back was sort of a no-brainer.”
Smith’s sidekick in this ambitious undertaking has been Ryan Zemke, 41-B District Court magistrate and deputy court administrator who will take over as MCBA president in July.
Zemke and Smith have been “working tirelessly to engage members of the Macomb County bench to participate,” according to MCBA Executive Director Rick Troy.
Judges and representatives from Macomb County Circuit Court as well Macomb County Probate Court will be in attendance at the get-together along with judges and staffers from the district courts around the county.
Attorneys from across the Macomb County, involved in all areas of the practice of law, have signed up for the daylong event.
Years ago, the Bench Bar Conference was a popular annual gathering. Several years back, the decision was made to hold it every other year.
Then, in 2020, the pandemic took over and stopped all that.
Last fall, Zemke said, he and Smith “decided it was time to start it” once again.
“When we first talked about it, we weren’t entirely sure an in-person event was the way to go, but we agreed after a while that it was time to bring everybody together again.”
The conference is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on February 24 at the college’s University Center.
The cost is $25 and registration can be completed by visiting macombbar.org.
Smith and Zemke will deliver opening remarks followed by three morning sessions focused entirely on district court matters. Judges and court administrators are scheduled to speak and answer questions from attorneys.
Macomb County Circuit Court Chief Judge James Biernat Jr. will deliver his State of Circuit Court speech at lunchtime.
The afternoon schedule will feature a Probate Court presentation — Prospering in Probate in 2023 — followed by three sessions on Circuit Court matters — Family Law-Practice, Procedures and FOC from A-Z; Criminal Law – The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change; and Civil Law Catch Up – It’s More Than Civility.
Smith, a shareholder and family law attorney with O’Reilly Rancilio in Sterling Heights, said it was important that the conference was truly informative and that area lawyers had plenty of opportunity to ask questions and raise areas of concern.
Smith remembered her early years as an attorney and how helpful it was to attend bar association events like seminars and bench-bar conferences.
“They were opportunities to learn about the practice of law,” she said. “I loved learning from other attorneys and still do.”
Smith is buoyed by the response and enthusiasm exhibited by members of the bench.
“We’re in a great county from that perspective,” she said. “We’ve received really strong feedback from the judges in the sense that so many of them are participating.
“It is a priority for them and they are rearranging their dockets.”
Zemke agreed.
“We’re fortunate enough that our judges are accessible and open to talking about things. They want to know about what works and what doesn’t,” he said.
To ensure that attorneys get what they need from the event, the MCBA asked members to send in questions before hand and raise areas of concern and confusion. Judges have been asked as well for ideas on topics of discussion.
Moderators will be on hand for all sessions, Smith said, to make sure everybody gets an opportunity to speak and as many subjects as possible are addressed.
“We want everyone to know what we’re planning to talk about.”
Regarding the changes that have been implemented since the pandemic, many are valuable to attorneys as well as those who encounter difficulties gaining access to the justice system.
That being said, Smith emphasized it is vital to reestablish the personal connection, the one-on-one interaction.
“It’s interesting that even among members of the bar, there’s a significant difference of opinion, she said. “Some would be perfectly content to never see foot in a courtroom again. Others would love to go to court for every single component. Then there are people like me who are somewhere in between.
“Even now, we’re on Zoom part of the time and if we are in court in person, we don’t get to see everybody like you used to,” she said. “You don’t get to interact with the judges in the same way when
they are on a screen. I think this will be very beneficial, especially from a camaraderie perspective.”
This month’s conference is an opportunity for the judges and court officials to “update the bar about things that are going on with them,” changes in procedure and policy that attorneys need to know, she added.
As a magistrate and court official, Zemke said he sees “both ends of it.
“We’ve changed a ton of what we do at the court,” he said. “Then from my friends in practice, I see and hear that a lot has changed in what they do as well. Then, there’s the Supreme Court guiding everybody somewhere in between.”
Both Zemke and Smith look forward to a day filled with a healthy exchange of information and open communication.
The intention at this point is to schedule a bench bar conference every other year so the dialogue and interaction is a regular occurrence.
“We just want to get a conversation going and to catch up with everybody,” he said. “It’s a good time for this to happen.”
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