OCBA to honor a host of award winners at 89th Annual Meeting

By Tom Kirvan
Legal News

The legal stars will be out in force June 1 at the 89th Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony for the Oakland County Bar Association.

The event, which will take place at the Kingsley Hotel in Bloomfield Hills, will recognize 13 award recipients as well as “our 40-year honorees and 50-year OCBA members,” according to Jennifer Roosenberg, executive director of the OCBA.

The recipients of this year’s Distinguished Career Achievement Award are Judy Cunningham, former Corporation Counsel for Oakland County, and retired Oakland County Probate Judge Barry Grant.

The Distinguished Public Servant Award will be presented to Kevin Oeff­ner, former Court Administrator for the Oakland County Circuit Court.

This year’s winner of the Distinguished Service Award is Kristina Bilowus, assistant director of Career Development at Michigan State University College of Law.

The Professional Award will be presented to Joseph Doerr, of Doerr MacWilliams Howard PLLC.

Christine Battle, of Christine M. Battle, PLLC, will be this year’s recipient of the Frances R. Avadenka Memorial Award.

Crystal Proxmire, of the Oakland County Times, will be presented with the Allene and Martin Doctoroff Liberty Bell Award for 2023.

The Pro Bono – Lakeshore Legal Aid Award recipient will be attorney Suzanne Bolton.

Attorney Elias Escobedo Jr. is the 2023 recipient of the S. Gerald Gorcyca Meritorious Service to Veterans Award.

The Bonnie L. Beutler Outstanding New Lawyer Award will be presented to David Sheaffer of the office of the Michigan Supreme Court. 

The Membership Committee of the OCBA has been named as the Committee of the Year winner. The panel is led by Julie Kosovec – First Chair; Moheeb Murray – Second Chair; and Jacob Klein – Vice Chair.

Also highlighting the evening’s festivities will be recognition of twenty-seven 40-year honorees, all of whom are celebrating 40 years of legal practice in Michigan. They include: Candyce Ewing Abbatt, Dirk Beckwith, Russell Carniak, Michael Clawson, Judy Cunningham, Mark Demorest, Bruce Gorosh, Joseph Hardig III, Ada Snyder Kerwin, Lawrence Kohl, Mark Kowalsky, retired Oakland County Circuit Judge Denise Langford-Morris, Kenneth Letherwood, Lawrence Lichtman, Terrance Lynch, Ronn Nadis, Zan Nicolli, Mark Peyser, Duane Reynolds, James Robb, William Sigler, Kenneth Silver, Robert Sosin, John Staran, Michael Sullivan, Judge Cynthia Thomas Walker of the 50th District Court, and Stewart Weiner.

Twenty-one attorneys, who have been members of the OCBA for 50 consecutive years, also will be saluted at the event. The 50-year OCBA Members include: Seth Barsky, Stanley Bershad, William Brukoff, Robert Carson, Gerald Fisher, Sidney Frank, Ernest Gifford, Wallace Handler, Edward Haroutunian, W. Bruce Knight, Robert Kostin, Gary Krochmal, Barry Lakritz, Martin Leavitt, Charles LeFevre, Alwin Levine, William Lynch, Donald McGinnis Jr., Thomas O’Connor, Dennis Pollard, and Barry Seifman.

The Annual Meeting also will feature the ceremonial passing of the gavel from one president to the next. Outgoing President Elizabeth Luckenbach, an attorney with Dickinson Wright, will welcome Melinda Deel, of Melinda N. Deel, PLLC, to the leadership role as the 91st president of the OCBA.

The event runs from 5-8 p.m. and the cost to attend is $85 for early-bird registrants and $65 for new lawyers, paralegals, and students. The early registration deadline is April 30.


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