DMBA's 'Raising the Bar' highlights networking Annual event to be held at the historic Gem Theater

By Steve Thorpe Legal News The Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, which marks its 176th birthday this year, will be hosting its Raising the Bar annual meeting May 31 at the Gem Theater in Detroit. The organization is stressing the social aspect of the gathering and plans a new "strolling dinner" format that encourages participants to mingle while enjoying the atmosphere of the historic Gem Theater. "We've reformatted the event so that it is a strolling supper so guests will mingle and meet more people," said DMBA President Elizabeth Jolliffe. "That's been very successful at the Archer events and we decided we wanted that for this event as well." Organizing Committee Chair Chris Gura says that the strategy is in response to what leadership observed at past events. "Networking is one of the pillars of the DMBA. One of the challenges we always have, not only for the annual meeting, but for all of our events, is that you have many people coming for the networking or socialization. Then we usually go into another room and sit down for dinner and the program. We find that we often lose part of the group at that point. People seem to enjoy the social aspect and the networking the most. So we're trying to balance giving members what they want while also giving the awards presentations the attention they deserve." The choice of the Gem Theater as the venue was also influenced by the new plans for the event. "We looked at a lot of different places and with the change in format, it seemed like a good idea to also change the location," Gura said. "The Gem Theater really seemed to lend itself to the new format. Also, it's such a significant piece of Detroit history." In addition to the installation of new officers and directors, the DMBA will be presenting several awards, in particular the Frank Murphy Award to former Detroit Mayor, Appeals Court Judge and Wayne County Sheriff Roman S. Gribbs for his decades of public service. Gribbs was elected to the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1982, where he served until retiring in 2001. "We put out a call for nominations and (former judge) Bill Giovan nominated Roman Gribbs," Jolliffe said. "He was then an unanimous selection by our awards committee. The choice of Judge Gribbs brings a sense of history to the event and the award." The award recognizes an attorney who has exemplified the profession's highest ideals and demonstrated distinguished service. It is named for Frank Murphy, who served as a U.S. District Attorney, Recorder's Court Judge, 35th Governor of Michigan, U.S. Attorney General and eventually United States Supreme Court Associate Justice. Last year's recipient of the award was U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Cornelia Kennedy. She was the first woman to serve on the DMBA Board of Directors, the first woman appointed to the federal bench in Michigan and the first woman to become the Chief Judge of a United States District Court. Cooley Law School is receiving the Pro Bono Service Award for its partnership with the DMBA in seeking expungements of criminal convictions to aid offenders in reentering society. The program matched DMBA volunteer attorneys with students who drafted and argued criminal expungement motions in Wayne County Circuit Court. James O'Leary, who is retiring from teaching at Detroit's Cass Technical High School, will receive the DMBA's Liberty Bell Award for his years of work on behalf of students with the DMBA's School Partnership Program. "(O'Leary's) been a big proponent of our Barrister School Partnership Program and has been very active in teaching his students about the legal system and our constitutional rights, as well as encouraging students to pursue legal careers," Gura said. The 2012-2013 officers of the DMBA will be President Ben Jeffers, President Elect Stephen McGraw, and Secretary/Treasurer David Winter. "Ben Jeffers from Dykema is our incoming president and he's going to be terrific," Jolliffe said. "(President Elect) Stephen McGraw and (Secretary/Treasurer) David Winter are also great additions to the leadership team. They both have great ideas and I'm sure we'll see continued momentum because of them." Published: Fri, May 25, 2012

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