During the State Bar of Michigan’s (SBM) Annual meeting in Novi, WMU-Cooley Law School Board Chair Lawrence P. Nolan was presented with the Roberts P. Hudson Award. In addition to Nolan’s honor, graduate Mary Chartier was presented the Michael C. Franck Award and graduate Aaron V. Burrell was sworn in as the SBM Representative Assembly Chair.
The Hudson Award is presented periodically to commend attorneys for outstanding and unique service to and on behalf of the State Bar of Michigan, the legal profession, and public. Nolan’s service to the SBM and the profession are demonstrated through his volunteer service, which began when he was first elected to serve on the bar’s board of commissioners in 2009 and continued as he worked his way up through the executive board ranks attaining the role of president from 2016-2017.
Nolan, president, Nolan Thomsen & Villas, P.C., has continually been active with the SBM since 1978, when he began serving as a member of the Young Lawyers Section Council. He served on multiple committees and eventually as chair of the section from 1983-1984. Mr. Nolan’s dedication to the SBM is recognized by the many committees he has served on since 1984, some of which include: the Pro Bono Committee; Delivery of Legal Services Committee; Local Bar Association Review Committee; Prepaid Legal Services Committee; Health Insurance Committee; Judicial Qualifications Committee; Programs and Services Committee; Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program; Education and Events Committee; Public Policy Image and Identity Committee; the 21st Century Task Force; and others.
Nolan has served on WMU-Cooley’s board for 37 years, longer than any other board member, including the school’s founder – Justice Thomas Brennan.
Chartier was presented the Michael C. Franck Award, which is given by the SBM Representative Assembly to an attorney who has made an outstanding contribution to the improvement of the profession. As partner and litigator with Chartier Nyamfukudza P.L.C., Chartier has represented clients accused of white collar crimes, such as health care fraud, mortgage fraud, and money laundering, as well as clients accused of drug dealing, terrorism, crimes against the United States, bank robbery, criminal sexual conduct, and homicide. She has litigated and won numerous motions, including recently obtaining a dismissal in a felony drug case in which the police illegally entered the client’s home.
Before working in private practice, Chartier worked at the Michigan Supreme Court for Justice Michael F. Cavanagh, as well as at the Court of Appeals. She has received numerous awards, including being named one of Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Leaders in the Law” in 2018 and one of the top “Women in the Law” in 2013. She also received the Distinguished Barrister’s Award in 2018 by the Davis-Dunnings Bar Association. In addition to her legal background, Mary has over seven years of management experience running a multi-million dollar non-profit organization and supervising a staff of over 250 members in two states.
As chair of the 150-member Representative Assembly, Burrell will oversee the policy-making board of the SBM. The Representative Assembly was created by the Michigan Supreme Court in 1971 to increase geographic representation in bar policy.
Burrell, who represents the third Judicial Circuit in the Representative Assembly, practices with Dickinson Wright LLC. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Oakland County Bar Association; is a past-president of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association and vice president of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Foundation. Burrell was named a foundation fellow of both the American Bar Foundation and the Oakland County Bar Foundation; served as affiliate representative of the National Bar Association; and he previously co-chaired the State Bar of Michigan Equal Access Initiative.
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