Flanked by Judges Cheryl Matthews (left) and Lisa Gorcyca, Karen McDonald recently took her seat on the family court bench.
Photo by John Meiu
By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
Karen McDonald, as the new judge with the Oakland County Circuit Court, knows she is walking in some big shoes, metaphorically speaking those left behind by the retired Edward Sosnick.
Last Thursday at her investiture ceremony in the Oakland County Board of Commissioners Auditorium, the newest member of the Circuit Court bench gave credit to Judge Sosnick for a sage piece of advice early in her career that very well could have set the stage for her eventual ascension to the judicial seat she now occupies.
During her final year of law school at Wayne State University in 1997, and with a job offer in hand from one of the state’s most respected law firms, Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, McDonald was at an early crossroads in her professional life. She, coincidentally, crossed paths with Judge Sosnick and asked him if she should take the full time position with Jaffe or opt instead for a post as a research attorney with the state Court of Appeals that would better suit her child-rearing needs. For Sosnick, the choice was clear.
“I told her that raising her child should be a priority and that a job like the one Jaffe was offering would be there again at some point down the road,” Sosnick said in a phone interview this week. “I always hesitate to give too much in the way of career advice, but since she asked, I was willing to share my thoughts. Fortunately, that job opportunity at Jaffe did come back again and she made the most of it.”
McDonald joined Jaffe in 2007, eventually becoming a partner specializing in commercial litigation and family law. She earlier had spent five years as an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, where she worked with two current members of the Circuit Court bench, Cheryl Matthews and Lisa Gorcyca.
“Back then, Cheryl was the head of the child sexual assault unit, where Karen worked with her, prosecuting some of the worst crimes you can possibly imagine,” said David Williams, a former colleague of McDonald’s at the Prosecutor’s Office and at Jaffe. “That a tough job, and it’s hard to do it for very long and maintain your sanity, let alone your sense of humor, or any kind of positive view of the world. Cheryl was the rare person who could do that.
“During that same time,” Williams said at the investiture ceremony January 10, “Lisa Gorcyca was the head of the domestic violence unit. Those cases are just as difficult, although for different reasons. Often, the victims are uncooperative, and will actively try to undermine the prosecutor’s case. It takes a special talent to navigate that minefield, and Lisa was a pro. Lisa and Cheryl were similar in many ways, both of them smart and tough, although, as I recall it, Lisa swore less,” Williams said, evoking a cascade of laughter. “Lisa and Cheryl were both examples for Karen, and they have continued to be her friends and mentors.”
Judges Matthews and Gorcyca were among those who took part in the investiture ceremony last week, jointly administering the oath of office to McDonald, who earned her bachelor’s degree from Alma College in 1992, beginning her career as a teacher in Midland and then Williamston. Jaffe partners Peter Alter, immediate past president of the Oakland County Bar Association, and Liz Luckenbach, president of the Oakland County Bar Foundation, presented the judge’s gavel to McDonald.
“A little over a year ago, when I signed up to help Judge McDonald with her campaign, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself in to,” Luckenbach said. “What I did know is that she was smart, very funny, fair, loyal, kind, compassionate, a champion of children, and that she’d make a fantastic judge.”
And then Luckenbach related a story about seeing the new judge in action.
“I had the opportunity last Friday to watch Judge McDonald handle her first juvenile matter – she had to sentence a 17-year-old boy whose parents didn’t bother to appear with him,” Luckenbach said. “She sent him to a secure juvenile facility, over the impassioned request from his counsel to not do so, but she did it with kindness, compassion, fairness, and a genuine concern for his hopeful success. Watching her handle that matter confirmed for me everything that I knew about what a great judge she’d be.”
Those remarks were echoed at the investiture by Ira Jaffe, the founding partner of Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, and Phillip Fisher, the founder of Mission Throttle, an organization that promotes philanthropic efforts and positive social change in the community. More praise was expressed by Judge McDonald’s husband, Jeffrey Weiss, whom she met while working at Jaffe, and U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, who said that the newest member of the Oakland Circuit Court “will do honor to this bench.”
Her former colleague, David Williams, would be among the first to agree, citing her “calm under fire” disposition.
“She is a person who listens, and who gives good counsel, but who is not interested in hearing excuses, or making excuses herself,” Williams said of McDonald. “Most of all, she is smart and hardworking, with the heart of a teacher. Many of you know her like I do, and I think we all agree, she’s going to be a great judge.”
When it was her turn at the podium, McDonald paid a debt of gratitude to all those who supported her and believed in her throughout the election campaign. She made special mention of attorneys Susan Lichterman and Jeffrey Appel for their work on the campaign and in helping organize the investiture ceremony.
She saluted Jaffe Raitt as a law firm that is “something special,” noting that “early on it captured my heart and my loyalty, and made me the lawyer that I am and hopefully the judge that I will be.”
The 42-year-old Michigan native then singled out members of her family, including her parents, Kathryn and Robert McDonald, and her twin sister, Kristen, and sister, Lisa-Marie Wright. She recognized her children, Maeve and Ian, and stepchildren, Andrew, Emily, and Aaron, reserving special thanks for the love and support of her husband, Jeff.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is my family,” McDonald said in her closing remarks. “We look a lot like the people that will come before me in the family court. We have different last names, different mothers and fathers, different religions. But we are bonded by something that we’ve created in the best way we know how.”
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