State Bar reveals award winners  

The State Bar of Michigan Representative Assembly announced winners of two awards bestowed annually to outstanding attorneys.

Janet K. Welch is the 2025 winner of the Michael Franck Award, honoring attorneys who have made an outstanding contribution to the improvement of the profession. After graduating from Michigan Law in 1989, Welch clerked for Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert P. Griffin, later serving as an executive analyst and general counsel at the Court. In 2000, she began serving at the State Bar, as general counsel and then executive director—the first woman to hold the role. She retired in 2022.

Kamau Sandiford is winner of the Unsung Hero Award. Sandiford is the Clean Slate program manager for Safe & Just Michigan, where he oversees expungement outreach initiatives. Previously he was staff attorney at Cooley Law School’s Access to Justice Clinic. 

He holds a bachelor’s degree  from Grand Valley State University and a J.D.from Cooley Law School. The West Michigan resident has also volunteered with the Black and Brown Cannabis Guild at their expungement fairs.

The awards will be presented at the Representative Assembly meeting September 19 at the Troy Marriott.

Emma N. Green joins Warner  

Warner Norcross + Judd LLP has welcomed Emma N. Green as an associate, based in the Grand Rapids office

Green, who concentrates her practice in family law, previously worked for law firms in Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, as well as with Michigan Legal Help in Ypsilanti.

The Grand Rapids native is a member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of Michigan and Grand Rapids Bar Association, as well as the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan. She serves on the executive council of the Young Lawyers Section of the State Bar.

Green holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish, magna cum laude, from Saint Mary’s College in Indiana and a law degree from Case Western Reserve University. 

Fluent in Spanish, she also holds a Master of Laws degree from Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain.

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