High court names jury committee members

The Michigan Supreme Court has announced its appointments to the Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions, which drafts standard instructions for juries in civil cases.

The 21-member Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions, created under Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 2001-6, is composed of judges and attorneys appointed by the Supreme Court.

Members are appointed for three-year terms and may be reappointed for two additional terms.

The court appointed Kent County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen A. Feeney and Birmingham attorney William B. Forrest III of Kienbaum Opperwall Hardy & Pelton, P.L.C. to the committee. They succeed retired Berrien County Trial Court Judge Alfred M. Butzbaugh and Birmingham attorney Elizabeth Phelps Hardy of Kienbaum Opperwall Hardy & Pelton, P.L.C., who have served three full terms.

The court also reappointed the following committee members:

• Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Jane M. Beckering.
• Sanilac County Circuit Court Judge Donald A. Teeple.
• Paul C. Smith, director of Policy and Field Legal Services with the Michigan Department of Human Services.
• Mark R. Bendure, Bendure & Thomas in Detroit.
• W. Mack Faison, Miller Canfield Paddock & Stone P.L.C. in Detroit

Each will serve a three-year term beginning January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016.

The court also appointed Kent County Circuit Court Judge James R. Redford to succeed retired Berrien County Trial Court Judge Alfred M. Butzbaugh as chair of the committee effective Jan. 1, 2014.

The committee is composed of attorneys and judges whose duty is to ensure that the Model Civil Jury Instructions are concise, understandable, conversational, unslanted and not argumentative.