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My Presidential Travels
 
Here is a list of  some of my meetings, visits, and presentations as State Bar president:
 
September 2011
9/15 - State Bar of Michigan Annual Meeting in Dearborn, MI
9/16 - Michigan Legal Milestone Unveiling for Milliken v. Bradley in Dearborn, MI
9/21 - American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee "Judges Night" in Dearborn, MI
9/25 - Michigan Lawyers Weekly "Women in the Law" Event (Jabet Welch selected "Woman of the Year") in Troy, MI
9/25 - Oakland County Bar Assoc. Sustaining Members Reception in Birmingham, MI 
 
October
10/2 through 10/6 -  State Bar of Michigan Upper Peninsula Tour (Sault St. Marie, Escanaba, Menominee, Iron Mountain, Ironwood, Hancock, Marquette)
10/6 - Oakland and Macomb County Pro Bono Fair in Auburn Hills, MI
10/7 - University of Detroit Mercy Law "Project Salute" Pro Bono Trailing in Lansing, MI
10/17 - Justice Initiatives Kickoff Meeting in Lansing, MI
10/17 - Lansing Pro Bono Fair at Cooley Law School in Lansing, MI
10/19 - Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights Grand Opening Ceremony in Detroit, MI
10/24 - ABA Comm. on Women in the Prof. "Road to Independence" Author Webinar 
 
November 
11/3 - Michigan Lawyers Auxiliary Meeting in Lansing, MI 
11/10 - Rochester Bar Association Luncheon in Richester, MI
11/14 - CNN "Newsmaker" Interview in Lansing, MI
11/15 - Michigan Judges Association Executive Committee Meeting in Lansing, MI
11/15 - Centennial Inns of Court Meeting in Flint, MI
11/18 - Lansing Black Lawyers (now, Davis-Dunnings Bar Assoc.) "Casino Night" in Lansing, MI

December 
12/7   - Oakland County Bar Association Holiday Gala in Birmingham,, MI
12/8  - Oakland County Women's Bar Association Holiday Party in Birmingham, MI
12/14 - Federal Bar Association - Eastern Dist. of Mich. Holiday Party in Detroit, MI
12/15 - Wolverine Bar Assoc./D. Augustus Straker Bar Assoc. Holiday Gathering in Lansing, MI
 
January 2012
1/4 - Downriver Bar Association Meeting in Taylor, MI
1/5 - Cooley Law School Professionalism in Action Program in Lansing, MI

February
2/2-8 - ABA Mid-Year Meeting and National Conference of Bar Presidents, New Orleans, LA
2/15 - D. Augustus Straker Bar Association, Southfield, MI
2/16 - Oakland County Bar Association "ABC's of Practice," Bloomfield Hills, MI
2/20 - Baker College Paralegal Program, Clinton Township, MI
2/28 - Genesee County Centennial Inns of Court, Flint, MI
 
March
3/9 -   Macomb County Bar Association Bench-Bar Conference, Clinton Twp., MI
3/15 - Grand Rapids Bar Association, Grand Rapids, MI
3/15 - "Celebrating Diversity" Event, Detroit, MI
3/16 - Criminal Defense Attorneys of Mich. Dinner and Awards Night, Novi, MI
3/17 - Wolverine Bar Association "Barrister's Ball," Detroit, MI
3/19 - Berrien and Cass County Bar Association Dinner in St. Joseph, MI
3/22 - Ingham County Bar Association Barrister's Night, Lansing, MI
3/28 - MSU College of Law, East Lansing, MI
3/28 - Women Lawyers Assoc. of Michigan Foundation, Detroit, MI
3/29 - Calhoun County Bar Association in Marshall, MI
 
April
4/4 - Oakland County Bar Association, Bloomfield Hills, MI
4/13 - MSU College of Law Symposium - "Gender and the Legal Profession Pipeline to Power," Detroit, MI
4/14 - Association of Black Judges of Michigan Meeting in Pontiac, MI 
4/16 - Genesee County Bar Association, Flint, MI
4/18-19 - "ABA Days" on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC
4/20 - Oakland County Bar Foundation "Signature Event," Bl. Hills, MI
4/21 - State Bar of Michigan Representative Assembly, Lansing, MI
4/22 - Wade H. McCree Awards for the Adv. of Justice, East Lansing, MI
4/25 - Portrait Unveiling of Justice Conrad L. Mallett, Jr., Hall of Justice, Lansing, MI
4/27 - Women Lawyers Assoc. of Mich. Annual Meeting, Grand Rapids, MI
4/27 - Davis-Dunnings Bar Assoc. Otis Smith Scholarship Banquet, E. Lansing, MI
4/28 - NALS of Michigan Annual Meeting, Detroit, MI
4/30 - Michigan Trial Courts Performance Standards Focus Group in Lansing, MI 
 
May
5/3 - Elder of Law of Michigan "Call to Justice" Dinner, Lansing, MI
5/4 - Cooley Law School "Professionalism in Action" Program, Lansing, MI 
5/7 - Ottawa County Bar Association Meeting in Holland, MI
5/10 - Oakland County Women's Bar Assoc. Annual Meeting, Birmingham, MI
5/11 - Michigan Defense Trial Counsel Annual Mtg. & Conference in Detroit, MI
5/11 - Washtenaw County Bar Association Bench-Bar Conference in Ann Arbor, MI
5/15 - Grand Traverse Bar Association Spring Dinner in Traverse City, MI
5/16 - Wexford Missaukee Bar Association Luncheon in Cadillac, MI
5/17 - ICLE Annual Probate & Estate Planning Institute, Acme, MI
5/18 - Macomb County Bar Foundation Kimberly M. Cahill Reading Program Awards, Warren, MI
5/20 - Cooley Law School Commencement Speaker, East Lansing, MI
5/23 - Pro Bono Workshop, State Bar of Michigan, Lansing, MI
5/30 - Chaldean American Bar Association Awards Dinner, West Bloomfield, MI
5/31 - Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association Annual Meeting, Detroit, MI
 
June
6/1 - Tuscola County Bar Association, Caro, MI 
6/1 - Incorporated Society of Irish American Lawyers - Michigan Chapter, Detroit, MI
6/5 - WLAM Bench-Bar Culinary Challenge, Grosse Pointe Park, MI
6/6 - Oakland County Bar Association Annual Meeting, West Bloomfield, MI
6/8-9 - Bar Leadership Forum/Upper Mich. Legal Institute, Mackinac Island, MI
6/13 - Mich. Academy of Court Reporting Final Graduation Ceremony, Troy, MI
6/16 - State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section Summit, Detroit, MI
6/18 - State Bar of Michigan "Trial By iPad" Seminar (Remarks), Lansing, MI
6/21 - Bloomfield Hills Optimist Club, Bloomfield Hills, MI
6/21 - Federal Bar Association, Eastern Dist. of Michigan Annual Dinner, Detroit, MI
6/27 - Nat'l. Assoc. of Women Judges "MentorJet," Cooley Law School, Grand Rapids, MI
6/28 - Investiture of Mich. Court of Appeals Judge (and SBM Comm'r.) Mike Riordan, Detroit, MI
6/30 - Detroit Metropolitan Bar Foundation "In Seventh Heaven" Event, Detroit, MI
 
July
7/19 - Referee Assoc. of Michigan Meeting, Lansing, MI
7/26 - Legal Services Corp. Panel Discussions & Pro Bono Awards, Ann Arbor, MI
 
August
8/2-8/7 - ABA Ann. Meeting/Nat'l. Conf. of Bar Pres./House of Delegates, Chicago, IL
8/13 - Univ. of Detroit Law School "Professionalism in Action" Program, Detroit, MI
8/15 - Michigan Muslim Bar Association Scholarship Dinner, Dearborn, MI
8/20 - State Bar of Michigan "iPad" Seminar (Remarks), Lansing, MI
8/25 - Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Mich. Annual Conf., Mackinac Island, MI
8/28 - State Bar Legal Milestone Dedication Ceremony, Lansing, MI
8/30 - Cooley Law School Professionalism in Action Program, Lansing, MI 
 
September
9/12 - Nat'l. Assoc. of Women Judges "MentorJet," Univ. of Detroit Law School, Detroit, MI
9/19-21 - State Bar of Michigan Annual Meeting, Grand Rapids, MI
 
This is a partial list. 



About Me

Thank you for visiting my presidential blog.  Although my one-year presidential term ended on September 20, 2012, during the State Bar of Michigan Annual Meeting, I am keeping this blog alive to allow visitors like you develop a better understanding of the role of a State Bar President.  I also hope to encourage others, especially women, to follow me and become leaders within bar associations.

My name is Julie Fershtman, and from September 2011 to September 2012, I was the 77th president of the 42,000 member  State Bar of MichiganA member of the State Bar for over 26 years, I practice with the law firm Foster Swift Collins & Smith, PC, in its Farmington Hills office, where I'm a Shareholder.  My areas of practice include commercial litigation, insurance defense and coverage, sporting and recreational liability, agribusiness law and liability, and equine law.  As a lawyer, I enjoy trial work.  I've tried cases before juries in 4 states (Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Connecticut) and have been admitted as pro hac vice counsel in 12 jurisdictions across the country.  Business continued during my State Bar presidency, with assistance of lawyers in my firm and with the cooperation of fellow counsel and judges.  

Aside from my law practice, I enjoy speaking and lecturing on liability, insurance, and risk management at seminars, conventions, CLE programs, and conferences across the country, including the Insurance Skills Center.  In 2011, I spoke on a panel at the ABA Annual Meeting.  I also spoke in ABA webinars that took place in October 2011 and January 2012.  Writing is another interest.  I have written 2 books and contributed to or co-authored 4 ABA books, most recently in 2011, as well as 5 law journal articles for the ABA Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section.  My writings include over 200 articles on legal subjects.

I grew up in the Detroit area and graduated from Emory College in 1983 and Emory Law School in 1986.  On a personal level, my father (the late Sidney Fershtman) was a Michigan lawyer, and my husband is a lawyer.  Although work, family, and bar activities leave little time for hobbies, my favorite hobby is horses.  With an empty horse barn on our property in the Detroit suburbs, chances are good that I'll be riding some time after my service as State Bar President concludes.

Law Books

Please visit this blog frequently.  You'll join me in my travels across Michigan, and sometimes nationally, as President of the State Bar of Michigan.  You'll meet bar leaders and people who are helping to make a difference in our profession.  I'll share news, views, experiences, and photos with you on a regular basis.  And, of course, your comments and suggestions are always welcome.


 
 
Julie I. Fershtman, Esq.• Foster Swift Collins & Smith, PC • 28411 Northwestern Hwy. • Ste. 500 • Southfield, MI 48034
Direct Line: (248) 785-4731 • E-mail: jfershtman@fosterswift.com

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