State Bar annual meeting scheduled this week

Members of the legal community will gather Sept. 17-19 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids for the State Bar of Michigan Annual Meeting and Solo and Small Firm Institute.

Among other things, members of the legal profession who have achieved the highest honors in the areas of leadership, professional integrity and pro bono and community service will be recognized at the SBM Awards Banquet on Wednesday.

Award winners from the Michigan State Bar Foundation, Michigan Defense Trial Counsel, and Michigan Association for Justice will also be recognized.

SBM President Brian Einhorn, President-Elect Tom Rombach, former President Wallace Riley, MSBF Board of Trustees President Margaret Nichols, MDTC Immediate Past President Ray Morganti and MAJ President Scott Goodwin will present the awards.

The Solo and Small Firm Institute will take place on Thursday and Friday and host a faculty of 23, including these national speakers:

• Rick Broida, CNET Blog Network
• Randall F. Dean, Randall Dean Consulting & Training LLC
• Robert E. Edick, Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission
• Barron K. Henley, Affinity Consulting Group LLC
• Cordell M. Parvin, Cordell Parvin LLC
• Janet K. Welch, State Bar of Michigan

These speakers will share their expertise about time management, utilizing technology to streamline the creation of complex documents and more efficiently manage a law practice, creating a business plan, estate planning, employment law basics for small businesses, navigating new tax laws and more.

On Thursday, Grand Rapids City Attorney Catherine Mish will provide opening remarks at the Inaugural Luncheon.

Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert P. Young Jr. will swear in the 80th president of the State Bar, Thomas C. Rombach, and other officers.

In addition, Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Cynthia D. Stephens will swear in the 2014-2015 chair of the Representative Assembly, Vanessa Peterson Williams, and the Michael Franck and Unsung Hero awards will be presented at the assembly business meeting.

Also on Thursday, the Celebrating Diversity Reception will take place at H.O.M.E. in the B.O.B. in Grand Rapids.

Hosted by the Justice Initiatives Committee, the reception will celebrate the rich diversity of the State Bar, and acknowledge the work accomplished over the past year in support of achieving greater diversity and inclusion
in the legal profession in Michigan.

The reception will feature a performance by the Ann Arbor-based all-lawyer band, Soultivity, a finalist in the American Bar Association's 2012 Battle of the All-Lawyer Bands.

On Friday, the 50-Year Golden Celebration Luncheon will take place from noon to 2 p.m.

This event honors lawyers for 50 years of membership in the State Bar of Michigan.