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Sunday, July 8, 2012
Mistaken Identification
 Since I became State Bar President, I encouraged everyone to bring forth their comments, suggestions, and criticisms
of the State Bar.
That traffic you encountered on your way to work due to road construction? No need to call
or e-mail your complaints. I can assure you that our State Bar had nothing to do with it.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Michigan Judicial Selection Task Force: Read and Understand the Issues
What do you think
about our process of electing justices of the Michigan Supreme Court?
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Marilyn
Kelly and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Senior Judge James L. Ryan were concerned that the current system of
selecting Supreme Court justices was partisan (political parties nominate candidates, even though the candidates ultimately
appear on the ballot as “non-partisan”), costly (in 2010, alone, Supreme Court candidates spent nearly $9 million
in campaign advertising), and devoid of transparency. In late 2010, they convened the Judicial Selection Task Force and charged it with the task of studying how Michigan Supreme Court judges are selected.
The task force had a diverse composition of lawyers and non-lawyers, lawyers with different practices, and people of different
political affiliations. Its members evaluated extensive written materials and listened to speakers offering
different viewpoints. I encourage everyone to read the Judicial Selection Task Force Report and Recommendations, which was issued in April. Among the recommendations were: - disclosure of campaign funding sources
- open, nonpartisan nominations and primaries
- vacancies filled by the governor after a candidate screening process from a gubernatorial advisory
commission (composed of lawyers and non-lawyers) that issues a “short list”
- elimination of the age limit of 70 for judicial service
The report has been
the subject of discussion and debate. A supportive article published in the Huffington Post, written
by Detroit lawyer and task force member Andrew Doctoroff, can be found here. A different view, published by Dan Pero, can be found here.
State Bar members: I encourage you to read the report carefully, educate yourself on the issues,
and make an informed opinion. Please feel free to comment on this blog.
9:41 am edt
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Happy Fourth of July
Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.
~ Louis D. Brandeis
Photo credit: www.servicewomen.org
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About Me - Updated in 2025
Thank
you for visiting my State Bar presidential blog. My name is Julie Fershtman, and I was the 77th president of the 42,000-member State Bar of Michigan from September 2011 through
September 2012. A member of the State Bar for over 38 years (as of 2025), I practice with the
law firm Foster Swift Collins & Smith, PC, in its Southfield office, where I'm an Equity Shareholder.
My areas of practice include commercial litigation, insurance defense and coverage, sporting and recreational liability,
fraud litigation, agribusiness law and liability, real estate litigation, and equine law. I've tried cases before
juries in 4 states (Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Connecticut) and have been counsel on cases in 21 jurisdictions nationwide.
Back in 2011-2012, business continued during my presidency with assistance from a great Board of Commissioners, a supporive
Executive Director, lawyers in my firm, and the cooperation of fellow counsel and judges. Aside from my law practice, I
also enjoy speaking and lecturing on liability, insurance, and risk management at seminars, conventions, CLE programs,
and conferences. I've been a speaker in 29 states across the country. Around the time of my State Bar presidency, I spoke
on a panel at the 2011 ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto. I was also a panelist on ABA webinars in 2011 and 2012. I also love writing on legal subjects. I've written 4 books and have contributed to or co-authored 4 ABA books and 5 law journal articles for the ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice
Section. My writings also include about 425 published articles on legal subjects. In 2019, the ABA published my latest
book, called Equine Law and Horse Sense, which is available through ABA Publishing and Amazon (look for the horse
on the cover). I grew up in the Detroit area and graduated from Emory
College and Emory Law School. 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. My personal website explains more about my
background and law practice: www.fershtmanlaw.com
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