Top legal news of 2019.

Byline: Lee Dryden

It's time for Michigan Lawyers Weekly's annual tradition of presenting the most memorable stories of the year.

After going issue-by-issue reviewing news from Michigan's legal world in 2019, we narrowed the list to 10 topics in chronological order by publication date. It was a tough decision as there were many worthy happenings, but these stood out.

Thank you for your support this year and best wishes for 2020.

McCormack is named MSC chief justice

LANSING (AP) The Michigan Supreme Court selected Bridget M. McCormack to serve as chief justice.

The court says the vote for the two-year term was unanimous Jan. 9. McCormack, a former law school professor, has been a Supreme Court justice since 2013. She is the sixth woman to serve as chief justice. It is the first time in state history that the governor, attorney general, secretary of state and chief justice are all women.

In a statement, McCormack said Michigan courts "must be accessible to all" and "independent of political pressure." She is one of three Democrats on the Supreme Court.

The longest-serving justice, Stephen J. Markman, was chief justice in 2017 and 2018. Spokesman John Nevin says he didn't seek the job again.

Justice David F. Viviano was named to a new post, chief justice pro tem, focusing on technology and statewide administrative changes to improve service to the public.

SBM scales back Annual Meeting

The State Bar of Michigan's annual gathering had a much different, scaled-back look.

Members were informed that the Board of Commissioners voted to reduce the NEXT Conference/Annual Meeting to its "core elements, as framed in the Supreme Court Rules Concerning the State Bar of Michigan."

"These elements include the swearing in of new officers, the inaugural meetings of the Representative Assembly and Board of Commissioners, and the presentation of the State Bar's annual awards," according to an announcement in the February SBM Today newsletter. "Beginning this year, the annual meeting events will no longer include the Solo & Small Firm Institute, the vendor hall, receptions, or section annual meetings.

"We are consolidating some scheduled end-of-bar-year networking events and moving others to different dates."

Since the State Bar's strategic plan was adopted in 2017, the board has been "engaged in a systematic, data-driven examination of the functions of the bar based on the priorities in the new plan."

"After several months of analysis and discussion, the Board has determined that the NEXT Conference/Annual Meeting should be redesigned to better allocate State Bar resources," the newsletter stated.

The first Annual Meeting in the new format was Sept. 25-26 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi.

Whitmer signs overhaul to cut auto insurance premiums

MACKINAC ISLAND (AP) Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on May 30 signed a "historic" overhaul of Michigan's car insurance system that will let drivers choose their medical coverage instead of them being required to buy unlimited benefits.

Her signature, delivered at the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference, capped an intense three-week period in which the Republican-led Legislature proposed bills, the Democratic governor threatened a veto and a compromise was reached.

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