What: The Great Lakes Political Academy’s LEAD for Justice program recruits and trains attorneys who are interested in running for judicial office. This program offers a 5-week intensive training course with experts across the state to give judicial candidates, and those who are interested in running to be a judge in the future, the best tools needed to launch and run a campaign.

When: The 2026 Lead for Justice training series will run for 5-weeks on Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8:30 between February 17 and March 17, 2026. The training dates in the series are Tuesday, Feb. 17, Feb. 24, Mar. 3, Mar. 10 and Mar. 17.

Where: Virtual via Zoom

Who: Attorneys throughout the state who are interested in running for a judgeship at any level of the bench in 2026 or later.

Cost: $50

Application: Visit www.glpa-lead.com/lead-for-justice to apply by February 12. 

We are currently accepting applications and space is limited. We encourage attorneys who are interested to apply early. Topics include:

• Launching a Judicial Campaign & Campaign Fundamentals
• Judicial Ethics & Compliance
• Judicial Appointments & Endorsements
• Judicial Fundraising
• Realities of Running for Judicial Office: Stories from the Campaign Trail
• Optional Judicial Compliance training

Questions: Contact our Judicial Organizer, Sharon Trumpy, at sharon@glpacademy.com

The State Bar of Michigan Face of Justice program is a pathway to the legal profession effort aimed at students, to give them an opportunity to meet with legal professionals in face-to-face “jet-mentoring” sessions. We are planning for two programs in September and we invite you to join us as a mentor for the students.

We aim to expose these students to the multiplicity of paths they might explore as careers and connect them to a community we are building for the program. Your contribution of time and expertise will be meaningful to these students as they pursue their professional goals.

Sign up here to join us.

Pathways into law and other justice system careers are more important now than ever, we hope you can join us for these opportunities, if you cannot, please watch for upcoming opportunities with Oakland Community College in October and Wayne State Law School in November.

The Young Lawyers Section of the State Bar of Michigan will host the 24th Annual National Trial Advocacy Competition (NTAC) this Fall and we need your help judging the competition. Drawing some of the best mock trial teams from around the country, Michigan's YLS is excited about another wonderful competition.

 
The competition will be held October 24-26, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. The Competition consists of three preliminary rounds: 

·  Friday, October 24th, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

·  Saturday, October 25th, from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

·  Saturday, October 25th, from 2 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Semifinal round for the top four teams will be held on Sunday, October 26th, from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and the Championship round will follow from 2 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

We will send out a packet with the competition problem and other resources as we get closer to the competition.

To sign up please use this link - https://forms.gle/dKRvsWQHR1nDQ8Qc8 

Additionally, there will be an Awards Reception held at the Detroit Athletic Club and Sponsored by the State Bar of Michigan Litigation Section on Saturday, October 25th from 6 to 9 p.m. that all volunteer judges are invited to attend.

The Gun Lake Tribe is hosting an Expungement Fair (for State of Michigan offenses, not Tribal offenses) on Saturday, October 4th, from 12pm-4pm that is open to the public.

The Staff Attorney is seeking volunteer attorneys and notaries for the fair. Please see links below:

Gun Lake Tribe Expungement Fair Information Flyer

2025 Gun Lake Expungement Fair Volunteer Sign-up Google Form

GVSU is accepting competitive proposals to provide contracted legal services to students for a Student Legal Services pilot program. 5 hours/week with options to expand up to 10/hours a week as needed. The service term is August 18, 2025 through December 12, 2025 with optional consideration to extend up to two 6-month periods (12-month total).

Proposals must be submitted via the GVSU Workday Strategic Sourcing platform no later than 5:00 pm ET on Wednesday April 23, 2025. GVSU is not responsible for late, lost, misdirected, incomplete, or illegible submissions.

The RFP can be viewed at https://grand-valley-state-university.public-portal.us.workdayspend.com/bid-details/882635.  

Legal Aid of Western Michigan will be hosting several clinics across our 17-county service area in June and July. We are seeking volunteer attorneys to help with the following:

• Help create simple estate planning templates for use in the clinics
• Conduct phone interviews to determine client needs and prepare initial documents
• Meet with clients at the clinics to review and go over the prepared documents

Complete the Volunteer Interest Form  to partner with us! 

The Young Lawyers Section of the Grand Rapids Bar Association is excited to be able to present a volunteer opportunity to their membership! No experience is necessary to volunteer and make a difference, by assisting with expungement applications for those in the community. Attorneys can sign up by clicking on this link, and additional information on this Expungement Fair is below. We hope to see you there!

The Michigan Center for Civic Education is seeking dedicated legal and legal adjacent professionals to support their 2025 High School Mock Trial competition. They need Attorneys, judges, law students and those fluent in the law to serve as presiding and scoring judges as well as support roles at each event. Your time will have a positive impact on the lives of students in your community!

Your role will support students as they learn more about the law in simulated courtroom experiences as attorneys, witnesses, and now Courtroom Artists and Journalists.

Register at - https://MImocktrial.tabroom.com

Email questions to mocktrial@miciviced.org!

Mock Trial Event Dates and Locations

February 7 - Suttons Bay, Northern MI*

February 8 - Detroit, Wayne

February 22 - Pontiac, Oakland

March 1 - Mt. Clemens, Macomb

March 1 - Monroe, Monroe

March 8 - Grand Rapids, Kent

March 8 - Marquette, Upper Peninsula*

March 21-22 - State Finals, Lansing
*SBM Jet-Mentoring session included in the event!

Registration Instructions

Signing up to volunteer does require two steps this year. Please store your account credentials as you will receive notifications and do all tabulating through this account on Tabroom.
 

1. Create a Tabroom Account
2. Register as a volunteer for the specific roles and events by returning to the MI Tabroom page here

Here is a tutorial document that will walk you through the process.
If you have questions reach out to mocktrial@miciviced.org at any time.