Every day, individuals are challenging, inspiring and innovating their communities to be a strong force for change. The 33rd Annual ATHENA Awards Celebration celebrates this work and provides an opportunity to uplift the fierce female forces in our region. The Grand Rapids Chamber is thrilled to announce this year's ATHENA finalists, to include: Ciarra C. Adkins, JD - Founder & President, AQUME Foundation and AQUME Law and Warner Norcross + Judd. 

Nick Colvin, senior counsel with Warner Norcross + Judd LLP, has been appointed to the board of trustees for Greater Grand Rapids NAACP.

Since 1919, the Greater Grand Rapids NAACP has been working to remove racial barriers and discrimination in and beyond Grand Rapids. It seeks to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality for all people through education, advocacy and more. He will serve a two-year term on the board.

Colvin focuses his practice on economic development, impact investing and government relations.

Warner Norcross + Judd LLP partner Elisabeth M. Von Eitzen has been elected president of the Kalamazoo County Bar Association Board of Directors. 
 
Since 1965, KCBA has promoted fellowship, service and education for the legal community through various events and an endowment fund. Von Eitzen will lead the KCBA board for a one-year term that began July 1. She previously served as the board’s secretary.
 
Von Eitzen practices in Warner’s Kalamazoo office, focusing on restructuring matters, bankruptcy proceedings and creditors’ rights litigation. In addition to the KCBA, she is Education Committee co-chair and a member of the Bankruptcy Steering Committee for the Western District of Michigan Federal Bar Association. She is a member of the American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, State Bar of Michigan and Grand Rapids Bar Association. Von Eitzen also serves on the boards for YMCA Kalamazoo and Housing Resources, Inc. 

Smith Haughey has welcomed a new attorney, Scott DeWeerd, to the Holland office. 

Scott is working in the Private Client Service group as an Estate Planning Associate Attorney. He focuses on advising individuals and families on taxation, wealth transfers, and legacy planning. He also advises on matters involving closely-held businesses, business planning and succession, trust and estate administration, fiduciary litigation, tax-exempt organizations, and charitable giving. Prior to joining the firm, he worked as a Tax and Estate Planning Attorney with Molosky & Company in Harbor Springs, Michigan. 

Scott received both his J.D. and Tax LLM from Loyola-Los Angeles in 2021. While living in Los Angeles, he volunteered with the Public Counsel Law Center, guiding tax-exempt organizations on IRS compliance matters.  

Outside the office Scott enjoys preparing nutritious meals and engaging in recreational sports!

Photos from the GRBA's Young Lawyers Section's "Spring Warm Up" event, April 22, 2022, hosted by Fortz Legal. This was a collaboration between the State Bar of Michigan's (SBM) Young Lawyers Section and GRBA's Young Lawyers Section, and featured a (“30 Tips in 30 Minutes”) presentation by Kristina Bilowus (SBM Board of Commissioners and Young Lawyers Section Advisory Council Chair).

Many thanks to Fortz Legal for hosting this event, and to the State Bar of Michigan's Young Lawyers Section for joining us in this collaborative venture!

The Complex & Challenging World of Property Insurance Claims

While Trusted Advisors cannot be experts at everything, it is important they do have a working knowledge of certain “events” that are likely to present issues in the lives of their clients. The world of property insurance claims is one such field. Whether your client owns a home, commercial property, operating a business, or all three it is likely they have an insurance policy to cover their risk.

But "having insurance" and "using insurance" (when a claim is made) are two completely different things!

Accordingly, the purpose of this eBook is to provide Trusted Advisors, that do not specialize in first-party property insurance claims, a basic understanding of the structure of a property insurance policy and what their clients are in store for when making a property damage insurance claim. Click here to view the full, free eBook.

Grand Rapids, MI: The Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan was honored by the State Bar of Michigan Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Section with the Nanci S. Klein Award. 

Varnum Attorney Carl Ver Beek nominated the Center to receive the award.  The award was accepted on behalf of the Center by Executive Director, Christine P. Gilman.

(pictured clockwise from upper left Marilyn Booker, Restorative Practices Program Director, Kailey Deurloo Administrative Assistant, Cindy Garwood, Restorative Practices Program Manager, Christine Gilman, Executive Director)

Gilman accepted the award at the State Bar of Michigan ADR Annual Conference on October 8, 2021. She acknowledged the exceptional work of local volunteers and staff and work with local community partnerships that make the Center’s conflict resolution and relationship building work possible.

Gilman’s speech is reproduced here:

Thank You Carl (Ver Beek), thank you for your nomination and your dedication and hard work in the community as a mediator, attorney, benefactor and volunteer.

Nanci S. Klein was the Executive Director of the Oakland Mediation Center. As a mediator and trainer she was instrumental in advocating for the importance of mediation both inside and outside of the judicial system.

It is an honor for the DRCWM to receive the Nanci S Klein award. This award goes to the staff and volunteers that comprise our Center.

Our volunteers are simply fabulous whether they are on the board, a committee, or provide the heart of our organization through mediation or facilitation or serve in all three roles. They are true champions of community whether they are retired professors, business people, judges, referees, attorneys, retired civil servants, divorce coaches, pastors, or community activists. They bring passion, knowledge, and expertise to helping their fellow community members resolve conflict.

Our staff is amazing...

Gloria Anderson and Peggy Janei manage all of our mediations and do many, many tasks behind the scenes.   

Marilyn Davidson-Booker has worked diligently to expand our school based restorative practices programs; was instrumental in the creation of our RJC program which works to bring those who have committed crimes and those harmed by their actions together for healing conversations; and has promoted the use of restorative conferencing to assist local businesses and organizations that find themselves focused on workplace conflict instead of their missions.  Marilyn will also be honored next month by Senior Neighbors in their 16 over 60 awards. 

Cindy Garwood joined our school facilitator team last year and adds wisdom and spark to our restorative practices training team.

All of our school facilitators do fantastic work to improve communications and resolve conflicts to help students and teachers move their focus away from drama and back to education.

Finally, Kailey Deurloo is the glue that helps keep us all together.

Though the award this year goes to the DRCWM, I cannot omit the vital importance of working with the MCMA which is comprised of all 17 community dispute resolution centers.  Together we hired MCMA's first Executive Director, Gabi Rehainian Havlicek. 

We worked with Nanci Klein's Oakland Mediation Center to receive the statewide behavioral health mediation grant for all 83- counties – HUGE shout out to Charity Burke, the current Director of Oakland Mediation who has done so much work to make this program possible and get it off the ground and sha was also part of a wonderful presentation this morning on domestic violence screening with Annette Wells of community mediation services.

Together we were also able to secure the Michigan Agricultural Mediation Grant thanks in great part thanks to Gabi, Shannon Taylor of UPCAP and Jenny Miner of Citizens Mediation.  It is an honor to work in such fine company.

At the DRCWM our mission it to

FOSTER PEACEFUL COMMUNITIES THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS, RESTORATIVE PRACTICES, AND HEALTHY CONFLICT RESOLUTION.

In its efforts the DRCWM works with many community partners.

One of the newest partnerships I am most proud of is with the Grand Valley State University Police Academy.  The Academy is working to make their police cadets better suited to work within their communities by adding 40 hours of restorative practices and conflict resolution training to their state mandated curriculum.

Just last week our lesson focused on active listening.  In our closing circle one of the cadets shared that during one of the exercises he told a story he has told many times before, but that his fellow cadet's active listening led him to look deeper and learn new things about himself.

Switching gears…there is lots of literature out there on longevity and happiness and while I won't use this as an opportunity to promote a whole food plant based diet … I will say that two themes that come up over and over again are connectedness and purpose…

At the DRCWM we strive to help others connect… and in so doing connect with others in order to foster peaceful communities.

If you are not already volunteering for one of our centers - please consider signing up tomorrow- it will not only help to make you a better mediator but will add purpose and connection to your life and will help to make your community stronger.

On behalf of the DRCWM I thank you and would like to leave you with a quote from Anne Frank:

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

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To learn more about SwiftScan, a Maple Media app and sign up, click here.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 24, 2021 – Matthew T. Nelson, a partner with Warner Norcross + Judd LLP, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Conductive Learning Center of North America.

The Grand Rapids-based nonprofit serves individuals with motor disorders related to complications of premature birth, cerebral palsy, spina bifida and brain injuries. For 24 years, CLC has provided opportunities for individuals with motor challenges to achieve optimal physical, cognitive and social independence through the application and promotion of conductive education principles, which are centered on the belief that movement and coordination can be learned. CLC offers programs, services and resources for parents, children, teens and young adults, as well as a summer camp for students of all ages. 

Nelson will serve a three-year term on the CLC board starting this month. Nelson appreciates the work the organization does for the community – his daughter is a former CLC student who has benefitted from its programming.

An experienced and successful appellate attorney, Nelson practices in Warner’s Grand Rapids office and chairs the firm’s Appellate Practice Group. He concentrates his practice on labor and employment issues, litigation and dispute resolution, media, First Amendment and defamation litigation and health care litigation. He represents manufacturers, contractors, financial institutions and other employers in employment disputes and has successfully represented clients in the U.S. Supreme Court, Michigan Supreme Court, several federal courts of appeals and the Michigan Court of Appeals. He also advises governments with complex matters, including litigation and government grants. 

Active professionally and in the community, Nelson is co-chair of the Michigan Appellate Bench Bar Conference Foundation, chair of the DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar Amicus Committee and vice chair of DRI’s Appellate Committee program subcommittee. He is a past chair of the Kuyper College board of trustees and a member of Dordt College’s National Advisory Committee. 

Nelson is an American Bar Foundation fellow and is recognized among the Best Lawyers in America and Michigan Super Lawyers. He was selected Best Lawyers’ Grand Rapids Appellate Practice Lawyer of the Year in 2018. He also has been named a top lawyer in appellate law by Grand Rapids Magazine. 

For more information about the Conductive Learning Center, visit conductivelearningcenter.org.

WHAT:  Cocktail party hosted by Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan (CDAM).  Free open bar and munchies. 

WHEN:  Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at 5:30 p.m.

WHERE:  University Club, 10th Floor

WHO:  Any attorney in the Grand Rapids area who practices criminal defense

WHY:  I want to reach out to the criminal defense attorneys in Western Michigan to introduce them to CDAM and the benefits of membership.  For anyone signing up as a new member I will be offering a huge discount on their first year membership fee.  And for those who are already members, we want to thank them for their membership and let them know of the great programs, trainings, conferences, and webinars coming up this year.