COMMITTEES UPDATE

BY KATE WEAVER (OAKLAND)

Ethics Committee, Referee Ilyssa Cimmino (Oakland), no updates since last issue.
 
Juvenile Justice Partnership Committee, RAM President Janet Mendez has appointed two new Referees to join this committee including Referee Patrick O’Mera of Oakland County and Katelyn Andrews (f/k/a Katelyn Schaffer) of Ottawa County.  Both are excited for their first meetings.  
 
MI Weighted Caseload Study, Referee Erin Magley (Ottawa): the process continues as the different work groups evaluate the data received. 
 
Commission on Wellness in the Law, Referee Patricia (Patty) Woodruff was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court’s Commission on Well-Being in the Law in September 2025. Patty serves on the Commission as the RAM Representative. In August, Patty attended the Commission’s quarterly meeting in Lansing. Additionally, Patty serves on the Commission’s Programming Committee and has attended two committee meetings thus far.

Family Law Council, Referee Michelle Letourneau of Oakland County did not renew her seat but reports: Council is still focused on Dedicated Family.  Still working on having legislation proposed.  There are no current Referees on Council.  I encourage Refs to apply for open seats as they come up and to attend meetings as their opinions/input is valuable.  We analyze issues from a perspective that is different from private attorneys and Tina Yost Johnson is the only Judge who attends regularly (she is on the executive board).
 
Here is the link to the meeting page for anyone who wants it: 
https://connect.michbar.org/familylaw/events/recentcommunityeventsdashboard 
 
Here is the upcoming schedule.  Note, the meetings are back to Saturday/Sunday as mid-week meetings did not result in more participants.

• Sunday, 19 October 2025: Grand Traverse Resort, Traverse City, 9:00 a.m. meeting.
• Friday, 21 November 2025: Suburban Collection, Novi, 12:00 noon meeting (immediately following FLI)
• Wednesday, 17 December 2025: Zoom, 4:30 p.m. meeting
• Sunday, 18 January 2026: Siren Hotel, Detroit, 9:00 a.m. meeting
• Saturday, 14 March 2026: Ann Arbor, location TBD
• Sunday, 19 April 2026: Flint, likely to be the Hilton Garden Inn, 9:00 a.m.
• Saturday, 17 May 2026: Grand Rapids, 9:00 a.m., Location TBD
• Sunday, 14 June 2026: Kalamazoo, Radisson Hotel, 9:00 a.m.
• Saturday, 19 September 2026: Annual Dinner, Detroit, Cambria Hotel
• Sunday, 20 September 2026: Annual Meeting then Council Meeting, Detroit, Cambria Hotel 

 
Children’s Law Section, Referee Matthew Hagen of Grand Traverse County is the RAM liaison with the Children’s Law Section.  He reports that the CLS met for its Annual Meeting on September 12, 2025.  We heard from a wonderful panel on Reasonable Efforts moderated by our President, Joshua Pease.  The panel consisted of Hon. Allie Greenleaf Maldonado (Michigan Court of Appeals), Terina Carte, Liisa Speaker, and Mona Youssef.  CLS also created an ad hoc committee on LGAL Protocol lead by Council member, Esther Flowers.  CLS meets monthly on the third Thursday with our next meeting tomorrow, October 16, 2025, at 5:30 p.m.