BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL
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The Scoop
`A Lawyer's Lawyer'
Ed Pappas prods, praises legal profession
as State Bar of Michigan president.
Judith Doner Berne
Special to the Jewish News
I
t took his election as president of
the 40,000-member State Bar of
Michigan for Ed Pappas to revisit the
Upper Peninsula, where he attended
high school and was the U.P's second
bar mitzvah.
"Every year, the new State Bar presi-
dent goes to the U.P. to make a short
speech and meet everyone," he says.
"I walked around [Marquette] and saw
the house I lived in. I had forgotten how
beautiful Lake Superior is."
Pappas is completing a yearlong term
as the first Jewish attorney elected to
lead the State Bar in its 74-year history.
During an interview in his spacious
Dickinson Wright law office in Bloomfield
Hills, dappled with sunlight and family
photos (including a large portrait of his
dog, Zeke), he made sure to qualify that
fact.
In the mid-1960s, the late William
Ellmann, who was Jewish, was appoint-
ed to fill out the remainder of a State Bar
association president's term, Pappas
says.
And, he adds, many Jewish attorneys
choose to apply their talents to Jewish
causes. "If you look at our Jewish orga-
nizations, lawyers are involved in leader-
ship roles."
Ed Pappas
—
"As hard as you work, you've got to do family."
Justice For All
onds retired Oakland County Probate
Court Judge Barry Grant of Bloomfield
Township. "He has extraordinary intellec-
tual ability and outstanding people skills.
Indeed, several of his initiatives appear
to be targeted toward the young (See
related story), perhaps as a reflection of
the fact that he and his wife, Laurie, a
known Pappas for many years.
"Ed genuinely cares about everyone,
He's respected by everybody — judges
and lawyers — and is a tremendous
credit to the legal profession."
spiritual counselor, have two 20-some-
thing sons.
Most important, he advises young law-
regardless of income, having access to
the justice system," the chief justice says.
"Many lawyers say they support access
"The economy has made it a tough
year for lawyers," says Pappas, a partner
in the Dickinson Wright law firm, where he
yers, "As hard as you work, you've got to
to justice for all; Ed truly does something
about it. I think that there's no higher
praise one can give a lawyer.
is a commercial and business litigator and
client services director. "Many lawyers are
out of work or making less."
sons started to play baseball and musical
instruments, he gave up many of his vol-
"Attorneys as a group famously suffer
from a poor public image," Kelly acknowl-
Stay In Michigan
All practicing Michigan attorneys and
judges must be active members in good
standing of the State Bar of Michigan.
That includes Michigan Supreme Court
Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly, who has
edges. "Ed is the counter to that. He
reminds everyone who comes in contact
with him that the law is not only a learned
but a noble profession."
"Ed Pappas is a lawyer's lawyer," sec-
In his travels around the state, Pappas
tries to persuade lawyers and law stu-
dents who want to stay in Michigan to
ride it out. "Think about where you want
to be in five years," he says.
do family."
He speaks from experience. As his
unteer activities. These included serving
as an Oakland Community College trust-
ee; in appointed and elected positions
for the Village of Franklin, where he lives;
on the steering committee of Leadership
Oakland as well as in leadership roles in
LAWYER'S LAWYER on page 22
WHO: Edward
H. Pappas
WHAT: presi-
dent, State Bar of
Michigan (SBM);
partner and
member, Dickin-
son Wright PLLC, Bloomfield Hills,
where he was director of Com-
mercial Litigation and Alternative
Dispute Resolution, 1999-2008, and
is client service director, 2008-pres-
ent; president, Oakland County Bar
Association, 1997-98; master of the
Oakland County Bar Inn of Court
(1998-2004); chairperson, Michigan
Attorney Discipline Board hearing
panel (1987-present); president
of Oakland Livingston Legal Aid
(1985-87).
AGE: 61
RESIDES: Franklin
EDUCATION: Marquette (Mich.)
High School (1965); University of
Michigan, BBA (1969), J.D., cum
laude (1973). State Court Admin-
istrative Office-Approved Media-
tor, Oakland County Circuit Court;
American Arbitration Association
Roster of Neutral Commercial Liti-
gation Arbitrators.
AWARDS: Top 25 Leaders in the
Law, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, 2009:
Fellow, Litigation Counsel of Amer-
ica, 2007-present; Fellow, American
College of Civil Trial Mediators,
2005-present; The Best Lawyers
in America, 2005-2008; America's
Leading Lawyers for Business, Cham-
bers USA, 2005-2008 editions; Super
Lawyers (Top 100, 2006-7) (Top
10, 2008-9); Distinguished Service
Award, OCBA 1993; Professionalism
Award, OCBA, 2008.
PUBLICATIONS: Co-authored a
book — Michigan Business Torts,
Institute of Continuing Legal Educa-
tion, second edition — and a num-
ber of articles.
FAMILY: Married to Laurie Pap-
pas, a spiritual counselor, who has
a master's degree in counseling
and a doctorate in metaphysics. Son
Greg, 29, is doing a residency in
emergency medicine in Allentown,
Pa.; and his brother Steven, 24, is a
computer science engineer work-
ing in New York. The Pappases are
new grandparents to Aya, born July
14 to Greg and his wife, Osnat. The
Pappases belong to Temple Kol Ami
in West Bloomfield.
OUTSIDE INTERESTS: Theater,
film and music. "He doesn't have a
hard time having fun," Laurie Pap-
pas says.
August 13
'009
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