Special Report

ON THE COVER / CHIEF JUDGE

BENCH PRESS

Nanci Grant brings
decisiveness,
courtesy to
chief judge post.

Judith Doner Berne
Special to the Jewish News

W

A crystal tzedakah box

containing a symbolic

18 cents rests on Nanci

Grant's desk.

hen Circuit Judge Nanci J.
Grant gavels her Oakland
County courtroom to a close
each day, she says she "leaves this job to go
to my more difficult one"
"I love being a judge, but let's face it
— our legacy is our children:' says the
45-year-old Grant, who, on Jan. 1, became
Chief Judge of the Oakland County Circuit
Court, a two-year appointment.
Indeed her two teenage sons may not
remember when their mom wasn't on the
bench. "After 13 years:' Grant says, "I'm
one of the senior judges now:'
Her appointment by the Michigan
Supreme Court comes at a time when the
state's flailing economy will require all
public institutions to operate with fewer
dollars.
"I'm going to be chief judge when the
times are most difficult:' says Grant, who
applied for the position. She considers the
qualities needed as chief judge to be "an
entirely different skill set" than overseeing
and deciding cases.
"It's administration, budgeting, people
skills — working with the board of com-
missioners, the prosecutor, the sheriff' she
says. "We all have huge budget issues. We
don't have the same kinds of resources we
used to."
She represents a court with 19 judges
she calls "strong-minded, smart people."
"We all have our dockets, our office and
our litigants to take care of' she says, but
cost cutting will involve people and ser-
vices. At the same time, "we can't decrease
our efficiency."
Cutting judges' salaries won't be part
of the mix, she says. "I've had the same
salary for 10 years. Judges don't get COLA
(cost of living adjustments). We rarely get
pay increases."
Longtime Oakland Circuit Judge
Edward Sosnick agrees that Grant will

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January 28 • 2010 11