Special Report
CHIEF JUDGE
Bench Press from page 11
have her hands full. "For the first time,
we're being asked to do the same or more
with less:' says Sosnick, who served two
terms as chief judge from 1996-2000.
"We're a separate branch of government
with a multimillion dollar budget:' he says.
"It's just as difficult as running a major
corporation, and at the same time you're
doing your judge job, although at reduced
hours.
"She was president of the Michigan
Judges Association:' Sosnick says. "She's got
her own personality, her own style. She has
the ability to be a very fine chief judge"
Edward Pappas, immediate past presi-
dent of the State Bar of Michigan, agrees.
"Nanci is an excellent choice for chief
judge because she's intelligent, fair-mind-
ed, decisive and not afraid to make tough
decisions:' he says.
Pappas personally recruited Grant
for the Dickinson Wright law firm in
Bloomfield Hills where he is a managing
partner. "She was not only an excellent
litigator, but also a fearless litigator who
loved to be in court. She also has a great
sense of humor and a wonderful laugh."
Grant says she decided to become a law-
yer on her own, although her dad is retired
Probate Chief Justice Barry Grant.
"I was literally thrust into the court-
room right away [after joining Dickinson
Wright]," Grant says.
"After eight years of business litigation,
I saw how some judges were running their
courtrooms. I thought I could do a better
— a different — job:'
"When she took the bench, I really
didn't know her:' says criminal defense
attorney Jerome "Jerry" Sabbota, who
places Grant among the top five judges in
the tri-county area.
"Nanci Grant is a wonderful judge he
says, noting that her temperament, legal
ability, compassion and courtesy stand
out. "She's considerate of lawyers, wit-
nesses and jurors. She understands that
her job is to serve the public and that's
what she does.
"She's a nice person; she doesn't have
ego:' adds Sabbota, whose firm is Ribitwer
& Sabbota in Royal Oak. "And she doesn't
have 'black robe fever:" a euphemism
for judges who hold themselves up as
almighty.
Grant, however, insists on a civil court-
room. That means she doesn't tolerate
attorneys who behave badly.
She once asked two who were yelling at
each other to step outside until they had
cooled off. She recalls one of them asking,
"Are you giving us a time out?"
"We all have the common goal of justice,
but not at the expense of you or the other
attorney's well-being:' Grant says she told
him. "Let's do our job well and profession-
12
January 28 • 2010
ally."
One of her most controversial cases was
a recent ruling on behalf of a Southfield
woman who had pleaded no contest to
involuntary manslaughter when improper
care resulted in the death of her invalid
mother.
Grant sentenced the woman to proba-
tion and continued mental health treat-
ment, defying the probation department's
recommendation of a five-year jail term.
"I became enraged because DHS
(Michigan Department of Human
Services) was out there four to five times
and didn't follow up:' Grant says.
At the sentencing, she took the depart-
ment to task, telling the defendant: "If
someone wants you to go to prison, some-
one from DHS would be going with you.
They are equally culpable of your mother's
death."
As a result, the state reportedly has
launched its own follow-up of DHS actions
in the case.
Grant says she has become a stricter
mother, after seeing the young people
who come before her on sentencing day.
She spins their apologies to the court into
apologies to their parents, ordering them
"to turn around and talk to your parents.
You are breaking their hearts.
"That's where the real emotion comes
out," she says. Although recidivism is com-
mon,"the ones who break down and the
ones who become self-aware, I don't see
(in my courtroom) again.
"The job changed me as a mother:'
Grant says. She experienced firsthand
how important rules and discipline are.
"I learned it was OK to be the mean one. I
tell my kids, `I don't want to be your friend.
I want to be your mother:"
Although she has a slew of honors
to her name (see related story), Grant
keeps a crystal tzedakah (charity) box
containing 18 cents (a spiritual number
in Judaism) on a prominent corner of
her desk. It was awarded to her by Jewish
Woman Magazine in 2001 as a "Woman to
Watch."
Sometimes, however, she's just a woman,
carving out time for her weekly mah jong
game. "I play mahj with my friends. That's
my 'Me Time';' Grants says. 1:1
Oakland County's
New Chief Judge
Who: Nanci J. Grant
What: Chief judge, Sixth Circuit Court for the
State of Michigan (Oakland County)
Age: 45
Resides: Bloomfield Township
Education: Southfield-Lathrup High School;
University of Michigan (with honors) and Wayne
State University Law School, where she directed
the Student Trial Advocacy Program, an honors
curriculum
Major Activities: Past president, Michigan Judges
Association; secretary and elected member of
Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission
Major Honors: Recipient of the Oakland County
Bar Association's Professionalism Award, the WSU
Alumni Association's Headliner Award; singled out
by the Detroit Free Press for exemplary judicial
attendance; selected by Crain's Detroit Business
as one of the "40 Under 40," Detroit's best and
brightest under age 40.
Family and more: Married to attorney Mark
Frankel, whom she calls "the smartest man I
know." They have two sons, Zackary,18, and Eric,
14. Belongs to Temple Israel in West Bloomfield; on
the board of the social service agency JVS, which
she describes as a "fantastic organization."