WLAM’s Kristina Bilowus talks with Julia Donovan Darlow, the first female president of the State Bar of Michigan (SBM), Judge Victoria A. Roberts, the first Black female SBM president, and Dana M. Warnez, the most recent female SBM president.
Julia Donovan DarlowA Wayne Law graduate, Julia Donovan Darlow practiced law with Dickinson Wright and Varnum. Darlow served as President of WLAM in 1976-77. During her term, WLAM revised its constitution and bylaws to create regional WLAM organizations across the State. After urging the Michigan Supreme Court to focus on race and gender issues in the Michigan courts and Bar, she served as Chair of the Supreme Court’s Task Force on Gender Issues. Throughout her career, Darlow served on various nonprofit and business governing boards including the founding boards of organizations serving women and girls. In 2006, Darlow was elected to the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan.
Honorable Victoria A. RobertsJudge Victoria Roberts serves in the Eastern District of Michigan. She is recognized as an international teacher and lecturer on behalf of the Federal Judicial Center, the State Department, and the Department of Justice. On the Court, she proposed and implemented the operation of a Pro Se Legal Assistance Clinic in conjunction with the Detroit Mercy School of Law. She also submitted a proposal to the bench to launch an Early Mediation Program for Pro Se Prisoner Civil Rights Cases. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the two highest conferred by the State Bar of Michigan.
Dana M. WarnezA University of Detroit Mercy Law graduate, Dana M. Warnez has been practicing law since 1996, with both her mother Florence Schoenherr-Warnez (1957-2022) and older sister SBM Past President Kimberly M. Cahill (1960-2008) in Center Line, specializing in probate and real estate matters. Warnez has been active with the Macomb County Bar Association and Foundation, serving as the President of both the Association (2012-2013) and the Foundation (2019-2020). She is a member of Tri-County panel of State of Michigan Attorney Discipline Board, a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation,and a member of Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, Macomb County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.
Kristina Bilowus is the Assistant Director for Career Services at the Michigan State University College of Law. Bilowus earned her LLM and JD from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and her BA from Madonna University. She previously worked in private practice as a family law and criminal defense attorney. She also served as an adjunct professor at WMU Cooley Law School. She is secretary of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, and has served on various boards and professional.
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