The Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ), formerly the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association (MTLA) is a professional association of over 1,400 plaintiff's attorneys and staff, with offices in Lansing, Michigan.
MAJ provides members with professional networking, online listserves, a data bank of relevant court documents and legal experts, and a member directory. The organization also provides an extensive continuing legal education (CLE) program in locations throughout Michigan. Additionally, MAJ's Lansing-based government affairs staff lobbies legislators and state agencies to advance a pro-civil justice legislative agenda, intended to preserve and enhance the rights of injured people.
MAJ states that it "promotes justice and fairness for injured persons, safeguards victims' rights--particularly the right to trial by jury--and strengthens the civil justice system through education and disclosure of information critical to public health and safety." It provides information and professional assistance to its members. It is headquartered in Lansing, Michigan. The MAJ is an affiliated member of the American Association for Justice.
History
Past presidents
1945 - 49 Samuel Charfoos (d) 1949 - 53 Hon. Theodore R. Bohn 1953 - 55 Benjamin Marcus (d) 1955 - 56 Carl Gussen (d) 1956 - 57 James A. Markle (d) 1957 - 58 Saul M. Leach 1958 - 59 Duane S. Van Benschoten (d) 1959 - 60 I. Goodman Cohen (d) 1960 - 61 D. Charles Marsten 1961 - 62 Dean A. Robb 1962 - 63 Max Dean 1963 - 64 George L. Downing 1964 - 65 Lee C. Dramis (d) 1965 - 66 Howard Silver 1966 - 67 James E. Burns (d) 1967 - 68 Cassius E. Street 1968 - 69 James W. Baker (d) 1969 - 70 Eugene D. Mossner 1970 - 71 Irving Kroll 1971 - 72 Morton E. Schneider 1972 - 74 Harry M. Philo 1974 - 75 George Bedrosian 1975 - 76 Sheldon L. Miller 1976 - 77 James F. Logan 1977 - 78 Clifford H. Hart 1978 - 79 George M. Maurer, Jr. 1979 - 80 Jack H. Bindes 1980 - 81 Jeffrey N. Shillman 1981 - 82 Paul A. Rosen (d) 1982 - 83 George T. Sinas 1983 - 84 Beverly Clark 1984 - 85 Sherwin Schreier 1985 - 86 Nicholas J. Rine 1986 - 87 Hon. William B. Murphy 1987 - 88 Carl R. Edwards 1988 - 89 Charles J. Barr 1989 - 90 Sheldon D. Erlich 1990 - 91 Barry Waldman 1991 - 92 Thomas Hay 1992 - 93 Marjory Cohen 1993 - 94 Michael Pianin 1994 - 95 Dave Getto 1995 - 96 Mark Weiss (d) 1996 - 97 Richard Skutt 1997 - 98 Kathy Bogas 1998 - 99 Carol McNeilage 1999 - 2000 Barry Goodman 2000 - 01 Jules Olsman 2001 - 02 Norman Tucker 2002 - 03 Alan Helmkamp 2003 - 04 Brian Waldman 2004 - 05 Michael Pitt 2005 - 06 Linda Miller Atkinson 2006 - 07 Jesse Reiter 2007 - 08 Robert Raitt 2008 - 09 Judy Susskind 2009 - 10 Richard Warsh 2010 - 11 Barry J. Gates 2011 - 12 Michael J. Behm 2012 - 13 Marc E. Lipton 2013 - 14 Gerald H. Acker 2014 - 15 Scott A. Goodwin 2015 - 16 Ven R. Johnson 2016 - 17 Thomas W. Waun 2017 - 18 Brian J. McKeen 2018 - 19 Debra A. Freid 2019 - 20 Robert J. MacDonald 2020 - 21 Donna M. MacKenzie 2021 - 22 Ronald K. Weiner 2022 - 23 Stuart A. Sklar 2023 - 24 Jennifer L. McManus 2024 - 25 Eric Steinberg
Membership and governance
The MAJ is currently presided over by President Eric Steinberg. He works with the other officers and MAJ Executive Director Steve Pontoni, who oversees the day-to-day operation of the organization. The executive board, which meets throughout the year, is made up of 120 members including all past presidents.
References