Governor Rick Snyder
has named University of Michigan law professor Joan Larsen as the replacement
for Justice Mary Beth Kelly. Justice Kelly announced in August her plans to
leave the court to return to private practice and focus her efforts on juvenile
justice issues.
Joan Larsen received
her law degree from Northwestern University and practiced at Sidley and Austin,
a law firm in Washington D.C. She also clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia and served as a deputy assistant to the U.S. Attorney General. Ms.
Larsen will join Justice Bridget McCormack and Justice Richard Bernstein as the
third member of the court to have no previous judicial experience.
Observers were
interested in Governor Snyder’s choice with Appeals Judge Kirsten Frank Kelly
and Oakland Circuit Judge Colleen O’Brien having been speculated upon earlier
as potential nominees. On Tuesday, Mr. Snyder appointed Justice O’Brien to the
Court of Appeals. Justice O’Brien and Justice Kelly will serve together.
Both Justice Joan
Larsen and Judge Colleen O’Brien will have to run in 2016 to serve the
remainder of their predecessors’ term.