This week, the justices of the Michigan Supreme Court unanimously elected Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement to continue leading the court for the next two years. She is the seventh woman to serve as chief justice.
- Chief Justice Clement joined the court in November 2017 and was first chosen to serve as Chief Justice in November 2022.
- Prior to the bench, she served as chief legal counsel in the executive branch and held positions of cabinet secretary and deputy chief of staff in the governor’s office.
- The chief justice also previously served as legal counsel in the Michigan Senate and worked in the Senate Majority Policy Office.
- She is a graduate of the Michigan State University College of Law.
Additionally, the court formally welcomed newly elected Justice Kimberly Thomas to the bench.
- Justice Thomas was elected to the Supreme Court in November 2024.
- She is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
- Prior to her election, she was a clinical law professor at the University of Michigan Law School and co-founder of the Juvenile Justice Clinic.
- Justice Thomas served on the Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform.
- She began her legal career clerking at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and was a staff attorney with the Defender Association of Philadelphia.
