Now is your chance to attend the Great Lakes Legal Conference, the State Bar of Michigan’s premier continuing education and leadership development event. Join us June 13-14 at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island to learn, connect, and advance your practice.
The 2025 Great Lakes Legal Conference is open to all State Bar of Michigan members and will be packed with information on emerging legal issues, leadership development, and practice management. The conference is a perfect opportunity to mingle with Michigan's legal leadership, build new connections, and learn from experts.
“The Great Lakes Legal Conference has a great blend of useful presentations, networking opportunities and a spectacular venue. Attending is well worth it,” says 2024 attendee Phillip B. Toutant of Numinen DeForge & Toutant PC in Marquette.
This year’s keynote speaker, Sateesh Nori, is a nationally renowned lawyer, law professor, and author. He is also a Senior Legal Innovation Strategist at Just-Tech and for twenty years has represented tenants across New York City at various legal services organizations. He is a member of the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. He also co-created and co-teaches the Housing Rights Clinic at NYU Law. Named a “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal, and one of “Queens’ Power 50,” Nori was also featured as a “Legal Rebel” in the Spring 2021 ABA Journal. In 2023, he was a recipient of the New York City Bar Association’s “Legal Services Award.” He is the author of “Sheltered: Twenty Years in Housing Court.” In 2024, he gave a TedX Talk called “How a chatbot can stop homelessness.”
Nori’s 2025 GLLC presentation, “AI and the Future of the Legal Profession” will tackle some of the biggest technological questions the legal industry faces today.
This year’s conference will offer three learning tracks: Leadership, Legal Updates, and Practice Management & Technology. Participants can mix and match sessions from different tracks to personalize their conference experience.
Among the many session topics are, “Charting Your Path: Emerging as a Leader in the Legal Profession,” “Improv for Lawyers: Building Confidence, Creativity, and Communication Skill,” “The Bench Perspective: Preparation and Professionalism,” and many more.
Attendees also will hear from State Bar of Michigan President Joseph P. McGill and SBM Executive Director Peter Cunningham.
“This is a great way to refresh, recharge and remember that you are a leader,” says Michael J. Nichols of Nichols Law Firm, PLLC, in East Lansing.
In addition to the learning tracks, the 2025 GLLC is offering something brand new this year: the opportunity to meet with State Bar of Michigan staff in one-on-one consulting sessions.
Sign up and receive one-on-one advice from experts in MiFile, sections and bar associations, marketing and communications, and attorney well-being. This opportunity is included in your conference registration and is offered at no additional cost.
Those who register for the conference before May 13, 2025, can save $50 off the $275 price.
Those wishing to reserve a room at the Grand Hotel are encouraged to register as soon as possible as rooms often sell out quickly. All Great Lakes Legal Conference guests are eligible for a special rate to stay at the Grand Hotel. The deadline to secure this offer is May 13, 2025.
Scholarship applications are also available. The GLLC scholarship is open to any bar or section leader that may not be able to provide the necessary financial support to attend the conference. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on April 11, 2025.
You can learn more about how to register, apply for scholarships, reserve your room, and more, at michbar.org/gllc.
Come learn why Veronica Stachurski from the Law Offices of Lisa C. Ward, PLLC in Okemos says the Great Lakes Legal Conference is “the most fun I've ever had at a work conference—hard to be anything but excited when you're on Mackinac Island!”
Posted: March 13, 2025