Domestic Diversions

The Family Law Section held its awards banquet at the Country Club of Lansing on Wednesday, September 21, 2005. Karen S. Sendelbach of Nichols, Sacks, Slank, Sendelbach & Buiteweg, P.C. in Ann Arbor provided one of the highlights of the evening by introducing our 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Katherine Barnhart, whom Karen had nominated.

Reprinted below are Karen’s moving and deeply personal comments about Kitty Barnhart:
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I started working with Katherine when I was 27 years old. I had only practiced for three years, but I had some experience, having come from the heavy case load of Legal Aid. When I accepted my job with her, I can honestly say that I had no concept of what the next years would bring.

The very first day I started with Katherine, I saw her total commitment to those around her. Her husband, Phil Colista, had been hospitalized the night before for an unexpected heart problem (he had quickly passed out, and Katherine drove him to the hospital while taking his pulse from the driver’s seat and talking to the doctor on the phone). While Phil underwent tests, she met with me in the Beaumont hospital waiting room to discuss her cases and the day’s tasks. She worked from the waiting room, monitoring her husband’s medical progress, vigorously questioning doctors, and taking the time to consult with additional medical personnel at the Mayo Clinic in Iowa. While she did that, she drafted a motion for summary disposition, reviewed an initial brief which I prepared, negotiated a settlement of a difficult case, and took a phone call from a distraught client. I watched with awe she demonstrated an ability to be a powerful and loyal advocate for her husband and her clients, and all with her sense of humor and good spirit. She must have been emotionally exhausted, scared, and she was well deserving of support for herself, but she clearly was much more comfortable providing support than receiving it. My first day of work with Katherine was a profound one for me, and I was immediately aware that I was working with an exceptional person. It was just another day for Katherine.

I continued to work with Katherine until she retired. I will be forever grateful for the experiences and the lessons that I learned from her, in great part because she taught me that we can all be much more than we think we can be. She is a great example that people can work and make the world a better place.

I want to share with you some of the lessons that Katherine taught me. She reinforced, of course, the same principles that every lawyer in this room lives by: attention to detail, personal expectations for excellence, contribution to the profession, commitment to access to justice, and zealous representation of the client. The three gifts that set Katherine apart, that she shares with everyone in her life, are her absolute and unwavering belief that we all have the ability and the duty to change those things in law and in society that we know are wrong; her absolute loyalty to those she cares about, including her clients, and her commitment and love for her family.

When John introduced Katherine, he described the many prestigious honors that she won. Those were hard won, and hard earned. Katherine grew up in Redford, the daughter of a high school teacher. She worked her way through school, and she is the first in her family to become a lawyer. She earned those honors every day, through her hard work. None of those honors reflect Katherine’s commitment to social responsibility and her respect for the law. None of them represent the real greatness of the Katherine I know – the Katherine who, when trying the Maake case, had radiation for breast cancer in the morning, drove to Ann Arbor, litigated the case all day in front of a very difficult and angry judge, and then drove back to Grosse Pointe at night to care for her family and prepare for the next day of trial. She knew that she was right – she knew that she needed to advocate for that family – and she would not let anything, not even cancer — stop her from doing what she knows is right.

I recall discussing a case with Katherine that I took through trial. I was dissatisfied with the result, and Katherine was discussing the possibility of appeal with me. I told her that an appeal seemed inappropriate as the judge’s decision was consistent with the relevant case law. Although that seemed to me to be the end of the analysis, Katherine told me not to be dismayed – that reported case law was “just the decision of the three people who happened to hear that case.” When I discouragingly reported that this particular decision was consistent with a string of cases, she told me that I could not shirk my duty to the client, and to the law, by simply accepting the decision. “You know when the law is wrong. You are a lawyer. You need to do what you have to do to change the law – to show those judges why the law is wrong and what they need to do to make it right. Don’t ever assume that just because something is consistent with the law, it is right. It is lawyers who make sure that the law is right – and that is your obligation.”

And Katherine demonstrated an absolute commitment to that duty throughout her career. She represented clients in cases which have changed the interpretation of the law, including Maake v. Maake, Deal v. Deal and McNamara v. McNamara, and she, pro bono with Carole Chiamp, represented Jennifer Ireland in her trial on remand. She also wrote the Family Law Council’s amicus briefs in Girard v. Wagenmaker and Sparks v. Sparks, cases which have been enormously influential in the evolution of family law.

Katherine was a founding mother of the Women’s Justice Center, an organization which now is comprised of a free legal services agency, a 100 bed women’s shelter, and educational and counseling aspects serving women in Detroit. She also co-founded the Michigan Women’s Campaign Fund, an organization which seeks to support highly qualified women throughout the campaign process. Katherine was a active member of the committee that drafted the child support formula, testified in front of the gender bias taskforce held by the Michigan Supreme Court, and was a representative at the Women’s Legal Defense Fund Symposium in Washington.

Katherine believes that a license to practice law brings with it access to the legal system, and with that access comes the responsibility to do what you knew is right. This was not easy for her to do; we were a two person law office, and some of the cases I described took years without payment as they wound their way through the court system. Many of our client’s funds would be depleted before we reached the appellate stage, but Katherine would not abandon them as she had a duty not only to them, but to improve the law. She recognized that the inability to proceed due to a lack of funds was something that kept the law from evolving, as it kept a specific class of people (women and the poor) out of the courts, and it kept the appellate courts from hearing their stories. Katherine knew that the courts had to hear their stories – that they had to be forced to respond to her arguments – and she did not allow a lack of money to keep her from doing what she believed she had an obligation to do. The field of family law is better off because she did; she improved the law, and she has changed countless lives.

Katherine has an impressive loyalty to her clients, and a loyalty to the law.

In addition to her loyalty to her clients, and her family, Katherine is a fierce advocate. When she believes that she is right, she will convince you. When she knows that something is right, she will make it happen. She has an impressive knowledge of the law, the cases and the statutes, and she is a persuasive advocate. When you combine that with her passion for her cases, she is powerful.

I recall a story of another time when Phil was hospitalized at the DMC, and the doctors there provided a recommendation for his treatment. Most of us would have trusted the physician, followed their advice, and probably be emotionally devasted at hearing such serious news about your spouse. Katherine set aside her emotions and her personal needs, consulted with the Mayo Clinic, determined that Phil required treatment there. The insurance company refused to authorize medical transport from the DMC to Mayo, so Katherine got on her phone and made arrangements for a private medical plane to transport her husband immediately. In doing this, she literally saved his life. As with so many things in her life, she knew it was right, and she made it happen. She did not take no for an answer, nor did she accept that she was powerless (and, in fact, I suspect that the insurance company did ultimately pay for the trip). Whether client, family member, or colleague, when Katherine is on your side, you have a powerful ally. Detroit Monthly magazine once described Katherine as “One of the 10 Divorce Lawyer’s You’d Want in Your Corner.” That could not be more true.

I referenced earlier her commitment to her family. When we read a description of everything that she accomplished in her career, it is difficult to imagine how she fit in her rich family life, raising three children and enjoying a large Italian extended family. Her family is fundamental to Katherine and part of everything that she does; she shared office space with Phil for years, so they could see one another at work. Her office is decorated with art of and by her children. She left the office to make sure that she was home at four when her kids were coming home, and she would work late into the night after they went to bed. She incorporated her family into her practice, never allowing one to suffer for the support of the other. She showed me that it is possible – contrary to what other lawyers told me – to be both a great lawyer and a great mom and wife. And she made it look fun.

And life in her office was fun. We would lunch together, and we were able to see the humor in many of the situations presented to us. Katherine shared with me her knowledge about Italian cooking, the brilliant things that her grandkids did, and I left every day with a more colorful vocabulary than you can imagine. Being a lawyer is a part of who she is – it is not just something that she did during the day or a job she does to earn money.

I hope that I have been able to give you some insight as to why Katherine Barnhart is such an appropriate recipient for the Lifetime Achievement Award. She spent her career – from its beginning in West Cameroon, Africa with the Peace Corps to its conclusion as President of the Michigan Chapter of the AAML, President of the Family Law Section and now recipient of it’s lifetime achievement award – helping people. She sought justice and changed the law. She is tireless, accepting every challenge which came her way, and there were a lot. I am very proud that I had the opportunity to learn from her example, and I am delighted that she is receiving this prestigious award. Her clients, the people of this state, and the Section have indeed been lucky to have Katherine Barnhart in our corner.