The State Bar of Michigan presented major awards to Michigan family law lawyers at its 69th Annual Meeting. The SBM honored Richard Kupferschmidt, Richard S. Victor, and Joseph W. Cunningham at the Distinguished Service Awards Banquet:
Richard Kupferschmidt, of Western Michigan Legal Services, has contributed greatly to the Kalamazoo community throughout his career as a legal aid attorney for the past 25 years. In particular, he has shown a great commitment to poverty issues through domestic violence work and housing advocacy on behalf of the poor. He has been very active in the Kalamazoo County Bar Association, serving as president (1997-1998), and currently serving on its Board of Directors. He was a founder of the Pro Bono Legal Clinics in Kalamazoo and has served as an active and regular participant in the weekly clinics. Throughout his career, Kupferschmidt also served on several Kalamazoo District Court committees and the Kalamazoo County Homeless Advisory Council.
Richard S. Victor of The Law Offices of Richard S. Victor, PLLC, is being honored for his dedication to the practice of family law and divorce, custody, and children’s advocacy issues. Victor has been practicing family law exclusively since 1979 and is known for his commitment to grandparents’ rights, receiving statewide and nationwide attention for his focus on complex divorce and custody matters. Victor has worked on many high-profile cases, and assisted Michigan legislators in drafting the state’s most recent grandparent visitation legislation. He is the founder of the non-profit Grandparents Rights Organization, which advocates for grandparents and educates state legislatures and courts on the need to protect the bond between grandparents and grandchildren. Victor has held positions in many organizations, and is an accomplished author and editor, writing for the Michigan Bar Journal, organizational newsletters and law-related newspapers, and serving on the Board of Editors for Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
The John W. Cummiskey Pro Bono Award, which recognizes commitment to pro bono issues, is being presented to Joseph W. Cunningham, a Partner in the Litigation Services Department at Plante and Moran, PLLC. Cunningham is being honored for his work on a project that helps legal aid attorneys prepare Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) for their clients, which enable divorcing parties to divide pensions and 401(K) accounts. Cunningham, who is also a certified Public Accountant (CPA), has concentrated his practice in tax, retirement benefit, and business valuation aspects of divorce for more than 20 years. He was the co-editor of the Michigan Family Law Sourcebook, is a frequent seminar lecturer, and has held several positions in the Oakland County Bar Association and the State Bar Family Law Section. He has chosen that the $2,000 award designation be split between the Women’s Survival Center in Pontiac and the University of Detroit Mercy clinical law programs as a memorial to F. Philip Colista, an attorney who was committed to civil rights.