Joan L. Larsen, a University of Michigan legal expert with experience with the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Justice Department, was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court by Gov. Rick Snyder on Wednesday.
Larsen, of Scio Township, fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Justice Mary Beth Kelly.
“Joan is a superb attorney who brings experience from the highest levels of government, private practice and academia to the state’s highest court,” Snyder said. “She is highly regarded by her peers, and is a nationally recognized constitutional scholar. I’m confident she’ll be an invaluable addition to the Michigan Supreme Court.”
Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert P. Young Jr. said that Snyder’s appointment of Larsen was “a perfect fit with a court that is second to none in its commitment to the rule of law and legal scholarship.”
“Joan Larsen is an accomplished, nationally recognized legal scholar, successful teacher, and keen legal thinker,” Young continued. “My colleagues and I welcome her to a collegial court that is ready to work with her in building on our successful record of making Michigan’s judiciary a model for the nation.”
Larsen serves as law professor and special counsel to the dean at the University of Michigan Law School. Before that, she was deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. She has also taught at Northwestern University School of Law. Larsen began her career as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She then served as law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for two years. She followed her clerkship into private practice with the law firm Sidley & Austin in Washington, D.C.
Larsen has written extensively on the Constitution, international law, the judicial system, and separation of powers. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. Larsen earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa in 1990 and received her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1993, ranking first in her class.
“I have practiced law, taught the law, and enforced the law,” said Larsen. “Public service has always been my calling. I look forward to serving the people of Michigan by faithfully interpreting the constitution and laws of our great state.”
Larsen joins a court that has focused on implementing grass roots reforms to improve the efficiency of Michigan courts and maintain the highest level of service to the public. These reforms include:
—Performance measures that help trial courts set benchmarks and improve outcomes. For example, participants in mental health and sobriety courts are three times less likely to reoffend, avoiding costly incarceration and making communities safer.
—Implementing technology such as videoconferencing which is now deployed in more than 400 courtrooms, saving taxpayers nearly $6 million over the past two years.
—Re-engineering court processes and rightsizing the judiciary by trimming 26 judgeships, saving more than $8.2 million since 2011.
Supreme Court justices serve eight-year terms. Larsen will have to seek election in 2016 for the remainder of Justice Kelly’s term that expires at the end of 2018, and could run in 2018 for a full eight-year term.
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