Newest federal judges to be featured in online program by FBA, May 17

The Federal Bar Association, Eastern District of Michigan Chapter, will present a “Meet the Judges” event online Wednesday, May 17, from noon to 1:30 p.m. via Zoom.

The FBA will provide the opportunity to meet the newest members of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan. Judge Shalina Kumar, Judge F. Kay Behm, and Judge Jonathan J.C. Grey will take part in the online program.

Kumar became the first person of South Asian descent to be nominated for a federal judgeship in Michigan in 2021. She was sworn in as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan in December of 2021. Kumar was appointed to the Oakland County Circuit Court in 2007. She was appointed as chief judge by the Michigan Supreme Court in 2018 and was reappointed in 2020. Prior to serving on the bench, she was a civil litigator in private practice from 1997 to 2007. Kumar is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the Federal Bar Association, the Oakland County Bar Association, and the South Asian Bar Association.

Behm was nominated to serve as U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Michigan June 2022. She served as a judge for the Genesee County Circuit and Probate Courts since 2009. Behm was previously a solo practitioner from 2008 to 2009. From 1997 to 2008, she was an associate at Winegarden, Haley, Lindholm, & Robertson in Flint and an associate at Braun Kendrick Finbeiner in Saginaw from 1994 to 1997. Behm received her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1994 and her B.A. from Albion College in 1991.

Grey was nominated to serve as a U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Michigan September 2022.  He served as a U.S. magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Michigan. Grey is a graduate of Morehouse College and Georgetown University Law Center.  After law school, he was an associate at Seyfarth Shaw LLP and practiced labor and employment law. He served as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge W. Louis Sands, Middle District of Georgia, and the late U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Damon J. Keith, Sixth Circuit. As an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan and the Southern District of Ohio, he led diversity programs and anti-domestic violence initiatives. He is an active member of the Federal Bar Association and the Wolverine Bar Association.

To register for the free online program, visit www.fbamich.org. The Zoom link will be sent a day or two before the event.