Marcuz is an appellate attorney at the State Appellate Defender Office and principal attorney for the Appellate Investigation Project, an innovative collaboration between SADO and the Michigan Assigned Appellate Counsel System to provide MAACS roster attorneys with greater access to investigators and training on spotting and litigating extra-record issues in need of expert witnesses. Prior to beginning her work at SADO in 2012, Marcuz clerked for Hon. Catherine Easterly of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Prior to becoming an attorney she worked as a high school English teacher in Brooklyn, New York. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College, a master’s degree in education from Brooklyn College and a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
The Young Lawyers Section also named two finalists for the Regeana Myrick Outstanding Young Lawyer Award. Ryan Berman runs his own law firm in Bloomfield Hills, working on international business law, real property law and criminal law. He is also a licensed real estate salesperson, mediator, political consultant, law enforcement trainer, reserve police officer, charter member of the International Law Enforcement Educators & Trainers Association and a judge for the Michigan High School Mock Trial Tournament. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and Wayne State University Law School. Abril Valdes is an attorney with Clement and Hurst in Troy, focusing her practice on immigration, family law and criminal defense. She serves as secretary of the Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan, director of membership for the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Wayne Region and a Barristers Board member of the Detroit Bar Association. She is a graduate of California State University and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
The award is named for Regeana Myrick, who was a very active member of the SBM Young Lawyers Section Executive Council when she died in 1997. It is presented annually to a young lawyer in Michigan who has demonstrated many of her best qualities, including an overwhelming commitment to public service, exemplary service to the State Bar, and exceptional professional accomplishments.
The Outstanding Young Lawyer Award will be presented as part of the SBM Young Lawyers Section 10th Annual Summit. The Summit contains a full day of seminars that will cover substantive and skill-based tracks on such topics as family law, civil rights law, insurance law, mediation, trial skills and advocacy, practice management and client development. It will also feature a keynote address from Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Stephen Markman.
For more information about the Summit, visit connect.michbar.org/yls/home or contact Shenique Moss at sheniquemoss@gmail.com.