The Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ), formerly the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association (MTLA) is a trade association of over 1,600 plaintiff's attorneys and staff, with offices in Lansing, Michigan.
MAJ provides members with professional networking, online listserves, a data bank of relevant court documents and legal experts, and a member directory. The organization also provides an extensive continuing legal education (CLE) program in locations throughout Michigan. Additionally, MAJ's Lansing-based government affairs staff lobbies legislators and state agencies to advance a pro-civil justice legislative agenda, intended to preserve and enhance the rights of injured people.
MAJ states that it "promotes justice and fairness for injured persons, safeguards victims' rights--particularly the right to trial by jury--and strengthens the civil justice system through education and disclosure of information critical to public health and safety." It provides information and professional assistance to its members. It is headquartered in Lansing, Michigan. The MAJ is an affiliated member of the American Association for Justice.
1945 - 49 Samuel Charfoos (d)1949 - 53 Hon. Theodore R. Bohn1953 - 55 Benjamin Marcus (d)1955 - 56 Carl Gussen (d)1956 - 57 James A. Markle (d)1957 - 58 Saul M. Leach1958 - 59 Duane S. Van Benschoten (d)1959 - 60 I. Goodman Cohen (d)1960 - 61 D. Charles Marsten1961 - 62 Dean Robb1962 - 63 Max Dean1963 - 64 George L. Downing1964 - 65 Lee C. Dramis (d)1965 - 66 Howard Silver1966 - 67 James E. Burns (d)1967 - 68 Cassius E. Street1968 - 69 James W. Baker (d)1969 - 70 Eugene D. Mossner1970 - 71 Irving Kroll1971 - 72 Morton E. Schneider1972 - 74 Harry M. Philo1974 - 75 George Bedrosian1975 - 76 Sheldon L. Miller1976 - 77 James F. Logan1977 - 78 Clifford H. Hart1978 - 79 George M. Maurer, Jr.1979 - 80 Jack H. Bindes1980 - 81 Jeffrey N. Shillman1981 - 82 Paul A. Rosen1982 - 83 George T. Sinas1983 - 84 Beverly Clark1984 - 85 Sherwin Schreier1985 - 86 Nicholas J. Rine1986 - 87 Hon. William B. Murphy1987 - 88 Carl R. Edwards1988 - 89 Charles J. Barr1989 - 90 Sheldon D. Erlich1990 - 91 Barry Waldman1991 - 92 Thomas Hay1992 - 93 Marjory Cohen1993 - 94 Michael Pianin1994 - 95 Dave Getto1995 - 96 Mark Weiss (d)1996 - 97 Richard Skutt1997 - 98 Kathy Bogas1998 - 99 Carol McNeilage1999 - 2000 Barry Goodman2000 - 01 Jules Olsman2001 - 02 Norman Tucker2002 - 03 Alan Helmkamp2003 - 04 Brian Waldman2004 - 05 Michael Pitt2005 - 06 Linda Miller Atkinson2006 - 07 Jesse Reiter2007 - 08 Robert Raiit2008 - 09 Judy Susskind2009 - 10 Richard Warsh2010 - 11 Barry J. Gates2011 - 12 Michael J. Behm2012 - 13 Marc E. Lipton2013 - 14 Gerald H. Acker2014 - 15 Scott A. Goodwin2015 - 16 Ven R. Johnson2016 - 17 Thomas W. WaunMembership and governance
The MAJ is currently presided over by President Ven R. Johnson. He works with the other officers and MAJ Executive Director Steve Pontoni, who oversees the day-to-day operation of the organization. The executive board, which meets throughout the year, is made up of 113 members including all past presidents.
