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Education

Academy of Municipal Attorneys (AMA)

educationParticipation in the AMA involves both an educational component and a practice component to achieve the purposes of the program.  The educational component seeks to train and educate the applicant in not only the basic elements of municipal law, but also to encourage academic and scholarly excellence in municipal law.  The practice component seeks to recognize the implementation of the academic component by applying the academic program to effective and competent legal practice.  In addition, membership in the AMA seeks to encourage opportunities for dialogue, friendship, and fellowship with social opportunities to promote the Academy.

AMA Graduates

John M. Barr (2016)
Lori Grigg Bluhm (2012)
Steven P. Joppich (2012)
Kevin K. Kilby (2017)
Peter A. Letzmann (2016)
William C. Mathewson (2016)
Catherine M. Mish (2012)
Andrew J. Mulder (2012)
Carol A. Rosati (2012)
Gregory T. Stremers (2012)
Lauren Trible-Laucht (2018)

Click here to learn more, and to apply.

Upcoming Events

MAMA/GLS Joint Education Event
Mission Point Resort
June 21-22, 2024
Sponsorship opportunities for the 2024 event are available here. To secure your sponsorship, click here.

MAMA Municipal Law Program & Annual Meeting
October 17, 2024
Hilton Garden Inn, Lansing

MAMA Advanced Institute
March 18, 2025
Lansing Center, Lansing

Past Events

MAMA Advanced Institute
Lansing Center
March 12, 2024

Presentations
Renewable Energy – Kyle A. O’Meara
Class Action – Paul Novak
Telecom and Rights of Way – Mike Watza

MAMA Municipal Law Program & Annual Meeting
Crowne Plaza Lansing West
September 28, 2023

Presentations
Case Law Update – Takings – Anne McClorey McLaughlin
First Amendment Auditors – Audrey J. Forbush
Municipal Real Estate Primer – Rhonda R. Stowers
Proposition 2 Roll Out – Early Voting

MAMA/GLS Joint Education Event
Crystal Mountain Resort
June 23-25, 2023

Presentations
Housing Development – Ryan Kilpatrick
Addressing Homelessness Panel – Maranda VanZegeren
Mediation – Ethical, Professional, and Other Considerations for the Government Lawyer – Peter Letzmann
Supreme Court Update – Erich Eiselt

MAMA Advance Institute
Lansing Center
April 18, 2023

Presentations
Michigan Tax Tribunal Update 2022 Final Draft Rules Samantha M. Welton
Tax Appeals Panel – 
Ronald J. VanderVeen, Laura M. Hallahan, Samantha M. Welton

MAMA Municipal Law Program & Annual Meeting
Lansing Crowne Plaza
October 13, 2022

MAMA/GLS Summer Conference
Grand Traverse Resort
June 24, 2022 – June 25, 2022

Presentations
Equity in the Courts – Justice Elizabeth M. Welch
Legal Defense Fund Update – Chris Johnson, MML
Science of Implicit Bias – Professor Jerry Kang
Supreme Court Update – James Chen

MAMA Municipal Law Program & Annual Meeting
Lansing Crowne Plaza
October 21, 2021

MAMA Law Program Agenda

Presentations
Employment Law Update– Richard Cherry, Miller Johnson
Internal Investigations– Nancy Niemela, Steven H. Schwartz & Associates, PLC.
Amicus Update- MAMA LDF– Chris Johnson, Tom Schultz, Vince Duckworth
Case Law Update– Alma Sabo & Peter Webster, Dickinson Wright

MAMA/GLS Virtual Event- Supreme Court Review, 2020-21: The Least Dangerous Branch in America’s Most Perilous Hour
July 9, 2021
This session reviews the leading decisions of October Term 2020 of the Supreme Court of the United States. Because many CLE programs were canceled at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, this session will also cover some leading decisions from October Term 2019 (October 2019 through July 2020). The session’s scope is broad enough to accommodate persistent legal questions such as stare decisis and qualified immunity. The future of Roe v. Wade and the composition of the Court are also fair game.
Presenter: James M. Chen, Justin Smith Morrill Chair in Law, Professor of Law, Michigan State University

 

MAMA/GLS Summer Conference
June 17 – June 20, 2021The Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys (MAMA) & Government Law Section (GLS) Boards want to share an update to our members about the MAMA/GLS 2021 conference.  Please view the letter to members on behalf of the MAMA/GLS boards for the full update.

35th Annual MAMA Advanced Institute
March 17, 2021
Virtual

Meeting Materials

Agenda

Michigan Civil Rights Commission Complaint Response Kristen L. Rewa, Attorney, Cummings, McClory Davis & Acho, P.L.C.

2021 MAMA Advanced Institute Presenters

MAMA 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting
Virtual
October 29, 2020

Meeting Materials

Video Recording

Police Contact with the Mentally Ill: A Litigation SpecialistHolly Battersby, Attorney, Rosati Schultz Joppich & Amtsbuechler

MAMA 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting Agenda

MAMA 2020 Annual Meeting Presenters

Municipal Law Program & Annual Meeting
October 17, 2019
Crowne Plaza Lansing West Hotel
Lansing, MI

Presentations

Due Process Considerations in Municipal Licensing and Regulation of Marijuana – Heather Sumner, Deputy City Attorney, Lansing; Amanda O’Boyle, Assistant City Attorney, Lansing

Recreational Marihuana Ballot Petitions – Anthony Chubb, Garmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C.,; Nick Curcio, The Curcio Law Firm; Bryan Graham, Young, Graham & Wendling, P.C.

Headlee Amendment Enforcement: Taxpayers for Michigan Const. Govt. v. State of Michigan – John C. Philo, Sugar Law Center For Economic & Social Justice

State Preemption of Local Democracy – Sarah Fox, Professor, Northern Illinois University College of Law

 

21st Annual MAMA & GLS Summer Education Conference
The Inn at Bay Harbor*
June 21-22, 2019
Agenda

MAMA 33rd Annual Advanced Institute
Lansing Center, Lansing
March 19, 2019
Agenda

Winter Board Retreat
Park Place Hotel & Conference Center, Traverse City
January 25-26, 2019

MAMA Annual Meeting
October 11, 2018 – Crowne Plaza Lansing West Hotel, Lansing, MI

Presentations

Michigan Lead and Copper Rule Revisions – Molly Maciejewski, Public Works Manager, City of Ann Arbor

Lead and Copper Rules Challenges Municipalities Face – Kelsey Cooke, Senior Attorney, Office of the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner

Voices of Experience: Ethical Challenges and the Municipal Attorney

FOIA: Statutory Exemptions and the Rule of Law – Crystal Morgan, Law Office of Crystal Morgan, POOC and James Carter Fisher, Fellow at Wayne County Corporation Counsel

Handout

Recreational Marihuana – Michigan Municipal League White Paper

 

MAMA/MTA UP North Legal Institute
July 31, 2018 – Island Resort and Conference Center, Harris, MI

MAMA/GLS Joint Summer Education Conference
June 22-23, 2018 – Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville, MI

Presentations

Construction Contracts and Dispute Resolution A Practical Approach – Harvey W. Berman

Coordinating Multiple Source Funding / Financing for a Major Public Infrastructure Project –  Patrick McGow Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, PLC

Litigating A Public Infrastructure Eminent Domain Case – Peter H. Webster, Esq. Dickinson Wright PLLC

Additional Insured and Contractual Indemnity Provisions In Liability Insurance Policies What’s Covered ? – Thomas B. Alleman

Construction contract drafting initiative – Caitlin Cutchin, International Municipal Lawyers Association

 

IMLA Mid-Year Seminar
April 20-23, 2018 – Washington, D.C.

MAMA Mid-Winter Conference
March 20, 2018 – Lansing
Agenda
Speakers

MAMA Annual Conference & Meeting
September 13, 2017 – City Hall, Holland

Presentations

2017 Health Care Outlook and Issues for Governmental Health Care and Wellness Plans (download presentation)
Amy M. Christen, Dykema Gossett, PLLC

MAMA Presentation on Link Rot (download presentation)
Kathryn L. Loomis, Reporter of Decisions, Michigan Supreme Court

June 23-25, 2017

19th Annual MAMA & PCLS Summer Education Conference
Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island
Presentations

Food Trucks RegulationLauren Trible-Laucht, City Attorney, Traverse City

Vacation Rental Property OrdinancesEric Williams, Esq. and Nicholas Curcio, Dickinson Wright

Water and Sewer Infrastructure After the Flint Water Crisis – Enforcement, Repair, and Replacement Scott Conradson, MDEQ Community Water Supply Program

View from the BenchJustice Robert P. Young, Jr., Michigan Supreme Court (Retired) Handout

Announcement of the John Barr Scholarship RecipientsMML Foundation President Gisgie Gendreau

U.S. Supreme Court 2016-2017 Term (handout) Lisa Soronen, Executive Director, State and Local Legal Center

Police Internal Review Boards and Citizen OversightAudrey Forbush, Plunkett Cooney; Clyde Robinson, City Attorney, Kalamazoo; Megan Norris, Miller Canfield

Planning for Connected and Automated VehiclesValerie Sathe Brugeman, Center for Automotive Research

Why does my water bill cost so much? Mark Hurley, Gosling Czubak Engineering Sciences, Inc.

Police Civil Rights Litigation: From Ferguson to Dallas and BeyondMary Massaron and Jo DeLorenzo, Plunkett Cooney