OC Times Publisher Crystal Proxmire Presented with Oakland County Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award
(Oakland County Times, June 22, 2023)
Bloomfield Hills, MI – Oakland County Times Editor and Publisher Crystal A. Proxmire has been presented with the Allene and Martin Doctoroff Liberty Bell Award by the Oakland County Bar Association.
The presentation took place at the OCBA’s Annual Meeting on June 1 at The Kingsley in Bloomfield Hills. The award was presented by OCBA President Melinda Deel and Executive Director Jennifer Roosenberg.
Several OCBA members, all attorneys, were also presented with awards. But the Liberty Bell Award is reserved for a “non-attorney whose community activity has strengthened the American system of freedom under the law. The award honors those who stimulate a deeper sense of individual responsibility to the end that citizens recognize their duties and their rights.”
Proxmire was honored for her work in conducting hundreds of video interviews with candidates for public office since beginning the video series in 2015.
The award program explains “Crystal A. Proxmire is the editor and publisher of Oakland County Times, which was started in 2009 as The Ferndale One-Fifteen and expanded county-wide in 2014. Her work has included award-winning investigations that challenged systems and changed lives. Crystal has helped build civic engagement by showcasing the value of community involvement.
“Among the projects the Oakland County Times has undertaken, Crystal has filmed and produced over 800 nonpartisan video interviews with candidates for local offices. Every political party and position have been welcomed. Races included school boards, library boards, city councils, township boards, county commission, state reps, governors, and candidates for Congress and US President.
“Crystal is also on a quest to try and write about every restaurant in Oakland County, with over 350 reviews featured on Oakland County Times.”
To make the evening memorable, Proxmire attended the ceremony dressed like the Statue of Liberty. She is currently preparing to start the next round of candidate interviews for the 2023 election.
Other awardees represented a range of areas of legal expertise and involvement.
David R. Sheaffer was awarded the Bonnie L. Beutler Outstanding New Lawyer Award. Sheaffer serves as the senior law clerk for Justice Elizabeth M. Welch of the Michigan Supreme Court as well as teaching at Michigan State University College of Law. He is an officer of the OCBA New Lawyers committee where he “Helps new lawyers feel welcome and goes out of his way to assist on committee projects and events.”
The OCBA Committee of the Year Award was presented to the Membership Committee for “working to ensure OCBA membership is valuable, meaningful and inclusive for all. Members of the Membership Committee are Jill L. Kosovec, Moheeb H. Murray, and Jacob A. Kahn.
Suzanne M. Bolton was awarded the Pro Bono Lakeshore Legal Aid Award. Bolton’s career has included working as a labor lawyer for the transit organization that preceded SMART (called SEMTA), working as an Oakland County Friend of the Court referee, and teaching family law to University of Detroit paralegal students. Since retiring from Friend of the Court, Bolton has volunteered regularly with Lakeshore Legal Aid’s Family Law Assistance Project.
The S. Gerald Gorcyca Meritorious Service to Veterans Award was presented to Elias J. Escobedo, Jr. who himself is a veteran of the US Marine Corps who served in Vietnam. His law firm is committed to ensuring that veterans have competent legal counsel in any legal matter they may face. He is also a member of the Oakland County Circuit Court Combat Veterans Treatment Court team. He previously served as OCBA President in 2001-2002, and has remained active in several committees and efforts.
The Graunces R. Avadula Memorial Awards was presented to Tina Marakas Battle who has over 36 years of insurance defense/litigation experience. She is currently the Vice Chair of the OCBA District Court Case Evaluation Committee. Her list of volunteer efforts is long, including Gleaners Community Food Bank, Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation, and the Welcome Inn Day Center.
The Professionalism Award was given to Joseph A Doerr, a business and real estate litigator and mediator who started his own firm, which has grown into Doerr MacWilliams Howard PLLC business law firm in Bloomfield Hills. “Joe is known for putting professionalism and ethics before everything else. His credo is ‘you don’t need to be a jerk to be a successful attorney,” according to the program.
Kevin Oeffner was presented with the Distinguished Public Servant Award. In 1999 Oeffner became the Circuit Court administrator, a position where he “is the face of the court, in charge of more than 400 employees and an annual budget of nearly $50 million.” Since 1999 “he ushered the court though many new programs, innovations, new judges, new chief judges, the creation and operations of the court’s family division, pandemic protocols, technology updates, and writing 218 columns for OCBA’s LACHES magazine.” He retired in April.
The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Kristina A. Bilowus, an assistant director of career development at Michigan State University College of Law. “Kristina has enthusiastically served one year as vice chair and two years as chair of OCBA;s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.” Other board and committee involvement includes past president of Woman Bar Association, director of the Wemon Lawyers Association of Michigan, and president of the Hellenic Bar Association.
Two individuals were presented with Distinguished Career Achievement Awards – Judith K. Cunningham and Hon. Barry M. Grant.
Cunningham began her career as a summer law clerk for Oakland County Circuit Court in 1980. By 1999 she worked her way up to being the first woman to serve as Corporation Counsel for Oakland County. She has chaired numerous OCBA committees through the years, and in 2004 was elected to the OCBA Board of Directors, serving for nine years in that role.
As an Oakland County Probate Judge, Grant created many firsts including Oakland County Youth Camp, a numbering system in the probate office, the court juror handbook and the newsletter for National College of Probate. Among his potions has been chairperson of Oakland County Elections Commission, treasurer of Southfield Board of Education, and serving on the board of Mental Health Association of Michigan, Michigan State Highway Commission, and the Southfield Parent Youth Guidance Committee.
According to their website, “The Oakland County Bar Association serves the legal community in Oakland County and in Michigan – not by just our size, the benefits we provide, or the gatherings we host, but by offering the tools, resources, and education that empowers our members in their legal careers. The OCBA helps each member create his or her own personal “success formula.” Whether you need to grow your client base, broaden your areas of expertise or hone your negotiation skills, with us you will. The OCBA’s committees, courses, and connections to our legal community help enable our members to achieve their professional goals.” Learn more at https://www.ocba.org
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