History

The Michigan State Bar Foundation was established in 1947 by lawyers and judges to help the legal profession meet its responsibilities to the public.  In 1941, State Bar of Michigan President, Glenn Gillespie, along with the leaders of the Bar, had the vision to create a Foundation, only a few years after the State Bar of Michigan itself was created in 1935. For the first 40 years, the Foundation supported many worthwhile projects, including judicial conferences, state law revision committees, jury instructions and teacher training.  Civil legal aid to low-income individuals became a focus for the Foundation when longtime access to justice leader and Foundation Trustee, John Cummiskey of Grand Rapids, suggested a role to add support to the network of legal aid agencies throughout Michigan.   

Purpose

The Michigan State Bar Foundation provides leadership and funding to improve the justice system.  Since inception, the Foundation has made grants totaling more than $210 million.  Nonprofit civil legal aid programs receive the largest share of the Foundation’s grants to help assure access to justice for all.  Civil legal aid assures fairness in the justice system.  Legal Aid programs funded by the Foundation complete approximately 50,000 cases for low-income persons in Michigan each year.  The Foundation also supports programs that improve the administration of justice by educating children and adults about their legal rights and responsibilities, the justice system and opportunities to resolve conflicts outside the courtroom.

Funding

The Foundation receives funds for its grant programs from a variety of public and private sources.  In 1990, the Michigan Supreme Court adopted mandatory IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts) and in 1994, the Michigan Legislature recognized the Foundation’s central role in supporting civil legal aid to low-income individuals in Michigan and assigned the Foundation to administer the portion of court filing fees funds which is distributed to legal aid programs.  The Foundation also receives generous private donations and support from the Fellows of the Michigan State Bar Foundation for the Foundation’s public interest programs.

In addition, the MSBF administers the Access to Justice Fund.  The Campaign was developed in 1997 and was redesigned in 2018.  The Access to Justice Campaign seeks to ensure access and fairness for all in the justice system.  The ATJ Campaign is a collaborative centralized campaign, in partnership with the State Bar of Michigan, to increase resources for fifteen regional and statewide civil legal aid programs in Michigan.  The participating programs encourage support through the ATJ Fund.  100% of donations for current operations will be distributed to support civil legal aid to low-income-individuals throughout Michigan.  For more information about the Access to Justice Campaign, please see www.atjfund.org.