Kromkowski

A Probate Court Judge handles estates and trusts, guardianship of adults, minors, and developmentally disabled persons, commitment of the mentally ill and conservatorships and Family Division cases of adoption, child protective proceedings, divorce parenting time, custody and support, paternity, emancipation, juvenile delinquency and Personal Protection Orders.

“Probate/Family Court serves the most vulnerable when they are in crisis. Most disputes resolve short of a trial; those that that do go onto trial are highly emotional and contentious. My 17 years of judicial experience, calm temperament and careful application of the Constitution and Michigan statues has readied me to conduct these trials in a respectful, efficient and focused manner.”

For continuity of service you need Marian’s experience.
• The only candidate with any experience hearing and deciding the kinds of cases heard in Probate Court.
• 17 years as Domestic Relations Referee managing a Family Court docket and hearing trials similar to those of a Probate Judge.
• The 1st Domestic Relations Referee in Grand Traverse-Leelanau-Antrim counties.
• Presently a Domestic Relations Referee in Wexford and Missaukee counties.
• Decided thousands of family related cases with prompt, fair and well-explained decisions.
• A judicial officer and bound by Judicial Code of Conduct since 1993

Right Time, Right Place, Right Person.

By law a judicial candidate must be

• a licensed lawyer in Michigan
• have 5 years experience as a lawyer
• and not have attained the age of 70 by November 2, 2010.

These are qualifications consumers require as a minimum baseline when hiring a lawyer, other than age, as we have many competent elder lawyers in our community.

The American Bar Association (ABA), Standing Committee on Judicial Independence recognizes that “changes in the nature of law practice and the judicial role over the past several decades have rendered the gap between the two activities increasingly large.”

It comes down to a very simple question – shouldn’t a person know something
about the job they are seeking, especially one that impacts the lives of our citizens? *

Judging is Not Lawyering
As a lawyer I am an advocate for my client. I strive to have you see the case only through my client’s eyes. I look for defects in the other party’s case and highlight those in my adversarial presentation.

In 1993 I became a Domestic Relations Referee in the Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Antrim Counties. The Court provided me with a black robe and a courtroom and delegated the task of conducting trials and hearings in family related matters. I had to look at both sides of the case, listen and determine the credibility of witnesses, apply the law to the evidence and explain my decision to the parties and attorneys in court, all while remaining calm and focused. I was already relatively used to the high level of emotion and conflict in these types of cases. It was the lens of impartiality and independence that was foreign to me as a lawyer. Further, the ability to keep an open mind until the end of the trial, sort out all the evidence, make a tough decision and explain it to the “winners and losers” was a skill I honed over time. However, early on I realized viewing snap shots of a family’s life in an adversarial setting could not be the best way to resolve these disputes.

In 1998 I became the first lawyer in our area to receive Domestic Relations Mediation training. A mediator is a person trained to help people with difficult conversations. The mediator remains neutral but assists parties in gathering information they need to make the best decision, helps them explore options resolving the conflict and guides them in fashioning agreements that meet their needs. It keeps the decision making in the hands of those responsible for the dispute and the solution crafting in the control of those who will live with the resolution.

After mediation training, I continued as a part-time Referee. With the listening skills I learned, the abilities to ask thoughtful questions and the renewed respect for individuals’ ability to solve their own problems given the proper setting, I truly became a better judicial officer.

In the past 17 years, I estimate that I have put on the black robe and conducted trials or hearings on over 1500 days. I have also continued to mediate family related disputes and have now concluded over 300 mediations.

My progression had been lawyering, judging, mediating. But something was often missing in these family disputes: the expertise of other professionals.

Probate Court handles estates and trusts, guardianship of adults, minors, and developmentally disabled persons, conservatorships, and commitment of the mentally ill. Probate Court is also responsible for cases from the Family Division of our 13th Circuit Court: adoptions; child protective proceedings; divorce; emancipation; juvenile delinquency; name changes; parenting time, custody and support; paternity; and personal protection orders.

Probate/Family Court serves the most vulnerable in our county when they are in crisis. Their crisis is not merely a legal problem. It is a family matter with emotional, financial and security implications that will have legal consequences. Why do judges and lawyers believe we have all the necessary expertise to resolve these complex issues? My conclusion was the need to involve other qualified persons to provide the family and the court with additional information and options. This collaboration with others to resolve conflict is Collaborative Law. The model has been in existence for 20 years. I helped form Up North Collaborative Divorce Professionals: lawyers, mental health professionals, child specialists, substance abuse therapists and financial planners working with families to craft reasoned solutions that truly meet their needs. This concept of involving others with expertise is the underlying foundation of specialty courts, such as Domestic Violence Court, Drug Court and Baby Court.

Characteristics of a good judge include integrity, judicial temperament, diligence, professional competence and community involvement and understanding. Some lawyers just do not have the appropriate temperament to be fair, patient and impartial. As in any group of professionals there are a minority who do not have integrity. The rest, diligence, professional competence, and community involvement and understanding, are learned skills.

It comes down to a very simple question – shouldn’t a person know something about the job they are seeking, especially one that impacts the lives of our citizens?

I know the job of Judge. I have the right training, desired experience, even-keeled temperament and commitment to public service the people of Leelanau County deserve.

*American Bar Association, Resolution 113 adopted by the House of Delegates, February 16, 2009