Education
Academy of Municipal Attorneys (AMA)
Participation 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 Advanced Institute
March 18, 2025
Lansing Center, Lansing
Past Events
MAMA Municipal Law Program & Annual Meeting
Hilton Garden Inn, Lansing
October 17, 2024
Presentations
First Amendment Update – Andrew Brege
Municipal Liability Defense Update – McClorey McLaughlin
Open Meeting Act Update – Carlito Young
Legislative Update – MML State & Federal Affairs
MAMA/GLS Joint Education Event
Mission Point Resort
June 21-22, 2024
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
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
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
Police Contact with the Mentally Ill: A Litigation Specialist –Holly 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
- Municipal Attorneys and the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct – John Barr, City Attorney, City of Ypsilanti
- “Have You Asked Your City of Village Attorney?” – William Mathewson, retired General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League
- Municipal Attorneys and the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct: Who is the Client? – Gregory Stremers, Touma, Watson, Whaling, Coury, Stremers & Thomas, P.C.
- Do the Right Thing: Ethical Challenges for Municipal Attorneys
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 Regulation – Lauren Trible-Laucht, City Attorney, Traverse City
Vacation Rental Property Ordinances – Eric 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 Bench – Justice Robert P. Young, Jr., Michigan Supreme Court (Retired) Handout
Announcement of the John Barr Scholarship Recipients – MML 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 Oversight – Audrey Forbush, Plunkett Cooney; Clyde Robinson, City Attorney, Kalamazoo; Megan Norris, Miller Canfield
Planning for Connected and Automated Vehicles – Valerie 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 Beyond – Mary Massaron and Jo DeLorenzo, Plunkett Cooney