Young re-elected as Michigan's Chief Justice

Lansing, Mish. (Legal Newsline) - The Michigan Supreme Court unanimously has elected Robert P. Young Jr. as a chief justice for a second term.

In the position, Young committed to continue court reforms to improve public service and transparency.

According to Young, the State Court Administrative Office already has started working with the trial courts to become more effective through performance measurements. Beginning this year, the SCAO will begin making performance measures public information by posting it online

"Performance measurement has been used in the private sector for years, and it can be just as effective in the public sector," Young said in a press release. "We look at factors that affect the public's experience of the courts - access and fairness, timeliness, cost-effectiveness, and others - and find ways to measure the courts' performance on each.

"Those measurements in turn provide very valuable information about how well the courts are functioning and where they can improve."

After the Detroit native earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University, Young's legal career began in 1978 with the law firm of Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen, & Freeman.

In 1992 he joined AAA Michigan as its vice president, corporate secretary and general counsel. Young was then appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1995 by Gov. John Engler, followed by an election to the court in 1996.

Appointed by Engler in 1999, Young served on the Michigan Supreme Court and re-elected in 2002 and 2010.

A published author of "Active Liberty and the Problem of Judicial Oligarchy," and co-author, Young also worked as an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School.

Young has served on the boards of several charitable business and civic organizations and as trustee for various other organizations.

The Supreme Court justices choose a chief justice at the beginning of every odd-numbered year.