For the first time in Michigan Supreme Court history, women will hold the two top positions of Clerk of the Court and Chief Commissioner. Elizabeth Kingston-Miller has been named the new MSC Clerk, and Cheryl Nowak has been named the new MSC Chief Commissioner. The MSC Clerk is responsible for planning, directing, and coordinating the operational activities of the Clerk’s Office and serving as secretary to the Court. The Chief Commissioner oversees the Court’s application docket and plans, directs, and coordinates the Commissioners’ Office. Both began their new positions on June 9.
The MSC Clerk’s essential duties include overseeing day-to-day and long-term strategic Court operations; docketing the pleadings and supporting documents filed by the parties and amici; working with the Chief Justice to schedule oral arguments, conferences, and special events; responding to inquiries regarding the Court’s practices, procedures or directives, statuses of cases, etc.; preparing and circulating notes of the opinion, commissioner, and administrative agendas; and more.
Kingston-Miller began her career as a paralegal before attending law school, where she worked as a private practice law clerk and a research and teaching assistant. In the appellate courts, she has worked as a research attorney in the Michigan Court of Appeals and as a senior judicial law clerk to former Chief Justice Elizabeth T. Clement.
Kingston-Miller earned a Juris Doctorate degree summa cum laude from Michigan State University College of Law and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Legal Studies and History cum laude from Grand Valley State University.
The MSC Chief Commissioner works closely with the Chief Justice and other justices to facilitate the Court’s review and disposition of pending applications; manages the Court’s application docket; works with commissioners to provide procedural and substantive guidance on cases and orders, including special and emergency reports; oversees commissioner work product; manages the operations of the Commissioners’ Office; and more.
Nowak served as senior law clerk for former Chief Justice Stephen J. Markman for 20 years before joining the Commissioners’ Office.
Nowak earned a Juris Doctorate degree summa cum laude from Michigan State University College of Law and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science cum laude from Grand Valley State University.
The MSC Clerk’s essential duties include overseeing day-to-day and long-term strategic Court operations; docketing the pleadings and supporting documents filed by the parties and amici; working with the Chief Justice to schedule oral arguments, conferences, and special events; responding to inquiries regarding the Court’s practices, procedures or directives, statuses of cases, etc.; preparing and circulating notes of the opinion, commissioner, and administrative agendas; and more.
Kingston-Miller began her career as a paralegal before attending law school, where she worked as a private practice law clerk and a research and teaching assistant. In the appellate courts, she has worked as a research attorney in the Michigan Court of Appeals and as a senior judicial law clerk to former Chief Justice Elizabeth T. Clement.
Kingston-Miller earned a Juris Doctorate degree summa cum laude from Michigan State University College of Law and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Legal Studies and History cum laude from Grand Valley State University.
The MSC Chief Commissioner works closely with the Chief Justice and other justices to facilitate the Court’s review and disposition of pending applications; manages the Court’s application docket; works with commissioners to provide procedural and substantive guidance on cases and orders, including special and emergency reports; oversees commissioner work product; manages the operations of the Commissioners’ Office; and more.
Nowak served as senior law clerk for former Chief Justice Stephen J. Markman for 20 years before joining the Commissioners’ Office.
Nowak earned a Juris Doctorate degree summa cum laude from Michigan State University College of Law and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science cum laude from Grand Valley State University.
