Injustice in the Upper Peninsula
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Chief Justice Clifford W. Taylor
Chief Justice Clifford W. Taylor, a native of Flint, was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court in August 1997 by Governor John Engler to fill the seat vacated by retiring Justice Dorothy Comstock Riley. In 1998, Justice Taylor ran and was elected to fill the balance of Justice Riley’s term. Justice Taylor was re-elected to a full eight-year term in 2000. In January 2005, and again in 2007, he was elected by his colleagues to serve as Chief Justice of the Court.
Chief Justice Taylor received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and his law degree from George Washington University. After three years in the U.S. Navy as a line officer, he returned to Michigan and served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Ingham County. In 1972, he joined the Lansing law firm of Denfield, Timmer and Seelye, which later became Denfield, Timmer & Taylor when he became a partner in the firm. He remained in private practice for 20 years, receiving the highest ratings for competence and character by lawyer rating organizations. In 1992, Governor Engler appointed him to the Michigan Court of Appeals where he served until his appointment to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Taylor’s
professional activities include service on the Board of Directors of
the National Conference of Chief Justices, and on the Board of the
George Mason University Law and Economics Center which provides
judicial education across the country. He served in the past on the
Michigan Legislature’s Commission on the Courts in the 21st Century,
and on the Michigan State Board of Law Examiners. He is the co-author
of a three-volume work entitled Torts which covers personal injury law
in Michigan. His community activities include having served on the
Board of Directors of Chief Okemos Council of the Boy Scouts of
America, and the Board of Directors for the Michigan Dyslexia
Institute.