Bridget Mary McCormack

McCormack attended a Catholic high school in New Jersey.[2] She received her Bachelor of Arts with honors in political science and philosophy from Trinity College in Connecticut in 1988. She received her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden Scholar, in 1991.[1]

McCormack started her legal career in New York, first as trial counsel at the Legal Aid Society and then at the Office of the Appellate Defender. She taught at Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut as a Robert M. Cover Fellow from 1997 to 1998.

She joined the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School in 1998,[3] and became associate dean of clinical affairs in 2003. As associate dean for clinical affairs at the law school, McCormack supervised students in complex federal litigation in the general clinical program. McCormack also worked to expand Michigan Law School's clinical offerings during her tenure.

In 2008, McCormack founded the Michigan Innocence Clinic, which is the nation's first exclusively non-DNA innocence clinic.[4][1][3]

McCormack has published articles on constitutional law, criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, and legal ethics.[5] McCormack served on the Association of American Law Schools Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure. In 2008, she testified before the Detroit City Council about its investigation of the city attorney's role in the case involving former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.[5]

In 2012, McCormack ran for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court. She ran an independent outsider campaign, and was not a favorite of the Michigan Democratic Party establishment, though she ultimately received the party's endorsement.[6]

Her campaign included an advertisement encouraging voters to complete the non-partisan section of the ballot where this seat was listed, and also promoting her qualifications.[7] The ad featured a reunion of much of the principal cast of The West Wing in their former roles, including McCormack's sister Mary.

During the campaign, the Judicial Crisis Network released an ad claiming that McCormack had "volunteered to help free a terrorist" when she represented Abdumuqit Vohidov, who had been held without charge in Guantanamo. Andrew Rosenthal of The New York Times criticized the ad as exploitative, pointing out that Vohidov was released by a non-judicial board, and questioning whether he should be described as a "terrorist".[8]

McCormack was elected, along with incumbents Stephen Markman and Brian Zahra.[9][10] She was later chosen by the members of the court to serve as Chief Justice when Markman stepped down from the position.

McCormack's father is a former United States Marine and retired small business owner, and her mother is a clinical social worker. McCormack's sister Mary is an actress. Her brother Will is an actor and screenwriter.[11]

McCormack is married to University of Michigan Law School professor Steven P. Croley, who served as general counsel in the United States Department of Energy from 2014 to 2017, while on leave from the law school.[12] The couple have four children.[11]

• Bio: Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack - Michigan Courts (accessed 11/12/2020)