Dearborn Attorney Debra A. Walling Honored by Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys

LANSING, Michigan (Sept. 20, 2012)—The Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys (MAMA) has named three recipients for its 2012 Distinguished Municipal Attorney of the Year award: attorneys William B. Beach of Miller Canfield Paddock & Stone PLC in Detroit, Timothy J. Currier of Bloomfield Hills-based Beier Howlett PC, and Debra A. Walling, Dearborn Corporation Counsel.

The award is given for outstanding contributions to the practice of municipal law on behalf of cities and villages throughout Michigan, and acknowledges the highest level of professional accomplishment while also serving their colleagues through professional organizations such as MAMA and the International Municipal Lawyers Association.

Debra A. Walling, Dearborn Corporation Counsel, has provided legal counsel for the city of Dearborn for nearly 20 years and was the first woman to be elected president of the Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys. Walling’s past accomplishments include a three-year appointment by the Michigan Supreme Court to the State Bar Board of Commissioners, 12 years of service on the Michigan Municipal League’s Legal Defense Fund, and an appointment by former Governor Granholm to the State Community Corrections Board. Walling has also served on the Judicial Candidate Evaluation Committee of the Detroit Bar Association and was a past chair of the Public Corporation Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, where she continues to serve on its board of directors.

As Dearborn Corporation Counsel, Walling successfully directed litigation concerning sewer overflow projects, recovering the largest recorded settlement in the state of Michigan in 2010 for the city.

The Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys (MAMA) is a chartered section of the Michigan Municipal League, which is a Michigan non-profit corporation. MAMA was established in 1935 as an affiliated organization of the League. The Association is governed by a Board of Directors elected by the member municipal attorneys. Membership consists of every city and village attorney, who represents a member of the Michigan Municipal League, their deputies and assistants, and League staff members duly admitted to practice law in the State of Michigan. Any attorney admitted to practice law in Michigan who has a substantial interest in municipal law may become an associate member upon application and approval by the Board of Directors. Any student enrolled in a recognized law school may be a law student member upon application and approval by the Board of Directors.