Vision and Purpose in Turbulent Times

In this episode, Host Shawndrica Simmons talks with Judge Michelle Rick of the Court of Appeals for a timely and candidconversation on vision and purpose in turbulent times. Judge Rick reflects on her extensive career across every level of Michigan’s legal system and discusses the growing challenges facing the judiciary, including public distrust, political pressure, and threats to judicial independence. Theconversation explores access to justice, the importance of serving underserved communities, and the role women lawyers—particularly women in leadership—mustplay in safeguarding the rule of law. Listeners gain insight into the human side of judicial service, the responsibility of legal professionals during uncertain times, and the values necessary to lead with integrity, courage, and clarity in today’s legal landscape.

Judge Michelle Rick was elected to the Michigan Court ofAppeals in November 2020. In 2026, she will run for re-election. Judge Rick previously served as a trial judge from 2007–2020. Prior to that, Judge Rick worked as a public servant in the Livingston County Prosecutor’s Office, theMichigan Department of Attorney General, and the office of Governor Jennifer M. Granholm. 

Judge Rick is a graduate of Michigan State University andthe University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. She is the past-president of the National Association of Women Judges. Judge Rick has also served on the executive board of the Michigan Judges Association, and is past-president ofthe MJA.

 Judge Rick is the recipient of several local, state, andnational awards. In 2019, the Michigan Supreme Court recognized Judge Rick as a judge who gives back and makes a difference. In 2020, the State Bar of Michigan awarded Judge Rick and select University of Detroit Mercy School of Law faculty and students the Kimberly M. Cahill Bar Leadership Award for creating and executing “Project Access,” a traveling expungement clinic. In 2015, WLAM Mid-Michiganbestowed on her the Carolyn Stell Award. In 2022, NAWJ awarded Judge Rick the Vaino Spencer Award for outstanding leadership in promoting its vision, core values,and mission. In 2021, Judge Rick received one of WLAM’s highest awards, the Mary S. Coleman Award. Most recently, Judge Rick was recognized by the Michigan Lawyer’s Weekly as the Influential Woman of Law for 2025.

 Judge Rick teaches courses concerning access to justice at UDM Law. She is an international, national, state, and local speaker on legal topics. Judge Rick lives in northern Michigan with her college sweetheart, Matthew. They raised their four adult children in the Lansing area

 Shawndrica N. Simmons is a solo practitioner and mediator atLawChic.com. Her Michigan civil litigation practice focuses on Labor & Employment, Family & Contractual Law, Probate, and Real Estate. She has been in the legal field for over twenty-four years. A former union advocate and former union president of the American Federation of State County &Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3309/3rd Circuit Court; she now engages in litigation against employers, unions, school districts, and municipalities for civil rights violations while handling high-risk divorces involving allegations of abuse. She is everything contracts from sports, death to real estate. She is a serial entrepreneur with her latest venture being opening two supervised parenting time facilities in Oakland County and Wayne County while also offeringmediation services based on income levels. She is married to a master barber and co-owns their salon, Bundles on the Boulevard. She is the mother of three biological daughters and six non-biological children who call her Mom. She is ablack woman who understands that hair to us is as important as bathing daily. She is an advocate for those that can’t be authentic to themselves in a world built on white supremacy. She is the voice of the voiceless.