Fourth District Judges
Judge Borrello was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2003, elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2006. He served as an attorney and partner with the law firm Gilbert, Smith & Borrello, P.C. in Saginaw, Michigan. Judge Borrello also served as an assistant prosecuting attorney from 1988 to 1990 in Saginaw County. He earned his B.A. from Albion College and his J.D. from the Detroit College of Law. He is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Saginaw Valley State University where he teaches Criminal Procedure and Evidence.
Term expires January 1, 2025.
Judge
Gadola was appointed to the Court effective January 5, 2015. He is a graduate of Michigan State University’s
James Madison College (B.A., 1985) and graduated with honors from the Wayne
State University Law School (J.D., 1990), where he served as Editor-in-Chief of
the Wayne Law Review. He practiced law
with the Dickinson Wright law firm in both Detroit and Lansing. He served as Deputy Legal Counsel, Counsel
for Executive Organization, and Director of the Office of Regulatory Reform for
Governor John Engler. He went on to
serve as House Majority Counsel in the Michigan Legislature and as Michigan Supreme
Court Counsel. He then served as Legal
Counsel to Governor Rick Snyder. Judge Gadola is a fellow of
the Michigan State Bar Foundation, a member of the Michigan Supreme Court
Historical Society, a member of the Advisory Board for the Michigan Chapter of
the Federalist Society, and is a former chairman of the Saint Vincent Catholic
Charities board of directors and former board member of the Boys & Girls
Club of Lansing.
Term expires January 1, 2023.
Judge Kelly was elected to the Court in 2008. After serving as a judicial advisory assistant to a circuit court judge, he worked as a trial lawyer in private practice for twenty years. He attended Michigan State University and earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan – Flint in 1984. Following his enrollment at the Detroit College of Law, he was accepted as a participant in the London Law Program at Regents College in London, England in 1987 and received his J.D. from the D.C.L. in 1988. He is a former adjunct professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Ferris State University where he taught Criminal Law and Procedure.
Term expires January 1, 2027.
Judge Amy Ronayne Krause was appointed to the Court of
Appeals in November of 2010. Previously, she served as a judge on the 54A
District Court in Lansing for nearly eight years, at which time she initiated a
domestic violence treatment court with great success at reducing repeat
offenders and changing behavior of domestic violence offenders. Judge Ronayne
Krause received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan and her
Juris Doctor from the University of Notre Dame Law School.
Judge Ronayne Krause began her legal career as a
litigation attorney for a private law firm and then served eight years as an
assistant prosecuting attorney, including 4 years supervising a sex crimes
prosecution unit. In 1997, she was appointed an Assistant Attorney General by
then Attorney General Frank J. Kelley and was the first recipient of the Frank
J. Kelley Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy. Judge Ronayne Krause worked
for the Attorney General’s office for more than six years. Prior to taking the
bench, Judge Ronayne Krause was elected to serve on the Ingham County Board of
Commissioners, during which time she chaired the Law and Courts committee. She
was an adjunct professor for the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley
Law School and has lectured for the Prosecuting Attorney Association of
Michigan (PAAM) and the Criminal Defense Attorneys Association of Michigan
(CDAM). She has also taught for the Michigan Judicial Institute, including
teaching other district judges at the New Judges Seminar. Judge Ronayne Krause
has also served as faculty for the National Council of Juvenile and Family
Court Judges, training other judges on a national level regarding best
practices in handling domestic violence cases.
Judge Ronayne Krause is also a member and Chairperson
of the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board, as
well as being the chairperson of a statewide effort to effectively investigate
sexual assault cases for the State of Michigan. She volunteers to judge mock
trial competitions, moot court competitions and to guest lecture for law
schools, including the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and
Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Judge Ronayne Krause
is a member of the Appellate Practice, Criminal Law, Family Law, Master Lawyers
and Negligence Law sections of the State Bar. She is also a member of the Women
Lawyers Association of Michigan and the National Association of Women Judges.
In September 2007, Judge Ronayne Krause was recognized
statewide for her outstanding work in domestic violence prevention and
community service with the State Bar of Michigan’s Champion of Justice Award.
In 2012, she was also awarded the Distinguished Barrister Award from the
Davis-Dunnings Bar Association and in 2010, the Community Service Award from
the Greater Lansing Area Chapter of the National Association of Negro Business
and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. (GLAC-NANBPW). She has previously served
her community as a board member with the Lansing Educational Advancement
Foundation (LEAF) and the Uplift Our Youth Foundation. Currently, she serves on
the American Red Cross Board of Directors for the Great Lakes Region and the
Williamston Theatre Board of Directors. Judge Ronayne Krause was appointed in
2011 by the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader to the State
Drug Treatment Court Advisory Committee and in 2013 became chair of the
committee and continues in that position presently.
Judge Ronayne Krause is married to Kurt E. Krause and
they currently care for 3 rescue dogs.
Term expires January 1, 2027.
The
Honorable Michelle Rick was elected to the Michigan Court of Appeals bench in
November 2020, and began serving her term in January 2021. Judge Rick represents the 4th Judicial District. Judge Rick served as
a trial judge for the 29th Circuit Court from 2007- 2020. Before that, Judge Rick worked briefly as a
private practitioner before transitioning to a career in public service. That service included working as an assistant
prosecutor, a senior assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan, and
deputy legal counsel to Michigan’s Governor Jennifer M. Granholm.
Judge
Rick is a graduate of Michigan State University and the University of Detroit Mercy
School of Law. She is a member of the UDM
Law Justice Frank Murphy Honor Society. Judge
Rick is a District Director for the National Association of Women Judges. She is an Officer of the Michigan Judges
Association and a member of the State Bar of Michigan Judicial Council. Judge Rick is a member of the Michigan Bar
Association Limited Scope Representation work group, and she serves as an
advisor to the State Bar Affordable Legal Services committee. Judge Rick is also a committee member of the State
Bar Corrections and Prisons section.
In
2015, the Women Lawyers Association of Mid-Michigan awarded Judge Rick the
Carolyn A. Stell Award. January 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. The award was given for creating and
executing “Project Access” a traveling expungement clinic that brought
expungement relief to 6 rural communities in Michigan’s northern Lower
Peninsula.
Judge
Rick teaches Access to Justice at Detroit Mercy Law School. She is a frequent guest speaker and lecturer
at various statewide and local law-related events. Judge Rick is a Michigan State Bar Foundation
Fellow and an American Bar Foundation Fellow. Judge Rick is married to her
college sweetheart, Matthew, and they have 4 children.
Term expires January 1, 2027.
Judge Brock A. Swartzle was appointed to the Court in 2017. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Swartzle was Chief of Staff for the Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, as well as General Counsel for the House, where he worked on numerous legal and policy issues, including the Detroit bankruptcy settlement package. Judge Swartzle was previously a litigation partner with Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, where he practiced in antitrust, healthcare fraud, white-collar crime, securities, and other areas. Judge Swartzle had extensive experience in federal court prior to joining the Michigan Court of Appeals, clerking for three years in both the Eastern District of Michigan and the Western District of Michigan, as well as four years with the Hon. David W. McKeague on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Judge Swartzle currently sits on the editorial board of the American Bar Association's Appellate Practice Journal, a publication for which he was Co-Editor-in-Chief for several years, as well as on the George Mason Law & Economics Center's Judicial Education Advisory Board. He has authored numerous legal articles as well as co-authored a chapter in the practitioner treatise, Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts (West). Judge Swartzle received his B.S. with distinction from the University of Michigan and his J.D. with honors from George Mason University School of Law, where he served on the George Mason Law Review Board of Editors.
Judge Swartzle is married with three children. He volunteers with the UofM Club of Greater Lansing and is a member of the Williamston United Methodist Church.
Term expires January 1, 2023.