INVESTITURE OF PROBATE COURT JUDGE KATHLEEN ANN RYAN

Oakland County, MI (January 13, 2011) – The Honorable Kathleen Ann Ryan was formally recognized as the newest probate judge in Oakland County during an investiture ceremony that took place at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 11, 2011.  Chief Probate Judge Linda Hallmark presided over the ceremony which was held in the Board of Commissioners Auditorium of the Oakland County Courthouse in Pontiac. The Honorable Daniel P. Ryan from the Third Circuit Court in Wayne County, and brother of the judge, administered the Oath of Office.   

Judge Ryan is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Law. While at Notre Dame and throughout law school, she worked as a law clerk for General Motors Legal staff, Dykema Gossett, Dickenson Wright Moon Van Dusen & Freeman, and Mellon McCarthy & Van Dusen PLC. Judge Ryan joins the Oakland County Probate Court after serving in private practice for 15 years.  She follows in the footsteps of retired Probate Judge Eugene Arthur Moore who served the Court from 1966 – 2010.  Judge Ryan will manage the probate docket of Judge Moore and maintain chambers on the first floor, east wing, of the Courthouse tower. 

“I am privileged to have been elected to serve as Oakland County Probate Judge” said Judge Ryan.  “I look forward to working with my fellow Oakland County Probate and Circuit Court judges and am honored and humbled to call them my colleagues. I recognize and appreciate the enormous responsibility, privilege and trust that has been bestowed upon me by the electorate

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and I pledge that I will perform my duties with total commitment to the high standards of morality, industry, scholarship, temperament and service that the citizens of Oakland County are entitled to expect in a probate judge.”  

The ceremony was attended by colleagues, family, and friends of Judge Ryan and dignitaries.  Before the administration of the Oath of Office, attendees heard remarks from the Honorable Daniel A. O’Brien, Oakland County Probate Judge, and from the judge’s father, the Honorable James L. Ryan, Senior Judge of the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The event included presentations by Jennifer Grieco, President of the Oakland County Bar Association; James R. Ryan, also a brother of the judge; Colleen Hansen, sister to the judge, and Lieutenant John Rogers, Sterling Heights Police Department and cousin to Judge Ryan; and ended with a ceremonial seating of the new judge by the Honorable Linda Hallmark.

“The Oakland County Probate Court is delighted to welcome Judge Kathleen Ryan,” stated Judge Hallmark.  “Judge Ryan brings great energy and enthusiasm to the bench.  Her excellent work ethic and practical approach to problems will serve the citizens of Oakland County well.  We wish her every success.”

Judge Ryan is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the ISIAL (Incorporated Society of Irish American Lawyers) and the Oakland County Bar Association.