by P.D. Lesko

Veronique Liem has lived in the U.S. for 40 years, but she has a European sensibility. During the primary election season, unlike Probate Court candidate Tracy Van den Bergh, Liem made campaign donations to a number of candidates running for local office. It’s a dicey strategy for a candidate running for the bench, because voters can be swayed by perceived political allegiances. When asked about the numerous campaign donations given at fundraisers Liem explained: “I was invited and gave a small donation.”

It’s completely understandable when viewed from the perspective of a European upbringing. That’s not to say Liem’s endorsement list hasn’t raised a few eyebrows. When it comes to judicial candidates, they are expected to avoid even the perception of conflict or impropriety.

Liem accepted an endorsement from the Ann Arbor City Democratic Party, a private club, and listed it as the “Ann Arbor Democratic Party,” which could confuse people into believing the group were affiliated in some way to the county, state or national Democratic organization. It is not. She also lists an endorsement from Mike Henry, Chair of the Ann Arbor City Democratic Party. Henry and the Executive Committee of that group have been in a year-long dispute over 40+ cash withdrawls of the group’s money totaling thousands of dollars which cannot be accounted for with original receipts. It has led to acrimony and attempts by local elected officials to interfere with efforts to audit the group’s finances.

But the better question is how Liem, a woman from a village in northern France of 700—a village just a stone’s throw away from Dunkirk—ended up in Ann Arbor?

She followed her boyfriend here.

He came to attend business school at U-M. Liem, who had already earned an undergraduate degree in Economics, entered U-M a year after her boyfriend did and eventually earned an MBA. Listening to Liem, you get the impression the boyfriend was the last time she followed anyone anywhere; she is a leader, a leader in her chosen field and a forward-thinking woman who would rather see litigants mediate their disputes than end up in a courtroom in front of her. That is, if she beats opponent Patrick Conlin on November 4.

After graduating with her MBA and working as a hospital administrator, Veronique pursued a law degree.

“I worked at Honigman, a large law firm in Detroit for a couple of years. Then I had my first child and I left the big firm,” she said.

Liem worked as a lawyer part-time for many years, building up a private practice. She is currently employed by Smith, Haughey, Rice, & Roegge.

Liem and Conlin are running to fill the seat vacated by former Judge Donald Shelton. The Washtenaw Circuit Court has been taking a beating in the press as of late, what with The Ann magazine’s two-part series that painted the county’s $18 million court as populated by dysfunctional judges and a Friend of the Court system that causes more problems than it resolves. It was a series that caused an uproar in the local legal community.

Veronique Liem, however, was unwilling to say that the Circuit Court needs sweeping reform and careful to point out that a new judge with the family law docket would have little sway in instituting sweeping reform. She is, however, prepared to change the way pleadings for Personal Protection Orders are heard. She wants to protect victims insofar as she can and still make sure that the accused’s rights are respected, as well.

She explained: “I’d like to see as many protections as possible to prevent victims from having to run into the assailant as they come in. Maybe staggered arrival times? Separation within the courtroom.”

Liem is a litigator, has extensive experience as a litigator and says she likes to litigate cases. However, and on this point she is unwavering, she believes that litigation is not good for families.

“I prefer to compromise,” says Liem. It is a very judicial stance. As much as judges are expected to make the tough decisions, in family law, particularly when there are children involved, the ability to reach compromise is crucial. She also believes that “judges can be a resource.” Above all, prior to jumping into divorce proceedings, Veronique Liem believes “people have to know what they’re getting into. The judge has a different role (than a mediator).”

In a recent interview, when asked how she differed from her opponent, Liem said:

First, I think I have more experience than my opponent. Not counting the years I took off not working as an attorney, I have been practicing or 25 years in various facets of the Circuit Court. I think he has done quite a bit of work in District Court, but I don’t think he has as many years practicing in Circuit Court.

I also don’t think he has as strong of specialty in family law. He does family law but he doesn’t do it with the intensity and maybe the degree of variety in cases or variety of clients. I have represented people from all over the world in family law cases. People who are poor, people who have a lot of income or assets. And I’ve handled a lot of complicated custody issues, as well. So, in terms of experience, I think I’m different.

At a recent debate, her assertions were proven incorrect. Her opponent Pat Conlin spoke at length about his Circuit Court experience, saying that, perhaps, 75 percent of his caseload is in Circuit Court. Liem has, however, been practicing law longer than Conlin, who has 16 years of experience. However, Judge Julia Owdzeij, recently appointed by Gov. Snyder to a seat on the Wastenaw Probate Court, has said moving from attorney to judge is a difficult leap for anyone. Owdzeij, running for re-election to the seat to which she was appointed in June 2014, was a county prosecutor before being appointed a Court Referee.

Neither Liem or her opponent has experience on the bench. In that respect they are on level ground. It is Liem’s desire to bring “collaborative divorce” to the court which makes her stand apart from her opponent. In a recent interview she explained:

Generally speaking, I think they are good methods, especially for children, if people can cooperate in resolving things. So, I would really encourage people to do that. I would educate people about the damage of litigation, especially custody litigation. I think it really helps kids and helps families because it makes it so difficult for people to co-arent once they’ve been testifying about all of the bad things about the other person. And then you need to co-parent? It’s not easy. So that’s another area where I would really like to make a difference.

In the primary, the Circuit Court opponents were separated by just 3.5 percent of the vote, with Conlin locking up 44.85 percent of the vote and Liem capturing 41.32. Liem took more of the absentee vote than did Conlin. Any way you slice it, however, the final August primary vote was close (it was a three-way race with 13.5 percent of the vote going to that candidate). None of the candidates has done polling, but nonetheless the vote on Nov. 4 for the Circuit Court seat is expected to be close.

Patrick Conlin, at The Ann Arbor independent’s Oct. 29 debate, said of his opponent, “Veronique is smart and experienced.” In fact, Conlin frequently praised his opponent while debating the merits of his own candidacy over her own. For her part, Veronique Liem was equally genial—even while suggesting Conlin has been trading on his family name.

More than geniality, though, Veronique Liem is running because she wants to practice in the 22nd Circuit Court the kind of family law she now preaches—a kind of jurisprudence that would focus on mediation and conciliation rather than knock-down drag-out litigation where, frankly, a judge might take center stage. Occupying center stage might appeal to some jurists, but to Veronique Liem it’s not the place from which to achieve the best results when families or individuals are in crisis.