Veronique Liem - Ann Arbor

Véronique Liem is an Ann Arbor attorney and was a candidate for 22nd Circuit Court judge in 2014, losing to Pat Conlin in the Nov. 4, 2014 election.

Veronique Liem. (Photo from her LinkedIn profile)

A native of France, Liem has lived in Washtenaw County since 1974 and became a U.S. citizen. She has an MBA and a law degree from the University of Michigan and has been an attorney since the late 1980s. She has worked as a family law attorney, a commercial and civil case litigator, as an arbitrator and a mediator.

Liem was president and treasurer of the Washtenaw County Bar Association and Chair of the Washtenaw County Bar Family Law Section. She was selected as 2013 Women in the Law honoree by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. She serves on the board for Avalon Housing and on the executive board of the Collaborative Practice Institute of Michigan.

She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the Washtenaw County Bar Association, Women Lawyers Association and Association for Justice. She is a former member of the Representative Assembly of the State Bar of Michigan. She serves as chair and public arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulation Authority (FINRA).

Liem is married to attorney Doug Coskey. The couple live in Scio Township and have two adult children, Emilie and Matt.

2014 Election

In the Aug. 5, 2014 primary, Liem competed in a three-way nonpartisan race, along with Patrick Conlin and Michael Woodyard, for a seat on the 22nd Circuit Court.

Candidates for the 22nd Circuit Court judgeship at a July 7, 2014 League of Women Voters forum. From left: Michael Woodyard, Veronique Liem, Patrick Conlin. (Photo courtesy of The Ann Arbor Chronicle.)

The seat was previously held by judge Donald Shelton, who turned 70 in June of 2014. According to Michigan state law, only a person under the age of 70 can be appointed or run for the position of judge. The circuit court tries felonies and criminal matters, family law, and civil disputes where claims are greater than $25,000. However, the docket for this particular seat on the circuit court is heavily weighted toward family cases.

The top two vote-getters, Liem and Conlin, advanced to the Nov. 4 general election. Countywide, Conlin received 16,043 votes (44.85%) and Liem garnered 14,779 votes (41.32%). Coming in third was Woodyard with 4,856 votes (13.58%). Overall, 44,823 ballots were cast throughout Washtenaw County in this race, which translated to a 16.28% turnout.

The co-chairs of Liem's campaign were Dick Soble, Yousef Rabhi, Sherry Chin, Paul Schreiber and Joan Lowenstein. Her volunteer coordinator was Nora Wright. Other supporters included District Court Judge Charles Pope and his wife Carol Pope, Circuit Court Judge Carol Kuhnke, Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Shapiro, John Shea, Mike Henry, Peter Heydon, Deb Labelle, Martha Darling, Janis Bobrin, Andy Muth, Margy Long, Susan Baskett, Scott Munzel, Monica Ross-Williams, Jerry Lax, Cheri Chandler, Linda Horne, Dave and Louise Lutton, Michael Moran, Shary Brown, Cecelia Ponce de Lion, Shoshana DeMaria, Joe Spiegel, Mary Hall-Thiam, Steward Beal, John Boyle, Guy Conti, Jean Patru, Paul and Lori Saginaw, Perry Kantner, Tara Mahoney, Penny Schreiber, Christine Green, Julie Dunbar, Cleveland Chandler, Fran Lyman, Barb Kessler, Barry Gates, Tony Collings, Ron Banks, and Powell Miller.

Liem lost to Conlin on Nov. 4, 2014. Based on unofficial results posted on the Washtenaw County elections website, Liem garnered 41,932 votes (47.18%) in the countywide election, compared to Conlin's 46,391 votes (52.2%).