Maura D. Corrigan

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Maura D. Corrigan is a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, having been elected to the court in 1998. She served two terms as Chief Justice from 2001–2004. She graduated from Marygrove College in Detroit in 1969 and earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Detroit Law School in 1973. While in law school, she worked as a probation officer at a Detroit court.

Her first job after law school was with the Michigan Court of Appeals [1], where she served as a law clerk to Judge John Gillis. She next worked as a Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor. In 1979, she became an Assistant U.S. Attorney, serving as Chief of Appeals; she later became the first woman to serve as Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney. In 1989, she became a partner at the Detroit law firm of Plunkett & Cooney. In 1992, Governor John Engler appointed her to the Michigan Court of Appeals. She was twice elected to that court and served as its Chief Judge from 1997-1998.

Justice Corrigan is a long-time member of the Federalist Society, Michigan Lawyers Chapter. She was also president of the Incorporated Society of Irish-American Lawyers and of the Federal Bar Association, Detroit Chapter.

A member of the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care [2], Justice Corrigan has been recognized for her work on foster care and adoption issues, including The Detroit News' "Michiganian of the Year" award.

Justice Corrigan is the widow of the late Joseph D. Grano, a professor of constitutional law at Wayne State University. She has two children: Megan Grano, a comedian with Second City in Chicago, and Daniel Grano, a Wayne State University Law student.

She has supported several of George W. Bush's nominees to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit which includes the state of Michigan. She had this to say about nominee Richard A. Griffin:

"I have known Judge Griffin since 1992, when I first joined the Michigan Court of Appeals. I was fortunate to hear cases on panels with Judge Griffin on many occasions during my seven years as a Court of Appeals judge. Judge Griffin is intellectually gifted. He is a spirited questioner who 'cuts to the chase'. He is consistently well-prepared for oral argument and offers incisive views on the assigned cases to his colleagues. He is current in all his own writing assignments and promptly circulates his votes on his colleagues’ opinions. He acquired excellent work habits from private practice that he applies to the business of appellate judging." [3]

Corrigan had been mentioned as a potential nominee to the Supreme Court following the announced retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor and the withdrawal of Harriet Miers, and before President Bush's nomination of Samuel Alito.[4]