Angela Sherigan, Chief Judge
Judge Angela Sherigan serves as the Chief Judge for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, in Manistee, MI., where she has served for 16 years.
Judge Sherigan currently serves as the Chair of the American Indian Law Committee for the State Bar of Michigan, is the Secretary for the Michigan Indian Judicial Association, is Co-Chair of the Tribal-State Federal Judicial Forum, and a member the State Court Administrator’s Office, Court Improvement, Tribal Court Relations Committee.
She is a former President of the Women Lawyer Association of Michigan, Macomb Region, and the only person to serve two terms as the statewide president of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, and Former Chair of the Michigan Indian Legal Services Board of Trustees.
She was part of the workgroup that put forth the Michigan Indian Family Preservation Act, and has handled numerous child welfare cases as a judge.
In 2012 she received the Pro-bono award from the national Legal Services Corporation, in 2013 she was named a Leader in the Law by Michigan Lawyers Weekly and is the recipient of the 2016 Tecumseh Peacekeeping Award from the American Indian Law Section.
Caroline LaPorte, Associate Judge
Caroline LaPorte, J.D. (Immediate Descendant of LRBOI, Daughter of Jim LaPorte)
Caroline is a Texas Bar Licensed Attorney, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Academic Department Head and Associate Professor of Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University, and a part time law and policy advisor to the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center. She is also a mother, a wife, a daughter, and a niece.
Her legal career has focused on Indian country, specifically child welfare, housing, human rights, and gender-based violence. She has been published by the American Bar Association, American Law Review and has worked on key federal legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act, the Not Invisible Act, and Savanna's Act.
Caroline was elected as the associate judge in 2021.