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Noceeba
Southern was appointed Judge of the 36th District
Court by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm on September 17, 2009.
Judge Southern previously served as an Assistant United
States Attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office in
Detroit, Michigan. During her tenure with the United States
Attorney’s Office, Judge Southern received several accolades
for her work in and out of the courtroom.
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Judge
Southern was the 2008 Recipient of the President’s
Council on Integrity & Efficiency for the investigation and prosecution of a
preferred lender of the Small Business Administration in a national loan fraud
scheme; the 2007 Recipient of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration’s Award for the dismantlement and prosecution of a tax
preparer’s criminal organization; and the 2004 National Recipient of the United
States Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhood’s Exceptional
Juvenile Gun Crime Reduction Program Award.
Prior to joining the
United States Attorney’s Office, Judge Southern was an associate in the Detroit
office of Dykema Gossett, PLLC, where she concentrated on commercial litigation
and real estate. Before joining Dykema Gossett, Judge Southern served as a
Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Damon J. Keith, Circuit Judge for the
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and a Judicial Law Clerk
for then-Chief Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, District Judge of the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Judge Southern is a
member and has been involved in several professional organizations including
the American Judges Association, Michigan District Judges Association,
Association of Black Judges, American Bar Association, National Bar
Association, Federal Bar Association, Wolverine Bar Association, Black Women
Lawyers Association of Michigan, and the Women Lawyers Association of
Michigan. Judge Southern has also served as an officer on several
professional boards including: Regional Director of the National Bar
Association’s Region VI; State Representative for the National Black
Prosecutors Association; Secretary of the Wolverine Bar Association; and
President of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, Wayne Region. In
addition, she also serves on the Advisory Board for the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee.
A native of Detroit,
Judge Southern graduated high school at age 16 and graduated from the
University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communications at
age 19. Thereafter, Judge Southern received her Juris Doctor from the
University of Michigan Law School.
Judge Southern is
licensed to practice law in the state of New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and
the District of Columbia.
Judge Southern is married
to Assistant United States Attorney Justin Letts and is the mother of two
wonderful children, Sydney and Nelson. |
