The Appellate Defender Commission has named MAACS roster attorney Ian Kierpaul the 2024 Barbara R. Levine Award winner for excellence in appellate advocacy. The award—named after Barbara R. Levine, the architect and first Administrator of MAACS—recognizes a roster attorney whose work demonstrates extraordinary commitment on behalf of appellate assigned clients and the criminal justice system. That’s Ian to a T!

What sets Ian apart isn’t just his tremendous results (and there are plenty). It’s the way he works with people. Ian has a gift for earning trust from clients whom others might label “difficult.” He listens—really listens—without judgment, and he shows up with patience and kindness. One MAACS client recently told our mitigation specialist that Ian is the first lawyer he’s ever felt truly confident in, the first who he believes is really fighting for him. For someone who has faced multiple felony convictions to feel genuine hope again—that says everything about Ian’s impact.

Of course, courtroom wins matter, too. This past year Ian argued in the Michigan Supreme Court, secured strong resentencing outcomes, and won a new trial in People v Josey, COA No. 363378. In Josey, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court erred by refusing a self-defense instruction on voluntary manslaughter and found ineffective assistance for failing to request a self-defense instruction on the felony-firearm charge. Ian poured his heart into that case; he joked afterward that if the Court hadn’t reversed, he might have hung it up. That mix of passion and persistence is classic Ian—he fights like every ruling is personal, because to his clients, it is.

Ian’s approach is client-centered in the truest sense. He sees the whole person, not just the docket number. He’ll talk through goals, safety, family, treatment, and reentry alongside the legal strategy. He follows up. He meets people where they are. And because clients trust him, they share the details that actually move cases—the context that can change a sentencing, the witness who can fill a gap, the record cite that flips an issue. The better outcomes flow naturally from the better relationships.

That empathy is grounded in Ian’s path. An Eastpointe native, Ian graduated from East Detroit High School in 1998 and earned a B.A. in Psychology from Oakland University in 2002. He worked in the mental health field before attending the University of Toledo College of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, served as Managing Editor of the Toledo Law Review, and earned pro bono and student service honors when he graduated in 2008. Today he’s a solo practitioner based in Eastpointe, focusing on criminal defense at both trial and appellate levels.

Ian also gives back. He’s a long-time volunteer with the St. Veronica Youth Group and serves on the Council of the State Bar of Michigan’s Prisons and Corrections Section. He’s previously served on a charter high school board and even spent time officiating middle- and high-school volleyball and basketball. Off the clock, you’ll find him visiting Mackinac Island, at the gym, at comic-cons, or deep in a Star Wars rewatch.

For MAACS, lawyers like Ian embody why the roster exists: pairing clients with advocates whose skill is matched by compassion. We’re proud to send a case his way because we know what his clients will get—thorough preparation, fierce advocacy, and a human connection that outlasts the appeal.

Ian's wins change case law. His care changes lives. And together, that’s the kind of excellence that lifts our clients and our system one appeal at a time. 

Congratulations, Ian!

Subscriber Comments

• You must be a subscriber to view comments