Barbieri Honored with ICBA Lifetime Achievement Award

LANSING, Mich. — Foster Swift environmental law attorney and litigator, Charles “Chuck” E. Barbieri, is the recipient of the Ingham County Bar Association’s (ICBA) Thomas E. Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award.

This award is given to lawyers who have made significant and longstanding contributions to the advancement or improvement of the justice system and the betterment of the legal profession in the State of Michigan, while also having attained professional excellence as demonstrated by accomplishments in the law or service to the profession during his or her career. 

Throughout his nearly 44 years of legal practice, Chuck has rightly earned the reputation as an authority within the legal community in his areas of practice which is almost exclusively in environmental, general litigation and appellate, and First Amendment and media law matters. The degree of difficulty of cases that Chuck handles is astounding, not only requiring the command of highly specialized and intricate legal issues but invariably involving highly complex and challenging facts.

Since becoming a firm shareholder in 1986, Chuck has served as a mentor to the young associates at the firm and has always been involved with professional and community affairs, having served on the boards of numerous associations. His involvement has included two stints on the ICBA’s Board of Directors, service as the ICBA’s Board President, service as the President of the Michigan State University Inn of Courts, and service as the Chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Environmental Law Section. He has had the added privilege of being a scoutmaster and a member of DePauw University’s Alumni Board for six years.

Chuck, along with other 2024 award recipients, will be celebrated and honored at the ICBA’s Annual Dinner on Thursday, November 14 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Lansing.