In 2025, Fred Baker celebrated 50 years as a member of the State Bar of Michigan. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Washington University Law School, Fred began his career teaching law at Wayne Law School, something he continued to do for over forty years at Cooley Law School (1978-1996) and MSU College of Law (2001-2012). Currently in solo practice, Fred also practiced at the Honigman, Willingham & Cote, and Schiff Hardin firms, and served as a Supreme Court Commissioner and a prehearing attorney and law clerk to the late Chief Judge Robert Danhof at the Court of Appeals. He has volunteered pro bono services extensively and chaired the State Bar’s Publications Committee for 24 years. He has received the Roberts P. Hudson Award (the State Bar’s highest award) and the Cummiskey Award for pro bono service.
A friend of the late Supreme Court Justice John Voelker, Fred co-founded the John D. Voelker Foundation “to pay tribute to the ideals for which [Voelker] stood, and the values that his life and writings exemplified.” The Foundation has assisted 34 Native Americans to attend law school and sponsors the Robert Traver Outdoor Writing competition.