Denise Langford Morris

Director - WON Foundation 
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Hon Denise Langford Morris, Retired Judge, Oakland County Circuit Court, joined JAMS in Detroit in 2022 after serving on the Oakland County (Michigan) bench for 30 years. Judge Langford Morris was the first African American and the first female dean of the Oakland County bench since its inception in 1848.  Langford Morris was appointed to the Oakland County Circuit Court in August 1992, elected in 1994, and reelected in 2000, 2006, and 2012.

She is the first African-American circuit court judge and dean of the bench. Judge Langford Morris received her JD from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where she presently serves as a trustee. She is a former assistant Oakland County prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, civil division. She also has extensive civil trial experience as a private practitioner. Judge Langford Morris received her MA cum laude in Guidance and Counseling from Wayne State University in 1979 and spent several years working for the state's Department of Social Services as a protective services worker, first for mentally/physically disabled adults and senior citizens, and then for abused/neglected children.

​ Judge Langford Morris is active in many legal and civic organizations. She is past chairperson of the NBA Judicial Council. She is a director of the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society and is a state director at large of the Women Lawyers' Association of Michigan.