Presiding Judge of the Civil Division of the Wayne County Circuit Court, where he has served since 1976. Earlier he was a judge of the Common Pleas Court of Detroit for three years. Judge Giovan first attained judicial office in 1966, when he was elected to a short term vacancy as Recorder and Judge of the Recorder’s court of Detroit. He sat as a Recorder’s Court judge by designation of the Michigan Supreme Court at regular intervals from 1970 until his appointment to the Common Pleas Court. He has also served eight terms as a visiting judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.


Judge Giovan has written and lectured extensively to the bench and bar, principally in the areas of evidence and civil procedure. He lectures regularly with the Michigan Judicial Institute, the judicial educational agency of the Michigan Supreme Court. He has also served on the faculties of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, the National Judicial College, and the American Academy of Judicial Education.


Judge Giovan has served on numerous professional and judicial committees. He was a member of the original committee that proposed the adoption of the Michigan Rules of Evidence in 1977, and presently serves as Chair of the Michigan Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Evidence. He also chairs the Supreme Court Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions, of which he has been a member since 1982. He served as Chair of the Committee to Evaluate Mediation in 1986, and was an original member of the Committee to Revise and Consolidate Michigan Court Rules, whose efforts resulted in the adoption of the Michigan Court Rules of 1985.