The firm
Michigan weather changes by the hour. Good counsel shouldn’t.
We are a small Ann Arbor firm with four practice groups, one for each kind of season a business or family goes through.
Some seasons are about building: forming a company, buying property, planning for the next generation. Others are about weathering something: a lawsuit, a workplace crisis, a deal gone sideways. Our job is the same in both. We tell you plainly what we see, we plan for the conditions ahead, and we stay with you until the weather clears.
27
Years advising Michigan clients
1,400+
Matters handled since 1999
4
Practice groups, one for every season
83
Michigan counties where we have appeared
Winter · Litigation & Disputes
Hold your ground.
When a dispute freezes a business in place, you need counsel who has been through hard winters before, and a case built to hold.
We represent Michigan companies, owners and individuals in commercial disputes, from the first demand letter through trial and appeal. Our approach is patient and prepared: learn the facts early, give you a realistic assessment, and keep you in control of the cost and the decisions.
- Contract, partnership and shareholder disputes
- Business torts, trade secrets and non-competes
- Real estate and construction claims
- Mediation, arbitration and appeals
Spring · Business Formation & Startups
New beginnings, on solid footing.
The thaw is when the work starts. We help founders and growing companies set up well the first time, so the structure holds when the business takes off.
Choosing an entity, splitting equity with co-founders, raising a first round, signing a first lease or a first big customer: each early decision is easier and cheaper to get right now than to unwind later. We work as your outside general counsel at a pace and budget that fits an early-stage company.
- LLC and corporate formation, operating and shareholder agreements
- Founder equity, vesting and early financing
- Customer, vendor and licensing contracts
Summer · Estate Planning & Real Estate
Build something lasting.
Long summer light is for the things you mean to keep: the house, the cottage up north, the family business, and a plan that carries them to the people you love.
Wills & trusts
Clear plans for who receives what, who decides, and how to keep it out of probate court where that makes sense.
Cottage & family property
Shared-ownership plans that keep the family place in the family, with rules for costs, use and buyouts agreed in advance.
Real estate transactions
Purchases, sales, leases and land contracts for homes, rental property and small commercial buildings.
Fall · Employment & Crisis Counsel
When conditions turn.
A key employee walks out. A complaint lands on a Friday. An investigation starts. The first forty-eight hours matter most.
We counsel employers and executives on the everyday work of employment law, and we are on call when something goes wrong. When the storm arrives, we help you protect people first, preserve what needs preserving, and speak carefully, so the problem stays the size it is.
- Handbooks, policies and manager training
- Hiring, separation and restrictive-covenant agreements
- Workplace investigations and agency charges
- Crisis response and communications support
“They told us what the storm would look like before it hit, and they were right beside us when it did. We came out of it with the company intact.”
Owner, family manufacturing company, Washtenaw County · Illustrative quote
Our attorneys
The people at the helm.
Graham Ivers
Managing Partner · Litigation
Elena Marr
Partner · Business & Startups
Renée Haldane
Partner · Estate Planning & Real Estate
Marcus Pell
Partner · Employment & Crisis
Insights
Notes from the shoreline.
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When a key employee leaves: the first week
A senior employee resigns, maybe to a competitor. A practical plan for the first week that protects the business without making things worse.
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Keeping the cottage in the family
Up north, the family cottage is often the hardest asset to plan for. A few approaches families use to keep it, and keep the…
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The day a dispute starts: a calm first-day checklist
A demand letter or a lawsuit lands on your desk. What to do in the first twenty-four hours, and what to avoid.
First conversation
Talk to us before the weather turns.
A first consultation is thirty minutes, by phone or in our Ann Arbor office. Bring your questions; we will tell you plainly whether and how we can help.